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Quote by Jerry Fodor

“The theory of natural selection reduces to a banal truth: if a kind of creature flourishes in a kind of situation, then there must be something about such creatures (or about such situations, or about both) in virtue of which it does so.”

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Jerry Fodor

Jerry Fodor is a renowned American philosopher known for his contributions to the fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and cognitive science. His research focuses on the nature of language, meaning, and cognition, and has had a profound impact on the philosophical community. more

“It can be a necessary conceptual truth that pains are painful without this ruling out the physicalist thesis that immaterial minds are impossible or the thesis that conscious states supervene on physical states. The necessity involved in these claims is nomological necessity, not metaphysical necessity (assuming that these are different).”

Mind Different States Pain Impossible Involved Conscious Claims Assuming Painful Metaphysical Ruling Thesis

Author:Elliott Sober

“I disagree with the widely held view that it is metaphysical necessity, not nomological, that matters in the mind/body problem.”

Mind Matter Problem Body Views Disagree Metaphysical Mind Body

Author:Elliott Sober

“"Tiger is a natural kind" and "Tiger is a historical particular" are incompatible with each other, and evolutionary biology provides a reason for favoring the latter over the former.”

Kind Reason Natural Particular Historical Former Latter Biology Tigers Evolutionary Biology

Author:Elliott Sober

“Evolutionary biologists often avoid using the term "race" because there is so much racist baggage that comes with the term. However, they are often okay with the idea that the genealogy of human groups within our species can sometimes be inferred in much the same way as the genealogy of different species.”

Way Humans Ideas Different Sometimes Term Race Groups Okay Species Racist Baggage Biologist Genealogy

Author:Elliott Sober

Quote by Jerry Fodor

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