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Single Idea 2507
[filed under theme 18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 3. Modularity of Mind
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Full Idea
Probably, modular computation doesn't explain how minds are rational; it's just a sort of precursor. You work through it to get a view of how horribly hard our rationality is to understand.
Gist of Idea
Rationality rises above modules
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (In a Critical Condition [2000], Ch.17)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'In Critical Condition' [MIT 2000], p.207
A Reaction
The choice is between a Self which weighs and judges the inputs, or merely decisions that automatically result from the balance of inputs. The latter seems unlikely. Vetoes are essential.
The
41 ideas
from 'In a Critical Condition'
2465
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Maybe explaining the mechanics of perception will explain the concepts involved
[Fodor]
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2467
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Functionalists see pains as properties involving relations and causation
[Fodor]
|
2468
|
Type physicalism is a stronger claim than token physicalism
[Fodor]
|
2469
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The world is full of messy small things producing stable large-scale properties (e.g. mountains)
[Fodor]
|
2470
|
Transcendental arguments move from knowing Q to knowing P because it depends on Q
[Fodor]
|
2473
|
Analysis is impossible without the analytic/synthetic distinction
[Fodor]
|
2471
|
Are concepts best seen as capacities?
[Fodor]
|
2472
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For Pragmatists having a concept means being able to do something
[Fodor]
|
2474
|
It seems likely that analysis of concepts is impossible, but justification can survive without it
[Fodor]
|
2475
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Don't define something by a good instance of it; a good example is a special case of the ordinary example
[Fodor]
|
2476
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The goal of thought is to understand the world, not instantly sort it into conceptual categories
[Fodor]
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2477
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If to understand "fish" you must know facts about them, where does that end?
[Fodor]
|
2484
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The theory of the content of thought as 'Mentalese' explains why the Private Language Argument doesn't work
[Fodor]
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2482
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It seems unlikely that meaning can be reduced to communicative intentions, or any mental states
[Fodor]
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2485
|
Do intentional states explain our behaviour?
[Fodor]
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2486
|
Content can't be causal role, because causal role is decided by content
[Fodor]
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2481
|
Despite all the efforts of philosophers, nothing can ever be reduced to anything
[Fodor]
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2483
|
Mentalese doesn't require a theory of meaning
[Fodor]
|
2487
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Mentalese may also incorporate some natural language
[Fodor]
|
2480
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Language is ambiguous, but thought isn't
[Fodor]
|
2489
|
Why bother with neurons? You don't explain bird flight by examining feathers
[Fodor]
|
2490
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Modern connectionism is just Hume's theory of the 'association' of 'ideas'
[Fodor]
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2491
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Modules have encapsulation, inaccessibility, private concepts, innateness
[Fodor]
|
2492
|
Experience can't explain itself; the concepts needed must originate outside experience
[Fodor]
|
2493
|
According to empiricists abstraction is the fundamental mental process
[Fodor]
|
2494
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Rationalists say there is more to a concept than the experience that prompts it
[Fodor]
|
2497
|
Something must take an overview of the modules
[Fodor]
|
2495
|
Obvious modules are language and commonsense explanation
[Fodor]
|
2499
|
Modules analyse stimuli, they don't tell you what to do
[Fodor]
|
2496
|
Blindness doesn't destroy spatial concepts
[Fodor]
|
2498
|
Modules make the world manageable
[Fodor]
|
2500
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Babies talk in consistent patterns
[Fodor]
|
2501
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Berkeley seems to have mistakenly thought that chairs are the same as after-images
[Fodor]
|
2502
|
How do you count beliefs?
[Fodor]
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2509
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Modules have in-built specialist information
[Fodor]
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2503
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Empirical approaches see mind connections as mirrors/maps of reality
[Fodor]
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2506
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If I have a set of mental modules, someone had better be in charge of them!
[Fodor]
|
2504
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Rationalism can be based on an evolved computational brain with innate structure
[Fodor]
|
2507
|
Rationality rises above modules
[Fodor]
|
2508
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The function of a mind is obvious
[Fodor]
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2505
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Turing invented the idea of mechanical rationality (just based on syntax)
[Fodor]
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