Franz Brentano Quotes
Franz Brentano was a German-Austrian philosopher, a former Catholic priest, and the teacher of Husserl, Meinong, Stumpf, Twardowski, and many other founders of twentieth-century philosophy. His Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint reintroduced into modern philosophy the medieval thesis that mental phenomena are characterized by their directedness toward an object, a thesis he called intentional in-existence. The quotes below are attributed to Franz Brentano, organized by topic.
Franz Brentano on Love
-
Attributed to Franz Brentano:
“Love and hate are the proper subject matter of ethics.”
Franz Brentano on Mind
-
Attributed to Franz Brentano:
“Every mental phenomenon is characterized by what the Scholastics of the Middle Ages called the intentional in-existence of an object.”
-
Attributed to Franz Brentano:
“Mental acts are always directed at something.”
Franz Brentano on Truth
-
Attributed to Franz Brentano:
“What is true is true regardless of who or how many believe it.”
-
Attributed to Franz Brentano:
“We know that there is something rather than nothing because we are conscious.”