Don't trust Fodor's guide in Monte Carlo: Learning concepts by hypothesis testing without circularity
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Fodor argued that learning a concept by hypothesis testing would involve an impossible circularity. I show that Fodor's argument implicitly relies on the assumption that actually φ‐ing entails an ability to φ. But this assumption is false in cases of φ‐ing by luck, and just such luck is involved in testing hypotheses with the kinds of generative random sampling methods that many cognitive scientists take our minds to use. Concepts thus can be learned by hypothesis testing without circularity, and it is plausible that this is how humans in fact acquire at least some of their concepts.
Source: Mind & Language
DOI: 10.1111/mila.12366
Author: Michael Deigan
Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4206108340