Nominator's statement

The first formulation of a fairly explicit functionalism of the intentional. The original formulation of the notion that our concepts of the mental are (like) theoretical concepts. A strong argument that and explanation why thought and language are interdependent. A resounding rejection of dualism. An influential defense of a physicalistic treatment of sensory consciousness. A terribly influential dismantling of the Cartesian notion that our own mentals states are what we know first and best.

comments

• This has indeed had tremendous influence in philosophy. It introduces the language of thought hypothesis for the first time. By arguing that our concepts about mental states are parts of a theory about unobservables, it fought against the methodology of behaviorism. Also, since our concepts of the mind are simply part of a theory, it opened the possibility of the truth of eliminative materialism, or the view that such theories might be simply false and in need of replacement by better theories of the mental.

• This long paper, later republished as a book, contains basically all the key ingredients of 20th century philosophy of mind. Some examples: functionalism, the notion of folk psychology, mental states (including conscious states) as posits of a theory; the relation of the intentional to qualia, and very much more.