...This chapter provides an account of the nature of language of thought’s (LOT) mental symbols. Through a two-fold dialectical strategy, an argument is presented to make the case that LOT and computational theory of mind (CTM) should type symbols based on the role they play in the algorithms...

...This chapter maintains, as the previous chapter does, the algorithmic nature of mental symbols. Criticism is directed towards the nonnegotiability of this position as it introduces more problems than it solves. Three main objections are presented against the algorithmic view: the publicity...

... of concepts, mental symbols, and modes of presentation. According to the LOT approach, conceptual thought is determined by the manipulation of mental symbols according to algorithms. The book tackles three key problems that have plagued the LOT approach for decades: the computational nature of the central...