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Full Idea
Thought about the world is prior to thought about how to change the world. Accordingly, knowing that is prior to knowing how. Descartes was right, and Ryle was wrong.
Gist of Idea
Knowing that must come before knowing how
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (LOT 2 [2008], Ch.1)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'LOT 2: the Language of Thought Revisited' [OUP 2008], p.14
A Reaction
The classical example is knowing how to ride a bicycle, when few people can explain what is involved. Clearly you need quite a bit of propositional knowledge before you step on a bike. How does Fodor's claim work for animals?
| 544 | Experience knows particulars, but only skill knows universals [Aristotle] |
| 546 | It takes skill to know causes, not experience [Aristotle] |
| 10950 | Things are produced from skill if the form of them is in the mind [Aristotle] |
| 12628 | Knowing that must come before knowing how [Fodor] |
| 9326 | Knowing-that is a much richer kind of knowing-how [Gulick] |
| 4093 | Many cases of knowing how can be expressed in propositional terms (like how to get somewhere) [Crane] |
| 7630 | Ryle's dichotomy between knowing how and knowing that is too simplistic [Maund] |