Jerry A. Fodor's Books

The Modularity of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

159

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560259

ISBN 13

9780262560252

The Language of Thought

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Language of Thought

By: Jerry A. Fodor

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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

228

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674510305

ISBN 13

9780674510302

The Compositionality Papers

By: Jerry A. Fodor,Ernest LePore

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Compositionality Papers

By: Jerry A. Fodor,Ernest LePore

Jerry Fodor and Ernie Lepore have produced a series of original and controversial essays on issues relating to compositionality in language and mind; they have now revised them all for publication together in this volume. Compositionality is the following aspect of a system of representation:the complex symbols in the system inherit their syntactic and semantic properties from the primitive symbols of the system. Fodor and Lepore argue that compositionality determines what view we must take of the nature of concepts. Anyone trying to figure out how language and mind work must takeaccount of this challenging work by two leading figures in the field.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

228

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199252165

ISBN 13

9780199252169

LOT 2

The Language of Thought Revisited

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

LOT 2

The Language of Thought Revisited

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Jerry Fodor presents a new development of his famous Language of Thought hypothesis, which has since the 1970s been at the centre of interdisciplinary debate about how the mind works. Fodor defends and extends the groundbreaking idea that thinking is couched in a symbolic system realized in the brain. This idea is central to the representational theory of mind which Fodor has established as a key reference point in modern philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. The foundation stone of our present cognitive science is Turing's suggestion that cognitive processes are not associations but computations; and computation requires a language of thought. So the latest on the Language of Thought hypothesis, from its progenitor, promises to be a landmark in the study of the mind. LOT 2 offers a more cogent presentation and a fuller explication of Fodor's distinctive account of the mind, with various intriguing new features. The central role of compositionality in the representational theory of mind is revealed: most of what we know about concepts follows from the compositionality of thoughts. Fodor shows the necessity of a referentialist account of the content of intentional states, and of an atomistic account of the individuation of concepts. Not least among the new developments is Fodor's identification and persecution of pragmatism as the leading source of error in the study of the mind today. LOT 2 sees Fodor advance undaunted towards the ultimate goal of a theory of the cognitive mind, and in particular a theory of the intentionality of cognition. No one who works on the mind can ignore Fodor's views, expressed in the coruscating and provocative style which has delighted and disconcerted countless readers over the years.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

410

Publisher

OUP Oxford

Published Date

ISBN 10

0191615323

ISBN 13

9780191615320

Psychosemantics

The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Psychosemantics

The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

191

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262061066

ISBN 13

9780262061063

Concepts

Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Concepts

Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Oxford Cognitive Science Series General Editors: Martin Davies, Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK, James Higginbotham , Professor of General Linguistics, University of Oxford, UK, John O'Keefe, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College, London, UK, Christopher Peacocke, Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK, and Kim Plunkett, University Lecturer in Psychology, University of Oxford, UK The Oxford Cognitive Science series is a forum for the best contemporary work in this flourishing field, where various disciplines--cognitive psychology, philosophy, linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, and computational theory--join forces in the investigation of thought, awareness, understanding, and associated workings of the mind. Each book will represent an original contribution to its subject, but will be accessible beyond the ranks of specialists, so as to reach a broad interdisciplinary readership. The series will be carefully shaped and steered by the general editors, with the aim of representing the most important developments in the field and bringing together its constituent disciplines. About this book The renowned philosopher Jerry Fodor, who has been a leading figure in the study of the mind for more than twenty years, presents a strikingly original theory of the basic constituents of thought. He suggests that the heart of a cognitive science is its theory of concepts, and that cognitive scientists have gone badly wrong in many areas because their assumptions about concepts have been seriously mistaken. Fodor argues compellingly for an atomistic theory of concepts, deals out witty and pugnacious demolitions of the rival theories that have prevailed in recent years, and suggests that future work on human cognition should build upon new foundations. This lively, conversational, accessible book is the first volume in the Oxford Cognitive Science Series, where the best original work in this field will be presented to a broad readership. Concepts will fascinate anyone interested in contemporary work on mind and language. Cognitive science will never be the same again.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

187

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198236379

ISBN 13

9780198236375

Representations

Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Representations

Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science

By: Jerry A. Fodor

These essays will shape discussion in the philosophy of psychology for years to come. A collection of eleven essays dealing with methodological and empirical issues in cognitive science and in the philosophy of mind, Representations convincingly connects philosophical speculation to concrete empirical research.One of the outstanding methodological issues dealt with is the status of functionalism considered as an alternative to behavioristic and physicalistic accounts. of mental states and properties. The other issue is the status of reductionism considered as an account of the relation between the psychological and physical sciences. The first chapters present the main lines of argument which have made functionalism the currently favored philosophical approach to ontology of the mental.The outlines of a psychology of propositional attitudes which emerges from consideration of current developments in cognitive science are contained in the remaining essays.Not all of these essays are re-presentations. The new introductory essay seeks to present an overview and gives some detailed proposals about the contribution that functionalism makes to the solutions of problems about intentionality. The concluding essay, also not previously published, is a sustained examination of the relation between theories about the structure of concepts and theories about how they are learned. Finally, the essay "Three cheers for propositional attitudes", a critical examination of some of D. C. Dennett's ideas, has been completely rewritten for this volume. A Bradford Book.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

357

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560275

ISBN 13

9780262560276

The Modularity of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Modularity of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

164

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560259

ISBN 13

9780262560252

Minds Without Meanings

An Essay on the Content of Concepts

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Minds Without Meanings

An Essay on the Content of Concepts

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Two prominent thinkers argue for the possibility of a theory of concepts that takes reference to be concepts' sole semantic property.In cognitive science, conceptual content is frequently understood as the “meaning” of a mental representation. This position raises largely empirical questions about what concepts are, what form they take in mental processes, and how they connect to the world they are about. In Minds without Meaning, Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn review some of the proposals put forward to answer these questions and find that none of them is remotely defensible.Fodor and Pylyshyn determine that all of these proposals share a commitment to a two-factor theory of conceptual content, which holds that the content of a concept consists of its sense together with its reference. Fodor and Pylyshyn argue instead that there is no conclusive case against the possibility of a theory of concepts that takes reference as their sole semantic property. Such a theory, if correct, would provide for the naturalistic account of content that cognitive science lacks—and badly needs. Fodor and Pylyshyn offer a sketch of how this theory might be developed into an account of perceptual reference that is broadly compatible with empirical findings and with the view that the mental processes effecting perceptual reference are largely preconceptual, modular, and encapsulated.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

202

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262027909

ISBN 13

9780262027908

Minds Without Meanings

An Essay on the Content of Concepts

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Minds Without Meanings

An Essay on the Content of Concepts

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

202

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262027909

ISBN 13

9780262027908

The Mind Doesn't Work that Way

The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Mind Doesn't Work that Way

The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology

By: 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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

150

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262561468

ISBN 13

9780262561464

The Language of Thought

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Language of Thought

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

228

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674510305

ISBN 13

9780674510302

The Elm and the Expert

Mentalese and Its Semantics

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Elm and the Expert

Mentalese and Its Semantics

By: Jerry A. Fodor

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

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

150

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560933

ISBN 13

9780262560931

The Elm and the Expert

Mentalese and Its Semantics

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Elm and the Expert

Mentalese and Its Semantics

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

150

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560933

ISBN 13

9780262560931

The Mind Doesn't Work that Way

The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Mind Doesn't Work that Way

The Scope and Limits of Computational Psychology

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

150

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262561468

ISBN 13

9780262561464

Psychosemantics

The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Psychosemantics

The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

191

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262061066

ISBN 13

9780262061063

A Formal Theory of Commonsense Psychology

By: Andrew S. Gordon,Jerry R. Hobbs

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

A Formal Theory of Commonsense Psychology

By: Andrew S. Gordon,Jerry R. Hobbs

This book formalizes commonsense knowledge to enable artificial intelligence to understand and engage with the mental lives of people.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

585

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1107151007

ISBN 13

9781107151000

The Compositionality Papers

By: Jerry A. Fodor,Ernest LePore

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Compositionality Papers

By: Jerry A. Fodor,Ernest LePore

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

228

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199252165

ISBN 13

9780199252169

Representations

Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Representations

Philosophical Essays on the Foundations of Cognitive Science

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

357

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262560275

ISBN 13

9780262560276

Concepts

Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Concepts

Where Cognitive Science Went Wrong

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

187

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0198236379

ISBN 13

9780198236375

What Darwin Got Wrong

By: Jerry Fodor,Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

What Darwin Got Wrong

By: Jerry Fodor,Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini

Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, a distinguished philosopher and scientist working in tandem, reveal major flaws at the heart of Darwinian evolutionary theory. They do not deny Darwin's status as an outstanding scientist but question the inferences he drew from his observations. Combining the results of cutting-edge work in experimental biology with crystal-clear philosophical argument they mount a devastating critique of the central tenets of Darwin's account of the origin of species. The logic underlying natural selection is the survival of the fittest under changing environmental pressure. This logic, they argue, is mistaken. They back up the claim with evidence of what actually happens in nature. This is a rare achievement - the short book that is likely to make a great deal of difference to a very large subject. What Darwin Got Wrong will be controversial. The authors' arguments will reverberate through the scientific world. At the very least they will transform the debate about evolution.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

114

Publisher

Profile Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1847651909

ISBN 13

9781847651907

Hume Variations

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Hume Variations

By: Jerry A. Fodor

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 Nature as 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 ofthe 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 theroles 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. 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)

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

165

Publisher

Oxford University Press on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199287333

ISBN 13

9780199287338

LOT 2

The Language of Thought Revisited

By: Jerry A. Fodor

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

LOT 2

The Language of Thought Revisited

By: Jerry A. Fodor

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.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

239

Publisher

Oxford University Press on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199548773

ISBN 13

9780199548774

Book's by Jerry A. Fodor

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email