Minds without Meanings
Minds without Meanings An Essay on the Content of Concepts
Jerry A. Fodor and Zenon W. Pylyshyn
The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
© 2015 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fodor, Jerry A. Minds without meanings : an essay on the content of concepts / Jerry A. Fodor and Zenon W. Pylyshyn. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02790-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Concepts. 2. Reference (Philosophy). 3. Representation (Philosophy). I. Title. BD181.F63 2014 121'.4—dc23 2014003811
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Contents
Acronyms vii 1 Working Assumptions 1 2 Concepts Misconstrued 19 3 Contrarian Semantics 65 4 Reference within the Perceptual Circle: Experimental
Evidence for Mechanisms of Perceptual Reference 85
5 Reference beyond the Perceptual Circle 133 Notes 157 References 175 Index 187
Acronyms
ANN
Artificial neural net
BCS
Basic cognitive science
CTM
The computational theory of mind
DCT
The dual code theory (of mental representation)
EP
Empiricist principle
GW
George Washington (example)
IRS
Inferential role semantics
ITM
Inferential role theory of mind
LL
Leibniz’s law
LOT
Language of thought
MOT
Multiple object tracking (experimental method)
OFP
Our first president
P&C
Prinz and Clark 2004
PA
Propositional attitude
PC
Perceptual circle
PLA
Private language argument
PRS
Purely referential semantics
RTM
Repre