Psychosemantics: The Problem of Meaning in the Philosophy of Mind (Explorations in Cognitive Science)

Cognitivism argues that psychology studies behavior to infer unobservable theoretical constructs, such as `belief,' that summarize and explain empirical observations and predict new phenomena. Here, Fodor tries to provide a scientific account of commonsense belief/desire psychology by defending a representational theory of mind. Assuming that there is no alternative to the vocabulary of commonsense psychological explanation, he proposes that we have an infinite set of mental symbols at our disposal and that a propositional attitude is equivalent to a symbol's occurring and its functioning in a particular causal role. Underlying his account is the view that mental processes will turn out to be physical processes. Highly recommended for philosophers of mind and cognitive psychologists. Annotation Psychosemantics explores the relation between commonsense psychological theories and problems that are central to semantics and the philosophy of language. Building on and extending Fodor's earlier work it puts folk psychology on firm theoretical ground and rebuts externalist, holist, and naturalist threats to its position. This book is included in the series Explorations in Cognitive Science, edited by Margaret A. Boden. A Bradford Book Preface......Page 1 1 Introduction : The Persistence of the Attitudes......Page 6 2 Individualism and Supervenience......Page 32 3 Meaning Holism......Page 59 4 Meaning and the World Order......Page 100 Epilogue - Creation Myth......Page 131 Appendix - Why There Still Has to Be a Language of Thought......Page 136 Notes......Page 156 References......Page 169 Author Index......Page 172 Psychosemantics explores the relation between commonsense psychological theories and problems that are central to semantics and the philosophy of language. Building on and extending Fodor's earlier work it puts folk psychology on firm theoretical ground and rebuts externalist, holist, and naturalist threats to its position. --From publisher's description