The Sellarsian Philosophy of Mind with a Rationality Key
Rusong Huang
Journal of Contemporary Chinese Philosophy May 15, 2026 DOI: 10.1163/29502799-bja10013 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that psychological sentences express rational relations between circumstances and behavior, not representations of mental facts. Proposes that Sellars's view can be reinterpreted to support this rationality-based account of mentality attributions, applicable to both phenomenal and intentional states. |
Abstract
A psychological sentence is commonly understood as representing a mental fact. This paper offers an alternative and argues that saying “Someone S is in a mental state M” is saying “There are some circumstances C such that S is in C, and it is rational for anyone in C to behave in a certain way.” To argue for this alternative, the paper appeals to the Sellarsian philosophy of mind but transforms it with a rationality key. Wilfrid Sellars’s view is commonly taken as one of the earliest attempts at today’s so-called Theory Theory view of mentality attributions because Sellars understands our mentality as a theoretical posit. Since the view is unsatisfactory in many ways, the paper argues that (1) we do not have to treat Sellars as a proponent of Theory Theory, and (2) we can appeal to rational relations rather than theories to understand mentality attributions. More specifically, the paper shows how the alternative can be defended for both the phenomenal and intentional types of mentality and how some challenges can be met.
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