Lecture #8 (Fodor Modularity of Mind Part 1)

Modularity of Mind Def

Mind breaks apart into sep modules/sub faculties; Highly influential to this day

Core question → what is the structure of the mind?

Core Question of Modularity of Mind

What is the structure of the mind?

Faculty Psych Def

View that the mind is made up of distinct mental faculties, each responsible for different psychological functions

We judge things to be T or F bc we have a faculty of judgement understood in powers (of judgement)

Faculty Psych on how we Judge

We judge things to be true or false bc we have a faculty of judgement understood in terms of powers (of judgement)

Faculty Psych Accusation

Triviality; Doesnt tell us how the thing (mind)

Ex. We judge things to be T/F with our ability to judge things as T/F

Triviality

Doesnt tell us how something works, the explanation is essentially circular

Ex. Faculty psych for how the brain works

Ex. We judge things to be T/F with our ability to judge things as T/F

Alt Hypothesis to Faculty Psych

Maybe the mind doesnt break down into parts at all → but this is unattractive bc we can identify meaningful differences between mental processes

Ex. Some dif b/w short term + long term memory

Why is Alt of Faculty Psych Unattractive?

Bc we can identify meaningful differences between mental processes

Ex. Some dif b/w short term + long term memory

Does Fodor consider if we can differentiate parts of the mind without faculties?

No

Fodor + Faculty Psych

We need a faculty psych that is compatible with the idea that cognition = computation (like a computer with input, processing, output)

For him this is a Classical Architecture

Classical Architecture

A model of the mind in which mental processes operate on internal representations according to computational rules; What Fodor thinks is a faculty psych compatible with cog = comp

Ex. we can differentiate function of lungs vs heart

Mental Organs Def (Chomsky)

Specialized parts of the mind that perform particular functions, similar to how physical organs perform particular functions in the body → there is a lang faculty

This faculty shows we're born with a mental capacity that makes learning a human language possible

Does Chomsky think there is a lang faculty? (Chomsky)

Yes

This faculty shows we're born with a mental capacity that makes learning a human language possible

What does a lang faculty explain? (Chomsky)

• Why only humans have lang

• Why lang is acquired universally

Grammatical vs Ungrammatical Sentence Ex Mental Organs (Chomsky)

1. John is easy to please.

2. John is eager to please.

3. It’s easy to please John.

4. *It’s eager to please John.

Supports the idea that humans have an internal capacity for processing grammatical structure → our language faculty helps us acquire and use grammatical rules without needing to consciously learn every one

Can recog that 3 works but not 4 even tho they are structurally the same bc our mental reps of them are dif

Grammar (Chomsky)

Internal representation of rules of lang; Generate some structure but not others

Generative Grammar (Chomsky)

The idea that a system of grammatical rules allows us to generate and understand an unlimited number of sentences; Still a dominant paradigm in ling

What is lang faculty? (Chomsky)

A mental organ characterized by grammar

Universal Grammar (Chomsky)

Proposed innate component of the human language faculty that helps children acquire a particular language; Characterized as what a child innately knows about lang → could mean that there are other mental organs with other innate knowledge

Innate lang capacities + Ling experience = A particular grammar (doesnt need to explicitly be taught every rule)

What is Universal Grammar Characterized as? (Chomsky)

What the child innately knows about lang

Implication of Universal Grammar (Chomsky)

There may be other mental organs with other innate knowledge aka other faculties (math, music?)

Neocartesian Faculties

Specialized mental systems that contain innate knowledge or representations and help us process information

Fodor on Chomsky’s Mental Organs

They are Neocartesian faculties → the lang faculty is a body of knowledge which represents rules

What is innate is a bunch of possible grammars, and you have to plug in one course of experience (ex. English)

Why are mental organs Neocartesian faculties?

The lang faculty is a body of knowledge which represents rules, and the innate part is a bunch of possible grammars, and you eventually get one grammar by plugging in one course of experience

Take innate grammars + plug in experience

Computational Account of Cognition

Says that the mind takes in information, applies rules to it, and produces an output

Ex. Input (you hear ‘John is eager to please’) → Processing (lang faculty applies knowledge of grammatical rules) → Output (det sentence’s grammatical structure)

Does Fodor’s idea of Neocartesian Faculties = Mental Organs fit with comp account of cog + Why?

Yes; You are drawing an inference when you parse a sentence, and the same is true of acquiring a lang

P1: “John is eager to please”

P2: (knowledge of syntactic rules)

C: (syntactic structure of the sentence)

Neocartesian faculty contains grammatical rules → the mind applies those rules to linguistic input → it computes a syntactic structure → cognition can be understood as computation

Parsing a Sentence

Drawing an inference

What is true of acquiring lang?

You are making an inference

Can Neocartesian facilities (if they exist) be the whole story about the mind + Why?

No → Some mental abilities require more than knowledge - they require mechanisms that actually do something

Fodor argues that understanding the mind requires explaining how its mechanisms work and what their limitations are, not merely describing what a person knows

Ex. Memory (you need a memory mechanism to remember/recall/retain the proposition that all cats are mammals, the proposition alone isnt enough)

Ex. STM Memory Limits → there is more than a body of knowledge, there is a mechanism

Short Term Memory as a Box Ex + What it shows

Imagine short-term memory as a box that can only hold a limited number of things; When you add more items than it can handle, some items may be lost or displaced

Memory has a mechanism with particular limits that affect how information is processed and retained, which is dif from knowledge itself

Knowledge → Knowing that all cats are mammals

Mechanism → The mental process that allows you to temporarily hold information in mind and determines how much you can hold at once

Mechanisms

Explain how representations interact + cause behav; Some functions in the mind CANT reduce to propositional info + there need to be built in mechanisms

Ex. Why do we go from “p” and “if p then q” to “q”? → there must be some mechanism of deduction, doesnt reduce to propositions (otherwise would be an infinite regress)

Why would only mechanisms lead to an infinite regress?

An infinite regress occurs if every rule used in reasoning requires another rule to explain how it is applied, leading to an endless chain → This motivates the need for a mechanism of deduction

Ex. If P and “if P, then Q,” why do we infer Q? → If we need another rule to explain how we apply each rule, this creates an endless chain

Implication of Mechanisms for Reasoning

Reasoning requires a mechanism of deduction that allows the mind to make inferences

Can every function in mind reduce to propositional info?

No; There need to be built in mechanisms too

Should everyone posit some mechanisms?

Yes

Empiricist on how Mind Learns

There is no innate content + very few innate mechanisms (copy principle, association); All knowledge comes from experience

Rationalist on how Mind Learns

There is some innate content, and more innate mechanisms; Less focused on experience

Horizontal Faculties Def

Mental mechanisms that work across many different content domains, rather than being limited to one specific subject (functionally disting); Three main parts

1. Mechanisms, Not Knowledge (A horizontal faculty is a process your mind uses, not a fact you know; ex. memory is a mechanism that lets you retain info)

2. Relatively Small in Number (relatively few broad mechanisms that work across different domains, like memory)

3. General Across Content Domains (The same mechanism can work with different kinds of information)

One mechanism → many different types of information

Fodor does NOT pursue this

Horizontal Faculties 3 Parts

1. Mechanisms, NOT Knowledge (A horizontal faculty is a process your mind uses, NOT a fact you know; ex. memory is a mechanism that lets you retain info)

2. Relatively Small in Number (relatively few broad mechanisms that work across different domains, like memory)

3. General Across Content Domains (The same mechanism can work with different kinds of information)

Does Fodor pursue Horiz Faculty or Vertical Faculties?

Vertical faculties

Vertical Faculties Def

Specialized mental mechanisms that each handle a particular content domain; 3 Parts

1. Mechanisms NOT Knowledge (they're mental processes that do something, rather than just facts you know)

2. Relatively Large in Number (there may be many specialized faculties because different domains require different mechanisms)

3. Domain-Specific (each faculty specializes in a particular area, such as language, music, or mathematics)

Numerous specialized mental mechanisms, each dedicated to a particular content domain (e.g., language, music, or mathematics); Different mechanisms → different content domains

A mental faculty must be an actual mechanism in the mind, not just a label we give to someone's behavior

Fodor pursues this

Vertical Faculties 3 Parts

1. Mechanisms NOT Knowledge (they're mental processes that do something, rather than just facts you know)

2. Relatively Large in Number (there may be many specialized faculties because different domains require different mechanisms)

3. Domain-Specific (each faculty specializes in a particular area, such as language, music, or mathematics)

Disposition

A tendency or ability to do something under certain conditions; Describes the ability

Ex. Children tend to learn the lang

Competence

Having the underlying ability or mechanism

Performance

Actually carrying out that ability

Are vertical faculties mere dispositions according to Fodor? Why

No; They are psychologically real mechanisms → A mental faculty must be an actual mechanism in the mind, not just a label we give to someone's behavior

Vertical faculties aren't just labels for things we tend to do → They're actual mental mechanisms that help produce those abilities

Ex. You might have the mechanism (competence) but not be disposed to use it (performance) —> violinist with broken arm (their competence remains, even though their performance is impaired)

What does domain-specificity amount to?

Distinct mechanisms for distinct domains

Ex. Bird song + nest building are not due to the bird’s “intellect” → these are 2 dif mechanisms for these 2 dif content domains (could do with intellect if you dont have domain specific)