1 To appear in the Festschrift in honor of Jerry Fodor (Edited by Lila Gleitman and Roberto G. De Almeida) Fodor and the innateness of all (basic) concepts Massimo Piattelli‐Palmarini Incipit An Italian colleague, some years ago, defined me as “un Fodoriano di ferro” (an iron‐ clad Fodorian). I do not know whether I am so clad, but I have no compunction in admitting I am, indeed, a Fodorian. Jerry’s work and innumerable conversations I have had with him over many years, not to mention the privilege of writing a book with him (Fodor & Piattelli‐Palmarini, 2010, 2011), have constantly and profitably inspired my own thinking. I first met Jerry when I organized the Chomsky‐Piaget Royaumont debate (Piattelli‐Palmarini, 1980) 1 and was there and then favorably impressed by the cogency of his critique of traditional learning theories and unfavorably impressed by the fact that no one of the numerous other participants (with the exception of Noam Chomsky and Jacques Mehler) seemed to have understood what he was saying and how important it was. Ever since, I have had many occasions to present Jerry’s argument and to teach it, almost invariably witnessing, at first, a mixture of misunderstanding and disbelief. As Jerry was (and is) the first to admit, there is 1 This book has been translated into 11 languages and I am told it is still adopted as a textbook in several courses in several places. But it is presently unavailable, except on the used books market, because Harvard University Press has decided not to reprint it. So be it. I will summarize or transcribe several of the relevant passages here.