Analytic Philosophy

Jerry Fodor

How do the Churchlands account for perceptions of meaning?

Meaning is fixed by networks of association. Ultimately, meaning will be replaced by connectionist networks with activation along “preferred vectors.” Sameness of meaning is no more than a sameness of patterns. In the library of the future, there will be “plugs” for directly activating relevant brain states and patterns, bypassing the need to transmit meanings via language as we now know it.