Single Idea 2443

[catalogued under 15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / e. Questions about mind]

Full Idea

I hold that psychological laws are intentional, that semantics is purely informational, and that thinking is computation (and that it is possible to hold all of these assumptions at once).

Clarification

'Semantics' is meanings.

Gist of Idea

I say psychology is intentional, semantics is informational, and thinking is computation

Source

Jerry A. Fodor (The Elm and the Expert [1993], §4)

Book Reference

Fodor,Jerry A.: 'The Elm and the Expert' [MIT 1995], p.81


A Reaction

When he puts it baldly like that, it doesn't sound terribly persuasive. Thinking is 'computation'? Raw experience is irrelevant? What is it 'like' to spot an interesting connection between two propositions or concepts? It's not like adding 7 and 5.