What is "mental state"

n. (psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic; "a manic state" [syn: psychological state]

A mental state is a state of mind that an agent is in. Most simplistically, a mental state is a mental condition or process. It is a relation that connects the agent with a proposition. Several of these states are a combination of mental representations and propositional attitudes. There are several paradigmatic states of mind that an agent has: love, hate, pleasure and pain, and attitudes toward propositions such as: believing that, conceiving that, hoping and fearing that, etc.