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Full Idea
Functional role semantics wants to analyze the content of a belief in terms of its inferential (causal) relations; but that seems the wrong way round. The content of a belief determines its causal role.
Gist of Idea
Content can't be causal role, because causal role is decided by content
Source
Jerry A. Fodor (In a Critical Condition [2000], Ch. 6)
Book Ref
Fodor,Jerry A.: 'In Critical Condition' [MIT 2000], p.70
A Reaction
This is one of my favourite ideas, which keeps coming to mind when considering functional accounts of mental life. The buck of explanation must, however, stop somewhere.