The Evolution of Fodor’s Case against Concept Learning

Abstract

Abstract The concept nativism that we defend in this book stands in opposition to empiricist approaches to the origins of concepts, but it equally stands in opposition to Jerry Fodor’s radical concept nativism—the view that virtually all lexical concepts are innate—and his notorious claim that concept learning is impossible. In Part IV, we turn to Fodor’s views about concept acquisition, show where they go wrong, and explain how our concept nativism, in contrast with Fodor’s radical concept nativism, embraces the fact that most concepts are learned. In this chapter, we examine what Fodor has had to say about these issues in publications spanning more than thirty years and the important changes to his views over this time, culminating in his most thorough case against concept learning in his book LOT2: The Language of Thought Revisited.