Notícias

Chamada de Artigos para Civitas Avgvstiniana 2026, Volume 13

 

Consciousness and Intentionality - The Mark of Augustine in the Philosophy of Mind

 

Eduarda Machado University of Porto & Rituparna Roy Jadavpur University, Kolkata

 

Submission deadline: 31 March 2026

 

The theological concerns of early Christianity and medieval philosophy in general are inextricably linked to St. Augustine, who has played a significant role in the history of philosophy. However, with a closer scrutiny, it becomes clear that Augustine has discussed a wide range of philosophical topics, making him a philosopher who transcends time and whose ideas are as contemporary as the concepts of ancient philosophy. Being a Platonist, he believes that by looking inwardly and that is, from the body to the soul and from the sensible to the intelligible, we may eventually extend beyond ourselves as individuals and connect with the ultimate being, which is God and Truth, and more internal to us than our innermost selves. Explaining this act of extending oneself towards God and things implies the notion of intentio.

A general definition of intentionality, which has been enumerated in different historical periods, is that it is the property par excellence of the nature of the mental; more ambitiously, any act of consciousness. Augustine identifies intentio with will and love, to focus on its more cognitive aspects, departing from vision to memory, thought, and self-knowledge. For Augustine, all these processes require more than subject and object. They require the very relationship between them - directedness - the relationship itself, which is signified by the term intentio.

In its essence, the concept is implicitly at work in the Greek doctrines of the soul and knowledge. However, it was with Augustine and his successors (e.g., Albert the Great, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, and Haervus Natalis) that intentionality began to have its place in philosophy, having reached the present day through Brentano. By assuming the truth of the statement "I exist" from the knowledge of the subject's existence, his anti-skeptical argument creates a region resistant to pessimistic inquiry. It would still be true that I, who might be erroneous, remain regardless of whether I were improper in claiming this. His idea of the human mind and its creation is, on the one hand, a recollection of Platonism and corresponds to contemporary theories of mind. It would not be wrong to credit him as one of the precursors of subject subject-centric notion of mind and consciousness. His concepts of necessary evil and divine grace not only lead us to the notion of free will but also shed light on the essence of the soul and, to an extent, the way of being. It is already widely acknowledged that Brentano's groundbreaking concept of ‘the mark of the mental’ was influenced by his illustration of intentionality. Wittgenstein and other later philosophers were affected by his interpretation of language.

Considering the persistent presence of Augustinian conceptions of mind, consciousness, and the self in contemporary discussions, albeit mostly undetected, the relevance of a volume dedicated to collecting works on intentionality, mind, and consciousness in the history of philosophy becomes evident. The aim of this volume is to provide a better understanding of what was apparently a concept that disappeared after the medieval era. It was resurrected by Brentano and is now pursued with such emphasis by studies in medieval, analytic, and continental philosophy.

 

Civitas is pleased to invite you to submit articles focusing on the problems of intentionality and its role in defining the nature of consciousness. The call for papers is open to the study of the theme in any philosophical tradition and to any historical period. The selection of articles will, however, consider how they intersect with Augustinian views and studies in a worldview.

 

Calendar:

Submission: 31 March 2026

Communication of accepted texts: 30th April 2026

Proofreading: 1 June – 30 August 2026

Publication: November 2026.

 

Information:

Guidelines to Authors: Click Here

Submission Form (Online): Click Here

For more information: civitas@letras.up.pt

Civitas Avgvstiniana

Instituto de Filosofia e Gabinete de Filosofia Medieval
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
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4150-564 Porto
Portugal