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18. Thought / B. Mechanics of Thought / 5. Mental Files

[mind is like a filing system, with labelled folders]

23 ideas
Memories are preserved separately, according to category [Augustine]
Words are not for communication, but as marks for remembering what we have learned [Hobbes]
We need definitions to cram retrievable sense into a signed receptacle [Frege]
We use signs to mark receptacles for complex senses [Frege]
Puzzled Pierre has two mental files about the same object [Recanati on Kripke]
Mental representations name things in the world, but also files in our memory [Fodor]
We think in file names [Fodor]
There is a single file per object, memorised, reactivated, consolidated and expanded [Papineau, by Recanati]
An identity statement aims at getting the hearer to merge two mental files [Lockwood]
Mental files are devices for keeping track of basic coordination of objects [Fine,K]
Files can be confused, if two files correctly have a single name, or one file has two names [Recanati]
Encylopedic files have further epistemic links, beyond the basic one [Recanati]
Singular thoughts need a mental file, and an acquaintance relation from file to object [Recanati]
Expected acquaintance can create a thought-vehicle file, but without singular content [Recanati]
An 'indexed' file marks a file which simulates the mental file of some other person [Recanati]
Reference by mental files is Millian, in emphasising acquaintance, rather than satisfaction [Recanati]
The reference of a file is fixed by what it relates to, not the information it contains [Recanati]
A mental file treats all of its contents as concerning one object [Recanati]
There are transient 'demonstrative' files, habitual 'recognitional' files, cumulative 'encyclopedic' files [Recanati]
Files are hierarchical: proto-files, then first-order, then higher-order encyclopedic [Recanati]
A file has a 'nucleus' through its relation to the object, and a 'periphery' of links to other files [Recanati]
Mental files are concepts, which are either collections or (better) containers [Recanati]
The Frege case of believing a thing is both F and not-F is explained by separate mental files [Recanati]