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Ramírez Motoa, C. (2019). About rabbits and other geometric figures : the problem of referential indeterminacy in Fodor’s semantic theory. Discusiones Filosóficas, 20(34), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.17151/difil.2019.20.34.9
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Abstract
This article examines the argument advanced by Fodor to neutralize Quine's problem of referential indeterminacy, showing that there are substantial problems with its premises and the conclusion that it intends to bring forward. Eventually, it will be shown that the mistakes in Fodor's argument indicate that there is a systematic indeterminacy in his semantic theory. Finally, the causes of this referential indetermination, in terms of a conceptual commitment with an extensional criterion identity for perceptual states that his informational semantics supposes, are analyzed.
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References
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Dretske, Fred. Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1981. Print.
Fodor, Jerry. The Language of Thought. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975. Print. ---. Psychosemantics: The Problem of Meaningin the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT/Bradford, 1987. Print.---. A Theory of Content and Other Essays. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990. Print.---. The Elm and the Expert: Mentalese and its Semantics. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1994. Print.
Fodor, Jerry and Pylyshyn, Zenon. How Direct is Visual Perception? Some Reflections on Gibson's Ecological Approach. Cognition. Apr. 9 (2), 1981: 139-96. Print.---. Minds Without Meanings: an Essay on the Content of Concepts. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2014. Print.
Gibson, Roger. The Philosophy of W. V. Quine. Tampa: University of South Florida Press, 1982. Print.
Quine, Willard Van Orman. Word and Object. New Edition. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1960. Print.---. Ontological Relativity and Other Essays. New York: Columbia University Press, 1969. Print.
Shani, Itay. Intension and Representation: Quine’s Indeterminacy Thesis Revisited. Philosophical Psychology. Jan.18 (4). 2005: 415-440. Print.---. The Whole Rabbit: On the Perceptual Roots of Quine's Indeterminacy Puzzle. Philosophical Psychology. Dec. 22 (6). 2009: 739 – 763. Print.
