When was Jerry Fodor born and where did he grow up?
Jerry Alan Fodor was born in New York City on the 22nd of April 1935. He grew up in a Jewish household.
Questions about Jerry Fodor
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the central claim of Jerry Fodors The Language of Thought published in 1975?
The central claim argued that mental states like beliefs are relations between individuals and mental representations. These representations form an actual language existing within the mind codified directly in the brain.
How did Jerry Fodor define modularity in his 1983 publication The Modularity of Mind?
He defined modules as organs with specific causal and functional roles that remain relatively independent of each other and of central processing. Informational encapsulation allows a person to elaborate information without interference from background beliefs.
Why did Jerry Fodor shift toward a causal notion of mental content starting in the early 1980s?
Fodor shifted toward this view because he criticized earlier commitments to inferential role semantics which he viewed as overly holistic. His asymmetric causal theory sought to establish how symbols acquire meaning through external relations.
Who co-authored What Darwin Got Wrong with Jerry Fodor in 2010 and what was their main argument?
Jerry Fodor co-authored the book alongside Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini. They argued that neo-Darwinian literature often overestimates environmental contributions to phenotypic shaping while endogenous variables play larger roles than standard evolutionary theories acknowledge.
When did Jerry Fodor die and what academic positions did he hold before retirement?
Fodor died at home on the 29th of November 2017. He held the State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy Emeritus title at Rutgers University until his retirement in 2016 after previously teaching at MIT from 1959 through 1986 and CUNY from 1986 to 1988.