Is Folk Psychology a Theory?

This chapter explores some ways in which folk psychology has been taken to be a theory. It discusses eliminativism – the doctrine that the mental states over which folk psychology quantifies simply don’t exist. The chapter describes theorists who deny that folk psychology is a theory. It aims to sketche the claim that folk psychology is best understood in terms of mental simulation. In its purest form, simulation theory denies that folk psychology involves a theory of human psychology. Simulation theory begins with the model of human action offered by intentional psychology. The term “folk psychology” is deliberately used to mark a contrast with what psychologists might call “scientific psychology.” The mindreading approach to folk psychology is akin to the first strategy, simulation theory akin to the second. Realists about mental states claim that beliefs and desires are bona fide states of the human organism.