Motor intentionality
The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition October 9, 2018 Elisabeth Pacherie
This philosophical paper examines Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of "motor intentionality," which he introduced in Phenomenology of Perception. The author uses Merleau-Ponty's discussion as a starting point to consider how recent conceptual and empirical work can clarify what distinguishes motor intentionality from cognitive intentionality and how the two interact in normal agents. In contrast to Merleau-Ponty, the author defends a representational account of motor intentionality. The paper also addresses the challenge of explaining how motor behavior can be responsive to intentions, highlighting the interplay between motor and cognitive forms of intentionality.