Cameron Bluekens
Philosophical Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology, Philosophy of Perception, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Language
Building upon one of the interests I developed in my time as a Philosophy undergraduate (BA 2025), I intend to do my Graduate (MA) research on intentionality (also called aboutness). This topic sits at a fascinating and important intersection between Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Language.
In brief, intentionality or aboutness is the property of certain mental/brain states to be about, directed at, or of logically possible states of affairs or objects. For example, my belief (belief being a mental/brain state) that the University of Lethbridge is located in Alberta is about or directed at the logically possible state of affairs that the University of Lethbridge is located in Alberta. The intentionality of linguistic entities such as declarative sentences is derived from the intentionality of mental/brain states. For example, the sentence “The University of Lethbridge is located in Alberta” is also about the logically possible state of affairs that the University of Lethbridge is located in Alberta. By way of the linguistic conventions agreed upon by human beings with Intentional mental/brain states, the intentionality of this declarative sentence is derived from the intentionality of the mind/brain. The intentionality of both the belief and the statement are what enable them to be true or false: it is by their aboutness that they relate to reality, and, consequently, by which they can either agree or disagree with what is the case in reality. In the examples above, both the belief and the statement are true: their respective contents agree with reality— they agree with the fact that the University of Lethbridge is in Alberta. If some belief or declarative sentence had content which disagreed with what is the case in reality—e.g., “The University of Lethbridge is located in Manitoba”—then the belief or sentence would be false.
Clearly, there is much to delve into when it comes to intentionality! I am very excited to explore intentionality and the questions and problems that come with it as I progress in my Graduate studies. Besides that, I am looking forward to increasing the breadth of my knowledge more generally, as well as having more opportunities to share the field of study that I love so much with others!
When I’m not philosophizing, you can find me listening to music and attending concerts (metal, grunge, and punk especially!), going for walks, hanging with friends, and—on the rare occasion—drawing portraits or writing poetry.