Subjectivity
Subjectivity is, primarily, an aspect of consciousness. In a sense, conscious experience may be described as the way the world appears from a particular mental subject's point of view. The idea that there is a distinction between appearance and reality seems to presuppose the distinction between subjective and objective points of view.
The Two Controversies
There are two principal controversies surrounding subjectivity: first, whether subjectivity, as it is manifested in consciousness, is an essential component of mentality; and second, whether subjectivity presents an obstacle to naturalistic theories of the mind.
The First Controversy
Most philosophers agree that intentionality—the ability to represent—is characteristic of mentality. However, there is strong disagreement over whether subjectivity is also necessary. Those philosophers who think it is (e.g., Searle 1992) argue that true—or what they call "original"—intentionality can only be attributed to a conscious subject. In this view, representational properties can only be ascribed to unconscious states and to unconscious machines—such as computers and robots—in a derivative sense. With respect to computers, the claim is that their internal states only have meaning to the extent that people (conscious subjects) interpret them to mean something. On their own, these states are merely meaningless formal symbols.
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