Millikan, Ruth Garrett

"Representation evolved because it served survival and reproductive success."

"The aboutness of thought is explained by causal mechanisms and proper function."

"Mental content cannot be individuated without reference to the world."

"Understanding requires seeing how systems evolved and why they function."

"Language and thought are tools shaped by evolution and culture."

"The self is a construct of memory, belief, and perception systems."

"Meaning is not inscribed in the mind; it is created through interaction."

"We know the world because we are part of it and causally connected to it."

"Reference is established through historical-causal chains, not descriptions."

"Intentions are biological phenomena with evolutionary significance."

"The mind is as much the body and world as the brain itself."

"Representation requires a system with a proper evolutionary or designed function."

"Content supervenes on history and world, not on intrinsic properties alone."

"Understanding mind requires understanding its biological and ecological context."

"Concepts are not mental containers but capacities and dispositions."

"Language derives from and remains grounded in perception and action."

"The mind is continuous with nature, not separate or privileged."

"Thoughts and sentences derive their meaning from historical-causal relations."

"Representation is about carrying information from world to mind and back again."

"Evolution explains not just our bodies but also our minds and meanings."

"Without proper function, there is no genuine representation or reference."

"Understanding is grasping how things fit into larger systems and histories."

"The phenomenal character of experience may not determine its intentional content."

"Mental states are individuated by their relational properties, not intrinsic ones."

"Consciousness is real but not separate from physical processes."

"Our minds are shaped by millions of years of selective evolution."

"Reference and representation emerge from embodied, situated, evolved systems."

"Knowledge is a biological capacity to detect and respond to truths."

"The hard problem dissolves when we properly understand the nature of consciousness."

"Intentionality is not a mystery but a natural biological phenomenon."