Fodor, Jerry

"The mind's modularity is not a limitation; it's an elegant solution to the complexity problem."

"You can be a physicalist about the brain and a mentalist about the mind simultaneously."

"Propositional attitudes are not mystical - they're computational states with semantic content."

"If thinking is computing, then minds are machines - but that doesn't make us mere machines."

"The unity of consciousness is more mysterious than any of its parts."

"Reductionism fails not because it's wrong, but because it oversimplifies what needs explaining."

"Language is a window into the structure of thought itself."

"The brain is physical, but thoughts are about possible worlds - that's the real puzzle."

"Nativism isn't about genes determining every detail; it's about structure enabling learning."

"Mental causation is real causation, not some epiphenomenal shadow of physical causation."

"We mistake our ignorance for depth when we pronounce consciousness 'irreducible.'"

"Cognitive science is the study of how minds manage to know anything at all."

"The syntax of thought determines what thoughts are possible; semantics determines which are true."

"Artificial intelligence will reveal the principles of natural intelligence, not replace them."

"Meaning doesn't come from inside the head - it comes from the head's relation to the world."

"Modularity explains why expertise is possible and why it's always local."

"The mind solves problems by using mental representations that stand for external things."

"If you deny intentionality, you deny the possibility of thought itself."

"Connectionism captures some truths about the brain but misses what makes thought possible."

"The question isn't whether mind is physical, but what physical systems realize minds."

"Cognitive architecture constrains what can be thought, not what is true."

"We are not transparent to ourselves - understanding the mind requires science, not introspection alone."

"Mental content is determined by the actual causal history of mental states."

"The mind is systematic - you can't believe one thing without being committed to many others."

"Functionalism captures something important about mind, but it's not the whole story."

"Rationality is a constraint on cognition, not an achievement we must strive for."

"The productivity of thought explains why we can think infinitely many distinct thoughts."

"Psychology is not reducible to neurology because psychological laws are the more stable generalizations."

"The mind's job is to track the world, not to reflect some inner reality."

"Concepts are not mental objects - they're capacities to think about kinds of things."