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Single Idea 3010
[filed under theme 18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 4. Language of Thought
]
Full Idea
A defence of the language of thought has to be an argument that believing and desiring are typically structured states.
Gist of Idea
Belief and desire are structured states, which need mentalese
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (Psychosemantics [1987], p.136)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'Psychosemantics' [MIT 1993], p.136
A Reaction
A structure is one thing, and a language is another. Both believings and desirings can be extremely vague, to the point where the owner is unsure what is believed or desired. They can, of course, be extremely precise.
The
19 ideas
with the same theme
[brains have an in-built private language ('Mentalese')]:
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2605
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If everything uses mentalese, ALL concepts must be innate!
[Putnam]
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2606
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No machine language can express generalisations
[Putnam]
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3086
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Are there any meanings apart from in a language?
[Harman]
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3996
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Folk psychology doesn't say that there is a language of thought
[Lewis]
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2524
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A language of thought doesn't explain content
[Dennett]
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4874
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The predecessor and rival of the language of thought hypothesis is the picture theory of ideas
[Dennett]
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2480
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Language is ambiguous, but thought isn't
[Fodor]
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2487
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Mentalese may also incorporate some natural language
[Fodor]
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2483
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Mentalese doesn't require a theory of meaning
[Fodor]
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8090
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Since the language of thought is the same for all, it must be something like logical form
[Fodor, by Devlin]
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12643
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Ambiguities in English are the classic reason for claiming that we don't think in English
[Fodor]
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2604
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We must have expressive power BEFORE we learn language
[Fodor]
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3010
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Belief and desire are structured states, which need mentalese
[Fodor]
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3213
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Animals may also use a language of thought
[Rey]
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3170
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We train children in truth, not in grammar
[Rey]
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7715
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Mentalese isn't a language, because it isn't conventional, or a means of public communication
[Lowe]
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4927
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Information-processing views of the brain assume the existence of 'information', and dubious brain codes
[Edelman/Tononi]
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11121
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Language of thought has subject/predicate form and includes logical devices
[Margolis/Laurence]
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17767
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The alternative to a language of thought is map-like or diagram-like thought
[Bayne]
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