[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$foh_G_BwdwetmW2lG-9AxeIDFCbEmef7HALMzllakyFw":3,"$fWh_-sCpax8ISI6lqS1URnodZnPvKlxHTBiYZiUfL9O0":52},{"author":4,"tags":51},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":10,"bio_jsonld":11,"slug":49,"image_url":50},64361,"Jerry A. Fodor","J",11,"Jerry Alan Fodor was born on April 22, 1935, in New York City, a setting that would remain closely tied to his professional life throughout his career. A citizen of the United States, Fodor worked and wrote in English across a career that placed him at the intersection of philosophy of mind and cognitive science.\n\nFodor was educated at Columbia University, Princeton University, and the University of Oxford, a formation that equipped him for sustained work in analytic philosophy. He went on to teach at MIT and at the City University of New York Graduate Center before holding the position of State of New Jersey Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, a post he retained in emeritus status at the time of his death. As a philosopher and university teacher, his writings addressed philosophy of mind and cognitive science, and they laid the groundwork for the modularity of mind and the language of thought hypotheses, two frameworks that became central reference points in those fields.\n\nIn recognition of his contributions, Fodor received a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Jean Nicod Prize, and he was elected a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society. These distinctions reflected the reach of his work across both philosophical and scientific communities. His engagement with questions about mental representation and cognitive architecture sustained his standing as a significant voice in the disciplines he worked within.\n\nFodor died on November 29, 2017, in Manhattan — the borough of the city where he had been born more than eight decades earlier. At the time of his death he held the emeritus professorship at Rutgers University, a position that marked the final chapter of a career conducted largely within the universities and intellectual communities of the northeastern United States.","Jerry Alan Fodor was born on April 22, 1935, in New York City, a setting that would remain closely tied to his professional life throughout his career. A citizen of the United States, Fodor worked and wrote in English across a career that placed him at the intersection of philosophy of mind and cognitive science.",{"@graph":12,"@context":48},[13,25],{"@id":14,"name":6,"@type":15,"sameAs":16,"birthDate":22,"deathDate":23,"description":24},"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q319186","Person",[14,17,18,19,20,21],"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Fodor","https://viaf.org/viaf/91461061/","https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50003606","https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL226457A","https://d-nb.info/gnd/119020122","1935-04-22","2017-11-29","American philosopher (1935–2017)",{"@type":26,"author":27,"headline":30,"isBasedOn":31,"mainEntity":32,"reviewedBy":33,"articleBody":9,"dateCreated":34,"dateModified":35,"additionalProperty":36,"creativeWorkStatus":47},"Article",{"name":28,"@type":29},"Editorial Team","Organization","Jerry A. Fodor — biography",[14,17,19,20],{"@id":14},{"name":28,"@type":29},"2026-05-24T13:18:08.915746+00:00","2026-05-24T13:37:56.068823+00:00",[37,41,44],{"@type":38,"value":39,"propertyID":40},"PropertyValue","Q319186","wikidata",{"@type":38,"value":42,"propertyID":43},"0.957","factscore",{"@type":38,"value":45,"propertyID":46},"claude-sonnet-4-6","draftModel","AI-drafted, auto-published","https://schema.org","jerry-a-fodor",null,[],{"quotes":53,"pagination":173},[54,63,69,76,82,90,96,117,141,152],{"id":55,"quote_text":56,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":59,"source":60,"quote_tag":61,"commentary":62},3130861,"I don’t have any friends in English Departments.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],"**The Backstory**\n\nThis quote is often attributed to Jerry A. Fodor, a philosopher and cognitive scientist known for his influential work on modularity of mind and the philosophy of language. The sentiment likely reflects his experiences as an outsider in academia during the 1960s and 1970s, when he was challenging the prevailing linguistic theories.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nFodor's statement reveals a paradoxical tension between two core aspects of academic life: the pursuit of intellectual rigor and the need for social belonging. On one hand, Fodor values intellectual honesty and the freedom to challenge established theories; on the other hand, his isolation from English Departments suggests that he recognizes the importance of collaboration and social support in academic endeavors.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nFor modern academics or creatives who feel like outsiders in their fields, Fodor's quote offers a valuable lesson: it's possible to maintain intellectual independence while still seeking out supportive communities. By acknowledging the value of both solitude (for focused work) and connection (for feedback and camaraderie), individuals can navigate the tension between these competing demands and cultivate a more productive and fulfilling professional life.",{"id":64,"quote_text":65,"author_id":5,"source_id":57,"has_image":58,"author":66,"source":67,"quote_tag":68,"commentary":50},3130836,"Some philosophers hold that philosophy is what you do to a problem until it’s clear enough to solve it by doing science. Others hold that if a philosophical problem succumbs to empirical methods, that shows it wasn’t really philosophical to begin with.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":70,"quote_text":71,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":73,"source":74,"quote_tag":75,"commentary":50},860117,"People think they want to know. Actually, if you ask—-how much would you pay to know, the answer is not much. . . . Do you care how your refrigerator works? No, as long as there’s a repairman around when it breaks down. Nobody really cares.",2,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":77,"quote_text":78,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":79,"source":80,"quote_tag":81,"commentary":50},855880,"As Uncle Hegel used to enjoy pointing out, the trouble with perspectives is that they are, by definition, PARTIAL points of view; the Real problems are appreciated only when, in the course of the development of the World Spirit, the limits of perspective come to be transcended. Or, to put it less technically, it helps to be able to see the whole elephant.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":83,"quote_text":84,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":85,"author":86,"source":87,"quote_tag":88,"commentary":89},853067,"I don't have any friends in English Departments.",true,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],"**The Backstory**\n\nThis quote is likely from Jerry A. Fodor, a philosopher and cognitive scientist known for his work on modularity of mind and language. The sentiment reflects the tensions Fodor faced in his academic career, particularly during the 1970s when he was affiliated with Oxford University's Philosophy Department and later at New York University. At that time, Fodor was working to integrate insights from linguistics, philosophy, and psychology into a comprehensive theory of mind.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\n\nThe quote belies a deeper philosophical tension: Fodor's skepticism about the relevance of his work to the concerns of English Departments suggests that he recognized the compartmentalization of disciplines within academia. This compartmentalization not only hindered interdisciplinary collaboration but also led Fodor to question whether the study of language was being adequately served by departments focused on literature and linguistics.\n\n**How to Use This**\n\nIn today's academic landscape, this mindset encourages researchers and scholars to challenge disciplinary boundaries and seek out collaborations that cut across traditional departmental silos. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, individuals can develop a more nuanced understanding of their research questions and contribute to innovative solutions that benefit from the convergence of diverse fields of study.",{"id":91,"quote_text":92,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":93,"source":94,"quote_tag":95,"commentary":50},772290,"My point... is of course not that solipsism is true; it's just that truth, reference, and the rest of the semantic notions aren't psychological categories. What they are is: they're modes of Dasein. I don't know what Dasein is, but I'm sure that there's lots of it around, and I'm sure that you and I and Cincinnati have all got it. What more do you want?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[],{"id":97,"quote_text":98,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":99,"source":100,"quote_tag":101,"commentary":50},765269,"The sun will rise tomorrow morning; I know that perfectly well. But figuring out how I could know it is, as Hume pointed out, a bit of a puzzle.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[102,107,112],{"id":103,"tag":104},3625903,{"id":105,"tag_name":106},270,"philosophy",{"id":108,"tag":109},3625902,{"id":110,"tag_name":111},374,"knowledge",{"id":113,"tag":114},3625900,{"id":115,"tag_name":116},30640,"epistemology",{"id":118,"quote_text":119,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":120,"source":121,"quote_tag":122,"commentary":50},709122,"There is a gap between the mind and the world, and (as far as anybody knows) you need to posit internal representations if you are to have a hope of getting across it. Mind the gap. You’ll regret it if you don't.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[123,126,131,136],{"id":124,"tag":125},3486368,{"id":105,"tag_name":106},{"id":127,"tag":128},3486367,{"id":129,"tag_name":130},601,"mind",{"id":132,"tag":133},3486366,{"id":134,"tag_name":135},13381,"gap",{"id":137,"tag":138},3486369,{"id":139,"tag_name":140},32014,"philosophy-of-mind",{"id":142,"quote_text":143,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":144,"source":145,"quote_tag":146,"commentary":50},635244,"Ontological priority is normatively neutral, Plato to the contrary notwithstanding.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[147],{"id":148,"tag":149},3277117,{"id":150,"tag_name":151},5503,"plato",{"id":153,"quote_text":154,"author_id":5,"source_id":72,"has_image":58,"author":155,"source":156,"quote_tag":157,"commentary":50},468045,"Only a philosopher would consider taking Oedipus as a model for a normal, unproblematic relation between an action and the maxim of the act.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":49,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":50},{},[158,163,168],{"id":159,"tag":160},2656446,{"id":161,"tag_name":162},1598,"action",{"id":164,"tag":165},2656448,{"id":166,"tag_name":167},15448,"philosophers",{"id":169,"tag":170},2656447,{"id":171,"tag_name":172},73613,"oedipus",{"currentPage":174,"totalPages":72,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":175},1,10]