Table of Contents

1: Philosophical Introduction: The Background Theory.
2: Unphilosophical Introduction: What Concepts Have To Be.
3: The Demise of Definitions, Part I: The Linguist's Tale.
4: The Demise of Definitions, Part II: The Philosopher's Tale.
5: Prototypes and Compositionality. (Appendix 5A: Meaning Postulates. Appendix 5B: The `Theory Theory' of Concepts.)
6: Innateness and Ontology, Part I: The Standard Argument. (Appendix 6A: Similarity.)
7: Innateness and Ontology, Part II: Intentional Laws and Natural Kinds. (Appendix 7A: Round Squares.)
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Jerry Fodor is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Reviews

important, aggressively argued, accessible, witty, irreverent, wide-ranging, provocative and bound-to-be-influential book written in his famous no-niceties, short-from-the-hip style. Stephen Schiffer, Times Literary Supplement Fodor continues to be one of philosophy's great idea generators. This provocative book will set the agenda for discussion about concepts for years to come. Fodor argues for atomism about concepts with wit, verve and style. Everyone interested in philosophical issues of language or mind should study this book. Ned Block, Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, New York University