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It seems to me obvious that infants and many animals that do not in any ordinary sense have a language or perform speech acts nonetheless have Intentional states. Only someone in the grip of a philosophical theory would deny that small babies can literally be said to want milk and that dogs want to be let out or believe that their master is at the door.

— John Searle Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind (1983)

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More quotes by John Searle

Dualism makes the problem insoluble; materialism denies the existence of any phenomenon to study, and hence of any problem.

Consciousness and Language (2002)

The Intentionality of the mind not only creates the possibility of meaning, but limits its forms.

Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind (1983)

Materialism ends up denying the existence of any irreducible subjective qualitative states of sentience or awareness.

Consciousness and Language (2002)

You do not understand your own tradition if you do not see it in relation to others.

"Akrasia" [weakness of will] in rational beings is as common as wine in France.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John Searle (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.