ABSTRACT
Teleosemantic theories are naturalistic theories of mental content distinctive for their appeal to biological functions. Naturalism goes along with seeing the philosophy of mind as an empirical rather than purely conceptual enterprise, an enterprise that is not different in kind from natural science. The etiological account of function is most clearly illustrated by looking at the functions of biological items whose characteristics can be explained with reference to natural selection. Some teleosemantic theories account only for the content of very basic representations; others are intended as fully fledged theories of content that cover all mental states including beliefs and desires. Indeterminacy would be a fault in a teleosemantic account of content for states that form part of complex representational systems. This chapter provides a more detailed consideration of Millikan's teleosemantics, which is the most fully worked-out teleosemantic account of the content of beliefs and desires.
