What is Jerry Fodor?
{{Infobox Philosopher |region = Western Philosophy |era = [[20th-century philosophy|20th]] / [[21st-century philosophy]] |color = #B0C4DE <!-- Image and caption --> |image = Jerry_Fodor_in_2007.jpg |caption = Jerry Fodor in 2007 |name = Jerry Alan Fodor |birth_date = April 22, 1935 |birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] |death_date = {{death date and age|2017|11|29|1935|4|22}} |death_place = New York City, New York |school_tradition = [[Analytic philosophy|Analytic]] |main_interests = [[Philosophy of mind]]<br/>[[Philosophy of language]]<br/>[[Cognitive science]]<br/>[[Rationalism]]{{·}} [[Cognitivism]]<br/>[[Functionalism (philosophy of mind)|Functionalism]] |notable_ideas = [[Modularity of mind]]<br/>[[Language of thought]] |influences = [[Hilary Putnam]]{{·}} [[Sydney Morgenbesser]]{{·}} [[Jerome Bruner]]{{·}} [[Franz Joseph Gall]]{{·}} [[Noam Chomsky]], [[David Hume]] |influenced = [[Ernest Lepore]]{{·}} [[Zenon Pylyshyn]]<br/>[[Georges Rey]]{{·}} [[Murat Aydede]]<br/>[[Steven Pinker]]{{·}} [[Dan Sperber]]<br/>[[Deirdre Wilson]]{{·}} [[Paul Churchland]]<br/>[[Alan M. Leslie]] }} '''Jerry Fodor''' (April 22, 1935 &ndash; November 29, 2017) was a [[philosopher]]. He mostly worked on the [[philosophy of mind]] and [[cognitive science]], both of which are concerned with how the mind worked. His studies have concerned themselves with the idea of whether [[thought]] is expressed in [[language]] or whether it is absurd to think so. Fodor also attempted to tie in the design of the brain to the thoughts held within. This is described by many as a return to the 19th century practice of [[phrenology]], although Fodor offers more science to back his version up than phrenologists. It is these views which led other philosophers, such as [[Jared Cole]] and [[Daniel Dennett]] to describe Fodor's claims as absurd and out of date. Fodor lived in [[Newark, New Jersey]] with his wife, Janet. He had