Jerry A. Fodor

Jerry Fodor argues against the widely held view that mental processes are largely computations, that the architecture of cognition is massively modular, and that the explanation of our innate mental structure is basically Darwinian.

The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology

The Mind Doesn't Work that Way

In a compelling defense of the speculative approach to the philosophy of mind, Jerry Fodor argues that, while our best current theories of cognitive psychology view many higher processes as computational, computation itself presupposes an internal medium of representation. Fodor's prime concerns are to buttress the notion of internal representation from a philosophical viewpoint, and to determine those characteristics of this conceptual construct using the empirical data available from linguistics and cognitive psychology.

The Language of Thought

Jerry Fodor

Professor Jerry A Fodor

This study synthesizes current information from the various fields of cognitive science in support of a new and exciting theory of mind. Most psychologists study horizontal processes like memory and information flow; Fodor postulates a vertical and modular psychological organization underlying biologically coherent behaviors. This view of mental architecture is consistent with the historical tradition of faculty psychology while integrating a computational approach to mental processes. One of the most notable aspects of Fodor's work is that it articulates features not only of speculative cognitive architectures but also of current research in artificial intelligence.

An Essay on Faculty Psychology

The Modularity of Mind

Jerry Fodor presents a strikingly original theory of the basic constituents of thought, asserting the theory of concepts lies at the heart of cognitive science, and advocating that future work on human cognition should build upon new foundations.

Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong

Concepts

Jerry A. Fodor presents a new development of his famous Language of Thought hypothesis, the idea that thinking is couched in a symbolic system realized in the brain; since the 1970s this has been at the centre of debate about how the mind works. No one who studies the mind can ignore Fodor's views, expressed in his coruscating and provocative style.

The Language of Thought Revisited

LOT 2

A collection of eleven essays dealing with methodological and empirical issues incognitive science and in the philosophy of mind, Representations convincingly connects philosophicalspeculation to concrete empirical research.One of the outstanding methodological issues dealt withis the status of functionalism considered as an alternative to behavioristic and physicalisticaccounts. of mental states and properties. The other issue is the status of reductionism consideredas an account of the relation between the psychological and physical sciences. The first chapterspresent the main lines of argument which have made functionalism the currently favored philosophicalapproach to ontology of the mental.The outlines of a psychology of propositional attitudes whichemerges from consideration of current developments in cognitive science are contained in theremaining essays.Not all of these essays are re-presentations. The new introductory essay seeks topresent an overview and gives some detailed proposals about the contribution that functionalismmakes to the solutions of problems about intentionality. The concluding essay, also not previouslypublished, is a sustained examination of the relation between theories about the structure ofconcepts and theories about how they are learned. Finally, the essay "Three cheers for propositionalattitudes", a critical examination of some of D. C. Dennett's ideas, has been completely rewrittenfor this volume. A Bradford Book.

Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science

Representations

Psychosemantics explores the relation between commonsense psychological theories and problems that are central to semantics and the philosophy of language. Building on and extending Fodor's earlier work it puts folk psychology on firm theoretical ground and rebuts externalist, holist, and naturalist threats to its position.This book is included in the series Explorations in Cognitive Science, edited by Margaret A. Boden.A Bradford Book.

The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind

Psychosemantics

LINES OF THOUGHT Philosophy books don't need to be hundreds of pages long to make a substantial contribution to the subject. This new series presents original works by leading philosophers at an affordable price and a readable length. Series Editors Peter Ludlow (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Scott Sturgeon (Birkbeck College, London) Hume? Yes, David Hume, that's who Jerry Fodor looks to for help in advancing our understanding of the mind. Fodor claims his Treatise of Human Natureas the foundational document of cognitive science: it launched the project of constructing an empirical psychology on the basis of a representational theory of mind. Going back to this work after more than 250 years we find that Hume is remarkably perceptive about the components and structure that a theory of mind requires. Careful study of the Treatise helps us to see what's amiss with much twentieth-century philosophy of mind, and to get on the right track. Hume says in the Treatise that his main project is to construct a theory of human nature and, in particular, a theory of the mind. Hume Variations examines his account of cognition and how it is grounded in his 'theory of ideas'. Fodor discusses such key topics as the distinction between 'simple' and 'complex' ideas, the thesis that an idea is some kind of picture, and the roles that 'association' and 'imagination' play in cognitive processes. He argues that the theory of ideas, as Hume develops it, is both historically and ideologically continuous with the representational theory of mind as it is now widely endorsed by cognitive scientists. This view of Hume is explicitly opposed to recent discussions by critics who hold that the theory of ideas is the Achilles heel of his philosophy and that he would surely have abandoned it if only he had read Wittgenstein carefully. You don't have to know much about Hume to enjoy this inventively argued, provocative, and stimulating defence of the representational theory of mind--which is looking increasingly hard to resist.

Hume Variations

Written in a highly readable, irreverent style, The Elm and the Expert provides a lively discussion of semantic issues about mental representation, with special attention to issues raised by Frege's problem, Twin cases, and the putative indeterminacy of reference. Bound to be widely read and much discussed, The Elm and the Expert, written in Jerry Fodor's usual highly readable, irreverent style, provides a lively discussion of semantic issues about mental representation, with special attention to issues raised by Frege's problem, Twin cases, and the putative indeterminacy of reference. The book extends and revises a view of the relation between mind and meaning that the author has been developing since his 1975 book, The Language of Thought. There is a general consensus among philosophers that a referential semantics for mental representation cannot support a robust account of intentional explanation. Fodor has himself espoused this view in previous publications, and it is widespread (if tacit) throughout the cognitive science community. This book is largely a reconsideration of the arguments that are supposed to ground this consensus. Fodor concludes that these considerations are far less decisive than has been supposed. He offers a theory sketch in which psychological explanation is intentional, psychological processes are computational, and the semantic properties of mental representations are referential. Connections with the problem of naturalizing intentionality are also explored. The four lectures in The Elm and the Expert were originally delivered in Paris in the spring of 1993 to inaugurate the Jean Nicod Lecture series. The Jean Nicod Lectures are delivered annually by a leading philosopher of mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist. The 1993 lectures marked the centenary of the birth of the French philosopher and logician Jean Nicod (1893-1931). The lectures are sponsored by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) as part of its effort to develop the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science in France. Jean Nicod series

Jerry A. Fodor

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