"From the point of view of semantics, errors must be accidents: if in the extension of "horse" there are no cows, then it cannot be required for the meaning of "horse" that cows be called horses. On the other hand, if "horse" did not mean that which it means, and if it were an error for horses, it would never be possible for a cow to be called "horse." Putting the two things together, it can be seen that the possibility of falsely saying "this is a horse" presupposes the existence of a semantic basis for saying it truly, but not vice versa. If we put this in terms of the crude causal theory, the fact that cows cause one to say "horse" depends on the fact that horses cause one to say "horse"; but the fact that horses cause one to say "horse" does not depend on the fact that cows cause one to say "horse"..."
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Philosophers from the United StatesJews from the United StatesPeople from New York CityCognitive scientistsPrinceton University alumni
Original Language: English
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Fodor (1990). A Theory of Content and Other Essays. The MIT Press.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jerry_Fodor
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Jerry Fodor
Jerry Alan Fodor (April 22, 1935 – November 29, 2017) was an American philosopher, cognitive scientist, and author of many works in the fields of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, in which he laid the groundwork for the and the language of thought hypotheses, among other ideas.
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