Intentionality vs. psychophysical identity

Brentano’s empiricism displays striking similarities with Mach’s phenomenalism. Both authors hold physical reality to be a “fiction” and reject the traditional view of truth and existence. In this paper, I seek to clarify some aspects of the debate opposing Mach to Brentano and the Brentanians, with a special focus on the theory of intentionality. First, I link this debate to an earlier one and argue that it was already old in 1874 when the Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint was published. Secondly, I construe Brentano’s intentionalism as an alternative to the psychophysical identity thesis as defended by (among others) Ernst Mach. Finally, I point out some of its advantages over the psychophysical identity thesis.