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Full Idea
The idea that there are mental representations is the idea that there are Ideas minus the idea that Ideas are images.
Clarification
'Ideas' (with a capital 'I') is the word as used in the eighteenth century
Gist of Idea
Mental representations are the old 'Ideas', but without images
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (Concepts:where cogn.science went wrong [1998], Ch.1)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'Concepts: where cognitive science went wrong' [OUP 1998], p.8
A Reaction
Good for you, Fodor. I've always thought that the vociferous contempt with which modern philosphers refer to the old notion of 'Ideas' was grossly exaggerated. At last someone puts a clear finger on what seems to be the difficulty.
6650 | Fodor is now less keen on the innateness of concepts [Fodor, by Lowe] |
12616 | English has no semantic theory, just associations between sentences and thoughts [Fodor] |
12613 | Empiricists use dispositions reductively, as 'possibility of sensation' or 'possibility of experimental result' [Fodor] |
12617 | Associationism can't explain how truth is preserved [Fodor] |
12615 | Mental representations are the old 'Ideas', but without images [Fodor] |
12614 | I prefer psychological atomism - that concepts are independent of epistemic capacities [Fodor] |
12618 | It is essential to the concept CAT that it be satisfied by cats [Fodor] |
12619 | We have no successful definitions, because they all use indefinable words [Fodor] |
12620 | If 'exist' is ambiguous in 'chairs and numbers exist', that mirrors the difference between chairs and numbers [Fodor] |
12621 | Definable concepts have constituents, which are necessary, individuate them, and demonstrate possession [Fodor] |
12623 | The theory theory can't actually tell us what concepts are [Fodor] |
12622 | Many concepts lack prototypes, and complex prototypes aren't built from simple ones [Fodor] |