Descartes' Theory of Sensory Representation

FAIN: FT-54021-06

Raffaella De Rosa
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark (Newark, NJ 07104-3010)

I am interested in two related issues raised by Descartes’ account of sensation. First, contra the standard view, I am interested in establishing that, according to Descartes, sensations of color and the like are intrinsically intentional. Second, I address the following question. What is Descartes’ account of the representationality of sensation? I discuss various attempts in the literature to understand Descartes’ account in light of internalist, causal and teleological theories of mental content. I argue that none of these proposals is tenable and conclude by tendering an alternative account of Descartes’ view on the nature of sensory representation.