The Modularity Of Fodor’s Mind

The modularity of the mind proposed by Fodor offers a curious and controversial explanation on the functioning of our mind. According to this modular concept, our brain would be organized in specialized areas to effectively solve concrete problems.

According to the modularity of the mind , the latter is organized in specialized processing devices, like a Swiss army knife with its multiple and specific functions.

First of all, it should be noted that this perspective, as well as the concept of modularity applied to perceptual and cognitive processes, is still heavily criticized by neuroscience. However, a niche of evolutionary psychologists continues to support this approach, first expressed by anthropologist John Tooby and psychologist Leda Cosmides in 1992.

Well, this idea had already emerged among the philosophical community in the 1980s. It was Jerry A. Fodor, one of the most renowned philosophers of the mind, who for a long time probed the mysteries of the structure of human cognition. We are talking about a great expert in linguistics, logic, semiotics, psychology, computer science and artificial intelligence.

It is to him that we owe, for example, the foundations of cognitive science itself and of the branch of philosophy of psychology. One of his most famous and most impactful works was undoubtedly  La modularity of the mind,  published in 1983. This current, although not considered valid by many experts, still arouses great interest in the study of mental processes.

The modularity of the mind

There is a first aspect to this theory with which we will certainly all agree. Fodor himself pointed out that the brain, as an observable physical entity, can be studied better and better thanks to technological advances. Nonetheless, there is a point where the study of the mind passes through a more abstract and imprecise level where technology loses value.

Plato and Aristotle themselves tried to find an explanation for this, as did Descartes and John Locke. So it was that in the 1980s, this current halfway between philosophy and psychology exploited the legacy of Noam Chomsky and the crypto-mathematician Alan Turing as a singular way to define and explain our cognitive processes.

Below we see the principles that define the theory of modularity of mind.

The modules of the mind

In the late 1950s, linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky began to defend one of his best-known theories: language is not a learned behavior, but an innate functional mental faculty. This premise was one of the pillars that later inspired Dr. Fodor.

He was directly based on Turing’s work on computer mathematical models, gradually forming his theory according to which the mind is divided into separate and specialized mental faculties.

This theory was called modularity of the mind and holds that every mental process is organized into several specialized modules, just like the unique functions of a computer. There is therefore a module for sensation and perception, another for volition, another for memory, one for language, etc.

The supporters of the modular theory

Jerry A. Fodor published his theories in the book  The modularity of the mind  (1983). Later, Doctors Tooby and Cosmides enunciated the Swiss Army Knife theory based on his work. Where are we today? Could an approach be considered valid that believes that the mind is made up of specialized “applications”?

Although this theory is controversial, there are not a few figures in the scientific field who defend it. One of the clearest positions is that of Nancy Kanwisher, a professor and researcher in the Department of Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

One of his best-known TED conferences is the one in 2014 where he explained the validity of this theory. In this regard he has also written various articles and scientific studies that are periodically published in the Journal of Neuroscience .

The case of prosopagnosia

Dr. Kanwisher has found through magnetic resonances the existence of many areas of the brain that do not communicate with each other, but work in isolation. This allows, for example, people with prosopagnosia to see perfectly but be unable to recognize others. Subject can see children when picking them up from school, but cannot recognize them.

There would therefore be many specialized areas in the brain that work in “modules”, and concern concrete sections such as the one that processes color, shapes, movement, speech.

The modularity of the mind and criticisms

There are many who believe that the modular theory is too simplistic, in pure Darwinian style, where, for example, the idea of ​​natural selection is not excluded.

This perspective argues that our behaviors are like programs that we acquire over time as a species. Each process and each function develops and specializes independently from the rest.

Studies such as the one published in the journal  PLOS Biology  report the risk of taking the modular approach on human cognition. We cannot speak of the brain as a fragmentary entity. The same goes for the phone metaphor, according to which we add applications according to our daily needs. In reality, far more complex phenomena occur.

While it is true that there are areas that do not communicate with others, the fact that the mind works through different specialized and separate sectors is not. The brain is designed to share information and work in a unified way,  connecting distinct areas and continuously exchanging data.

Our reasoning, which is anything but modular and holistic, exploits multiple concepts, inferences, processes, inductions… Therefore, the brain and cognitive processes cannot be understood under the classic computer metaphor. They are much more complex, fascinating and unpredictable.