Phenomenal Character and Functional Role

Katalin Farkas (Central European University)

ABSTRACT

The pure qualitative character of a conscious experience is sometimes contrasted with its intentional or functional properties. Defenders of the phenomenal intentionality view resist at least one of these contrasts: they claim that there is a kind of intentionality that is constitutively determined by the qualitative (or phenomenal) character of experiences. This paper argues for an analogous position for functional properties: that is, for the view that the phenomenal character of some experiences determines a certain functional profile.