La Distincion "Narrow Content-Wide Content"

Abstract

The notion of content establishes a close connection between intentionality and meaning. In the last twenty years several theories have made a bifurcation which is known as the narrow/wide content distinction. This topic has being broadly discussed in the area of mind, cognition and language. The intention of this paper is to outline what the issue is about. First, its origins linked to the semantical thesis known as externalism are examined. Second, following Akeel Bilgrami's analysis Belief and Meaning (1991)ESS the motivations that give rise to the idea of wide content are discussed. Bilgrami has shed light on the problem of bifurcation in revealing its relation with Putnam, Kripke and Burge's causal views on reference. On the basis of this critique the paper places the narrow/wide content distinction in a broader philosophical context by noticing the profound motivations that lie under each notion as well as its connections with some epistemological questions.