The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology
Fodor (Jerry)
This Page provides (where held) the Abstract of the above Book and those of all the Papers contained in it.
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Back Cover Blurb

  1. This monograph synthesizes current information from the various fields of cognitive science in support of a new and exciting theory of mind.
  2. Most psychologists study horizontal processes like memory. Fodor postulates a vertical and modular psychological organization underlying biologically coherent behaviors. This view of mental architecture is consistent with the historical tradition of faculty psychology while integrating a computational approach to mental processes.
  3. One of the most notable aspects of Fodor's work is that it articulates features not only of speculative cognitive architectures but also of current research in artificial intelligence1.

Follow this link2 for a write-up Note.
Book Comment

Bradford Books, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1996


"Fodor (Jerry) - Four Accounts of Mental Structure"

Source: Fodor - The Modularity of Mind, 1983, Chapter 1


Sections
  1. Neo-Cartesianism: The Structure of the Mind viewed as the Structure of Knowledge
  2. Mental Structure as Functional Architecture: Horizontal Faculties
  3. Mental Structure as Functional Architecture: Vertical Faculties
  4. Associationism (and: ‘Whatever became of Faculty Psychology’?)
    • 4.1 Traditional Associationism
    • 4.2 Computational Associationism
  5. Summary

Paper Comment

Write-up2 (as at 04/04/2015 00:17:17): Fodor - Four Accounts of Mental Structure

This note provides my detailed review of "Fodor (Jerry) - Four Accounts of Mental Structure".

Currently, this write-up is only available as a PDF. For a précis and analysis of the whole book ("Fodor (Jerry) - The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology"), click File Note (PDF). It is my intention to convert this to Note format shortly.

… Further details to be supplied3



In-Page Footnotes ("Fodor (Jerry) - Four Accounts of Mental Structure")

Footnote 2:
  • This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (04/04/2015 00:17:17).
  • Link to Latest Write-Up Note.


"Fodor (Jerry) - A Functional Taxonomy of Cognitive Mechanisms"

Source: Fodor - The Modularity of Mind, 1983, Chapter 2

Paper Comment

Write-up2 (as at 04/04/2015 00:17:17): Fodor - A Functional Taxonomy of Cognitive Mechanisms

This note provides my detailed review of "Fodor (Jerry) - A Functional Taxonomy of Cognitive Mechanisms".

Currently, this write-up is only available as a PDF. For a précis and analysis of the whole book ("Fodor (Jerry) - The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology"), click File Note (PDF). It is my intention to convert this to Note format shortly.

… Further details to be supplied3



In-Page Footnotes ("Fodor (Jerry) - A Functional Taxonomy of Cognitive Mechanisms")

Footnote 2:
  • This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (04/04/2015 00:17:17).
  • Link to Latest Write-Up Note.


"Fodor (Jerry) - Input Systems as Modules"

Source: Fodor - The Modularity of Mind, 1983, Chapter 3


Sections
  1. Input Systems are Domain Specific
  2. The Operation of Input Systems is Mandatory
  3. Limited Central Access to the Mental Representations that Input Systems Compute
  4. Input Systems are Fast
  5. Input Systems are Informationally Encapsulated
  6. Input Analyzers have Shallow Outputs
  7. Input Systems are Associated with Fixed Neural Architectures
  8. Input Systems Exhibit Characteristic and Specific Breakdown Patterns
  9. The Ontogeny of Input Systems Exhibits a Characteristic Pace and Sequencing

Paper Comment

Write-up2 (as at 04/04/2015 00:17:17): Fodor - Input Systems as Modules

This note provides my detailed review of "Fodor (Jerry) - Input Systems as Modules".

Currently, this write-up is only available as a PDF. For a précis and analysis of the whole book ("Fodor (Jerry) - The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology"), click File Note (PDF). It is my intention to convert this to Note format shortly.

… Further details to be supplied3



In-Page Footnotes ("Fodor (Jerry) - Input Systems as Modules")

Footnote 2:
  • This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (04/04/2015 00:17:17).
  • Link to Latest Write-Up Note.


"Fodor (Jerry) - Central Systems"

Source: Fodor - The Modularity of Mind, 1983, Chapter 4


Sections
  1. Why Central Systems are Unencapsulated and Non-Modular
  2. Analogy with scientific reasoning
  3. The Frame Problem
  4. Summary

Paper Comment

Write-up2 (as at 04/04/2015 00:17:17): Fodor - Central Systems

This note provides my detailed review of "Fodor (Jerry) - Central Systems".

Currently, this write-up is only available as a PDF. For a précis and analysis of the whole book ("Fodor (Jerry) - The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology"), click File Note (PDF). It is my intention to convert this to Note format shortly.

… Further details to be supplied3



In-Page Footnotes ("Fodor (Jerry) - Central Systems")

Footnote 2:
  • This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (04/04/2015 00:17:17).
  • Link to Latest Write-Up Note.


"Fodor (Jerry) - Caveats and Conclusions"

Source: Fodor - The Modularity of Mind, 1983, Chapter 5


Sections
  1. Epistemic Boundenness
  2. The Prospects for Cognitive Science if the Modularity Thesis is True

Paper Comment

Write-up2 (as at 04/04/2015 00:17:17): Fodor - Caveats and Conclusions

This note provides my detailed review of "Fodor (Jerry) - Caveats and Conclusions".

Currently, this write-up is only available as a PDF. For a précis and analysis of the whole book ("Fodor (Jerry) - The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology"), click File Note (PDF). It is my intention to convert this to Note format shortly.

… Further details to be supplied3



In-Page Footnotes ("Fodor (Jerry) - Caveats and Conclusions")

Footnote 2:
  • This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (04/04/2015 00:17:17).
  • Link to Latest Write-Up Note.

Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
  1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
  2. Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)


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