Fodor Quotes

“If the Mentalese story about the content of thought is true, then there couldn't be a private language argument. Good. That explains why there isn't one. (In Critical Condition, p. 68)”
― Jerry Fodor

“One man's modus ponens is another man's reductio, as epistemologists are forever pointing out (In Critical Condition, p. 70)”
― Jerry Fodor

“Another idiosyncracy: I mentioned earlier [Jerry Fodor's] concern with science as opposed to ordinary talk. This concern can, however, sometimes seem belied by the folksy, informal character of much of his philosophical writing. I once asked him, “Jerry, you probably know more scientific psychology than any other philosopher: why when you give an example of a psychological law do you take a trivial folk example, such as “Eating more potato chips can make you want eat more,” instead of any serious ones from actual psychology?” Without hesitation, he replied, “citing the science would be vulgar.”
― Georges Rey

“I met Jerry Fodor a number of times at conferences in the 1960s. Sometime in the mid-1960s, after a
long day made longer by my talk on the Competence-Performance distinction, as we waited for
the last speaker to finish, I saw Jerry writing a note which he passed across the room through a
series of audience members all the way to me. Expecting a withering critique of the talk we just
heard – or of my earlier talk – I opened the piece of folded paper and read “My shirt is nicer than
your shirt.”
― Zenon Pylyshyn