Mark J. Cain 
Fodor 
Language, Mind and Philosophy

Jerry Fodor is one of the most important philosophers of mind in
recent decades. He has done much to set the agenda in this field
and has had a significant influence on the development of cognitive
science. Fodor’s project is that of constructing a physicalist
vindication of folk psychology and so paving the way for the
development of a scientifically respectable intentional psychology.
The centrepiece of his engagement in this project is a theory of
the cognitive mind, namely, the computational theory of mind, which
postulates the existence of a language of thought. Fodor:
Language, Mind and Philosophy is a comprehensive study of
Fodor’s writings. Individual chapters are devoted to each of the
major issues raised by his work and contain extensive discussion of
his relationships to key developments in cognitive science and to
the views of such philosophical luminaries as Dennett, Davidson and
Searle.

This accessible book will appeal to advanced level undergraduate
students of philosophy and related disciplines. It will also be of
great interest to professional philosophers and cognitive
scientists.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements.

1. The Fodorian Project.

2. Philosophical and Scientific Background.

3. The Computational Theory of Mind.

4. Challenges to the Computational Theory of Mind.

5. Explaining Mental Content.

6. Individualism and Narrow Content.

7. The Modularity Thesis.

Afterword.

Notes.

References.

Index.

About the author

Mark Cain is Leverhulme Special Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham