How to Think Several Thoughts at Once

Abstract

Basic actions are those intentional actions performed not by doing any other kind of thing intentionally. Complex actions are performed by doing another kind of thing intentionally. There are both basic and complex contentful mental actions. Some contentful complex mental actions have a striking feature that has not been previously discussed: they are performed by way of another kind of action with a distinct content. In other words, a mental action with one content can be constituted by a mental action with a distinct content. This chapter introduces and explains this “content plurality” of certain complex mental actions. This chapter also argues for the philosophical significance of this feature. Content plurality offers a new explanation of transparent self-knowledge and suggests a new theory of inference. It also opens up a new conception of the relation between decisions to act and judgments about what ought to be done.