Jerry Fodor
Jerry Fodor (April 22, 1935 – November 29, 2017) was a philosopher. He mostly worked on the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, both of which are concerned with how the mind worked.
Jerry Alan Fodor | |
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 Jerry Fodor in 2007 | |
| Born | April 22, 1935 |
| Died | November 29, 2017 (aged 82) New York City, New York |
| Era | 20th / 21st-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Analytic |
Main interests | Philosophy of mind Philosophy of language Cognitive science Rationalism · Cognitivism Functionalism |
Notable ideas | Modularity of mind Language of thought |
Influences
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Influenced
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His studies have concerned themselves with the idea of whether thought is expressed in language or whether it is absurd to think so. Fodor also attempted to tie in the design of the brain to the thoughts held within. This is described by many as a return to the 19th century practice of phrenology, although Fodor offers more science to back his version up than phrenologists. It is these views which led other philosophers, such as Jared Cole and Daniel Dennett to describe Fodor's claims as absurd and out of date.
Fodor lived in Newark, New Jersey with his wife, Janet. He had two children and several cats. Outside philosophy he enjoyed opera and writes for the London Review of Books.
Fodor died in New York City of complications from Parkinson's disease on November 29, 2017 at the age of 82.[1]
Jerry Fodor Media
The ideas of modularity of mind have predecessors in the 19th-century movement of phrenology founded by Franz Joseph Gall.
An illustration of multiple realizability. M stands for mental and P stand for physical. The diagram shows that more than one P can instantiate one M, but not vice versa. Causal relations between states are represented by the arrows (M1 goes to M2, etc.)
References
- ↑ "Jerry Fodor (1935-2017) (Updated)". 29 November 2017.
Works
- Fodor, Jerry A. 1975. The language of thought.
- Fodor, Jerry A. 1981. Representations: philosophical essays on the foundations of cognitive science. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-06079-5
- Fodor, Jerry A. 1983. The modularity of mind. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-56025-9
- Fodor, Jerry A. 2000. The mind doesn't work that way: the scope and limits of computational psychology. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-56146-8
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