Language of thought hypothesis

The hypothesis that thinking uses structured symbolic representations whose parts combine according to language-like rules. It explains how mental representations can express complex thoughts and support systematic reasoning.

Mental representation: An internal state or structure that stands for objects, properties, or states of affairs. The hypothesis proposes that thought consists of representations with structured internal parts.
Jerry Fodor: An American philosopher of mind who developed and defended the language of thought hypothesis. His 1975 book gave the hypothesis its most influential modern formulation.
Connectionist model: A computational model in which processing arises from activity across networks of interconnected units. It can model learning and generalization without positing sentence-like mental representations.
Propositional attitude: A mental state, such as belief or desire, that relates a subject to a proposition. The hypothesis treats such states as relations to internally represented thought contents.
Cognitive neuroscience: The study of how brain systems support mental processes and behavior. Neuroscience can test whether brain activity implements structures resembling the proposed symbolic code.
Compositionality: The principle that the meaning of a complex expression depends on its parts and how they are combined. It explains how a finite stock of mental symbols can represent indefinitely many thoughts.
The Language of Thought: Jerry Fodor’s 1975 book arguing that thought involves an internal symbolic language. This book set out the hypothesis and its case for mental representations.
Embodied cognition: The view that cognition depends substantially on bodily capacities and interactions with the environment. It challenges accounts that locate thought primarily in abstract internal symbols.
Inference: The process of deriving a conclusion from premises or other accepted information. Symbolic rules offer one account of how structured thoughts support reasoning.
Thought and language: The study of how thinking relates to natural language and linguistic ability. The hypothesis distinguishes the proposed internal code from the languages people speak.

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