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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Theory-ladenness of observation threatens the claim only if it collapses the distinction between data collection and data interpretation, a conflation Fodor's modularity thesis argues against.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Attention, categorization, and selective sampling operate during collection itself, not post-hoc, making the collection/interpretation distinction artificial.
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    • 2.Modularity cannot explain how background theories influence which features observers attend to before any explicit interpretation occurs.
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    • 3.Even if modules exist, theory-ladenness penetrates sensory processing through top-down feedback mechanisms that Fodor's thesis underestimates.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Fodor's modularity thesis demonstrates that perceptual systems operate independently from central cognitive systems, preserving observational autonomy.
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    • 2.If theory-ladenness only affects interpretation, not raw sensory input, then observations retain evidential independence from theoretical commitments.
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    • 3.Distinguishing data collection from interpretation allows us to explain how theories can be tested against recalcitrant observations at all.
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