An Examination of Brentano’s Intentionality and Moore’s Sense-Data Conception of Reality

It’s not very easy to assert or claim that our knowledgeof reality is direct or indirect,so,it becomes difficult to establish that which constitutes our objects of knowledge. Equally, the fact that, it has not been objectively proven that the human mind has a precise location in or outside the body, doesnotinvalidate the existence of the human mind. As such, this paper attempts at exposing the nature, character and objects of the mind in process of cognition by critically analyzing the distinction between Brentano’s conception of intentionality which exposes the character of the mind to be about something (aboutness) and possible mental objects of thought and Moore’s sense-data conception of reality which exposes the process by which cognition(perception) takes place. Consequently, the research uncovered that, the meta-epistemological outlookofboth Brentano and Moore are more convergent than divergent because they hold strongly to the analytical, phenomenological and rationalistic approaches to knowledge formation .The paper,however, concludes that Moore was basically concerned with how the physical world and things in it appears or are given to us via theprocess of  mind’s cognition, while Brentano was concerned with what constitutes objects of   the  mental (mind)

A Critical Analysis of Brentano’s Intentionality in Relation to Meinong’s Object Theory

Our thoughts are certainly about things(objects), however, what kind of things(object) are our thoughts directed at? What is the relationship between mental objects and external world object? What is the nature and character of mental and extra mental objects? An attempt at answering these meta-epistemological questions, brought to light the ideas of Franz Brentano on ‘Intentionality’ and Alexius Meinong’s Theory of object. Through proper method of philosophical analysis, it was discovered that both philosophers agreed that intentionality is a unique character exhibited by the human mind. However, Meinong went further to develop a more comprehensive object theory which attempts at clarifying some of the ontological difficulties associated with Brentano’s notion on intentionality. The research concluded that, though, both philosophers had areas of divergence and convergence in their respective epistemological thoughts, but insisted that the influence of Brentano’s ideas on Meinong cannot be overemphasized, which is to say, Meinong’s object theory, could be said to be a reaction towards the problem of referential opacity present in Brentano’s account of Intentionality

A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF RELIGION AS A TOOL FOR VIOLENCE BY STATE AND NON-STATE ACTORS

There's no gainsaying that the negative dimensions and the influence of various religions on humanity today is worrisome because most religions if not all, preaches peace, Justice and Equality, yet, same religions are used to fan embers of disunity amongst the people of our world. As seen in the various extremist attacks going on in our contemporary societies. Looking at the rise of various religious sects against one another and the society in general, some disturbing questions come to mind; ''What is the very essence of religion? If religion preaches peace, what then, is the interplay between religion and violence? In an attempt to answer these questions, hence the birth of this research. The research uncovered that the very foundations in which most religions for example Islam and Christianity was built have been perverted over time due to human selfish desires. The research however recommends that there's a need for all State and Non-state Actors to properly trace back to the very essence and foundations on which each religion was built to enhance the culture of religious tolerance amongst various religious sects