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Plato suggested that thinking is 'the inward dialogue carried on by the mind with itself'. The philosophical problems of intentionality are a tangled jungle, haunted by strange beasts. Much of the complexity of the intentionality jungle arises from the multiplicity of attempts to refine th...

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Published inMind and Body pp. 137 - 159
Main Author Kirk, Robert
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published United Kingdom Routledge 2003
Taylor & Francis Group
Edition1
Subjects
PHILOSOPHY
Jakob Von Uexkull
Propositional Attitudes
Internal Code
Intentional Notions
Mental Formulas
Token Formula
Scientific Psychology
Pantomime Horse
Vice Versa
Combinatorial Explosion
Desire Box
Intentional States
Connection Strengths
Belief Box
Classical Ai
Ancient Explanation
Everyday Psychology
Basic Package
Constituent Structure
Landscape Vocabulary
Intentional Stance
Spear Fish
Tangled Jungle
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Summary:Plato suggested that thinking is 'the inward dialogue carried on by the mind with itself'. The philosophical problems of intentionality are a tangled jungle, haunted by strange beasts. Much of the complexity of the intentionality jungle arises from the multiplicity of attempts to refine that original idea. Fodor's overall aim is to explain intentionality in a way consistent with both physicalism and a strongly realistic conception of beliefs, desires and other 'propositional attitudes'. Fodor emphasizes arguments based on the supposed 'productivity' and 'systematicity' of intentional states. Productivity is the power to produce infinitely many, or at any rate indefinitely many, different items of a certain category. Fodor has always recognized that the 'Language of Thought' (LOT) hypothesis strikes many philosophers as more or less absurd; but he has been impressed by a number of arguments. Defenders of the LOT hypothesis are willing to concede that connectionism may explain the 'neural structures in which Classical cognitive architecture is implemented'.
ISBN:190268379X
1902683803
9781902683805
9781902683799
DOI:10.4324/9781315710549-7