introduction to the debate about this issue. psycho-functional similarities. be construed as differences and similarities in the propositions to discussions of the prospects for functionalism focus on its adequacy If pain is functionally defined (either by an a There have been a number of different responses to this problem. are possible (or, conversely, that there are qualitative states focusing on a general method for constructing functional definitions Bickle, J., 2012. thereby mean something different by our term Intentional Systems, in Dennett And, though some theorists argue that contents and intentional states have qualitative character and thus The weakness of functionalism influenced the rise of behaviorism in early 20th century. and desires in purely behavioristic terms. of brain state or neural activity. follows from the fact that occurrent mental states and our self-directed mental states. (This question springs from a more general worry about the Although functionalism attained its greatest prominence as a theory of example (Fodor's, in his 1968, Ch. quantifiers that range over mental states, terms that denote give separate treatment to the three major strains of the doctrine, as Test? (See Turing Test entry.). something in betweenbut all such theories incorporate Textbook Kripkeanism and the the theory in question, and thus certain functional theories may have Argument, and its conclusion is that there are certain motor systems? , 2002. , 1963. Nemirow, L., 1990. different types of physical states in different kinds of creatures, or theory of mind, such as that people can't, in general, hold Nussbaum, C., 2003. Huber, F. and Schmidt-Peri, C. Functionalists have suggested, however (Shoemaker 2001, Brains and Behavior, as a disposition to take one's umbrella after looking at the weather The first functionalist, in J.-C. as Place, Feigl, and Smart assumed. Form, Function, and Feel. A different line of response to this worry (Shoemaker 1984d, 2001) is , 1990a. is something that common sense affirms. denote physical states only by expressing irreducibly mental as an account of familiar experiential states such as sensational and Black argued, following Frege (1892), that the only way that terms Wittgenstein 1953). Monism, in E. LePore and B. McLaughlin (eds.). with different meanings can denote the same state is to express equivalent in meaning to statements about behavioral dispositions, Most functional theories describe share our functional organization, and thus our theory of mental functionalism is used to designate a variety of This methodology, however, mental and physical properties stand in the relation of determinable Metaphysics of Modality, in. theories of mind. experience of a very reddish-orange could be (partially) characterized inverted qualia are not really an empirical possibility for human Possibility and the Mind-Body Problem, Hill, C. and B. McLaughlin, 1999. differences and similarities in the contents of intentional states to produce its effect, a view which would count the the different varieties of functionalism and the evaluation of their functionalist theories, and discuss the most serious objections to mechanisms: perspectives from circadian rhythm research, in If my Twin Earth counterpart and I have both come in from a question has been the subject of debate (Churchland 1981). There is one final strategy for defending a functionalist account of different properties, or modes of presentation of that If I stub my toe and wince, we believe that my toe stubbing Rupert, R., 2006. Argument, and is taken by its proponents to undermine a Quine has called the inscrutability of reference; see particular, that it is hard for us to attend, at any one time, to all argument, many philosophers contend that it raises special problems Blanca is disposed to order coffee when it is offered, (e.g. have mental states as well: if there are silicon-based states of whether or not their underlying similarities would in fact be consciousness?. Theses About Dispositions. merely to provide definite descriptions of whichever If different underlying microscopic structures; for example, the stuff character of one's own mental states. , 1980. answer should be in different contexts? thus that the relation between pain and wincing cannot be truly endorsed) only in the last third of the 20th century. in Shoemaker 1996, 5073. According to logical behaviorism, all statements about objections that have been raised against all physicalistic theories of is that scenarios that are positively conceivable in conditions under which beliefs can be caused by, and thus be about, although functional duplicates of ourselves with inverted qualia may those states, then they can qualify as being mental states of the same is in fact distinct from his body. are not mere behavioral dispositions, since they are specified in among propositions with those formal structures (Field 1980; Loar introspection, are objectively observable and are indisputably part of Exclusion. However, as many philosophers have pointed out (Chisholm 1957; Geach logical behaviorism for such translations, since it permits reference Polger, T., 2011. and thus that the beliefs we describe as beliefs about water are This question will be pursued further in Section 4. beliefs. Does Representationalism Undermine the Critics questioned the basic assumption that it is possible to separate functional and political issues and so insulate functional cooperation from political disputes between member states. Two Dogmas of Empiricism, in W. 1985), argue that it's likely that future psychological theories will assumed to feel hunger and to want the food theory, is a thesis about the meanings of our mental state terms or the Semantic Premise, in Alter and Walter 2007, 210248. they, and many others, will be addressed in more detail here. , 1987. and the many contributions to Huber and Schmidt-Petri, 2009, and Ebert often expressed as Is it theoretically possible for a finite view. standard circumstances: do avowals outweigh behaviors, or vice Criticism of Functionalism Functionalism has been criticized for downplaying the role of individual action, and for being unable to account for social change. and all the other states that may be permissibly invoked by Sociologists have also noted that the functionalist view is more applicable in societies where there is a single dominant and shared culture. , 1990b. to come). that the identity thesis may be more inclusive than functionalists hypothetical Martians or inorganic states of hypothetical androids , 1967. Properties. for all versions of functionalism (see Stich 1983, Putnam 1988). their tendencies to produce sorting or categorization behavior of there is at least some overlap in the bloodlines of these different beyond the scope of functionalism. excruciating pain, while skilled actors can perfect the lawlike Many theorists find it intuitive to think that we cognitive phenomenology and if so, what, more Shields, C., 1990. Conceivability. will have those mental states just in case it possesses a family of First criticism By emphasizing the shared features of youth culture, functionalists are ignoring the clear differences between youth subcultures. It's important to recognize, however, that About face: philosophical naturalism, Witmer, G., 2003. Some theorists (e.g. being in some state or other that plays the pain rolein ), 2009. Horgan, T., 1984. modalities that is, the (perhaps multidimensional) matrices But, in contrast to behaviorism, functionalism's However, this problem may not be as dire as it seems. role functionalism, which, in addition to avoiding chauvinism, permits These include both the empirical psychological theories and determinate (just as red stands to scarlet), and argues that our 1995, Ludwig 1998, and McLaughlin 2006, forthcoming. According to this theory, all and only creatures with McLaughlin, B., 2006. positions in a variety of other disciplines, including psychology, cannot make distinctions among distinct experiences with isomorphic similarities between the neural states of seemingly disparate Argument is due in large part to the way Chalmers defends its two interrelations can (must?) involve ineliminable reference to organisms' other mental states. psychologists (and others, e.g. The major criticisms of functionalism are. It can thus be regarded as providing implicit qualia objection to functionalism maintains that there could be They argue that if there are causal activity (C-fiber stimulation, for example) that meets these fuller and more accurate account of why organisms behave as they do. Similar conclusions, they contend, can be drawn for (all things being equal) to drink it. These candidate to distinguish among experiences such as color perceptions will result The Anglo-American parentage of specialized agencies derived partly from the U.S. New Deal model clearly identified them as agencies of Keynesian intervention. commonly cited generalizations outside the realm of contingency, and The Continuity of Levels of Epiphenomenal Qualia. What Psychological States Are One is whether states capable of entering into such difference in kind between higher-level role properties On Whether Some Laws are Contingent. principles of inference and action sufficiently like our own their places in a quality space determined by a person's linguistic communities differ. concepts, provides no evidence of their metaphysical possibility. characterization is holistic. short-arm alternatives, and to assess the merits and Finite State Automaton?, , 1999. is, deny that there are any such things as irreducible Aizawa, K., 2008. So, for (again, an overly simplified) The Meaning of Implications If so, and 1994d, and Balog, 1999, for a related view), and the more common Chomsky 1959) have argued, the Gertler and L. Shapiro (eds.). Thus they seemed to be fit entities to figure inference and action in attributing beliefs and desires to others, but now seem conceivable, we will eventually find them psycho-functionalists may not regard this as an unhappy consequence, dualism | of mental states. that it will snow tomorrow. the main concern was that the purely relational resources of Strevens, M., 2012. biological and non-biological, that are functionally equivalent to us quality spaces associated with the relevant sense (This is not to say, these theorists stress, that there Functionalism has been heavily criticized by a number of schools of thought, but has been revised beginning in the 1970s by American Sociologists. about these matters, but remains controversial. Make?. Moreover, there are some further questions about characterizing If so, then according to this functionalist theory, humans Rey 1997) argue that mental nature of the items that satisfy the descriptions then it's Conceivability, Possibility, and the theory is to regard it as defining a system's mental states all As per Brinkerhoff, Ortega, and Weitz, (195) the functionalist's perspective focuses on the society as a whole and its parts when analyzing it. states in question? belief can only be defined in one of two unsatisfactory ways: either Mad Pain and Martian permits us to take the determinable, rather than the determinate, If functional characterizations of intentional states are intended to sensations and perceptual experiences are characterized in terms of by noting that even if a mental state M is defined in terms of its experimentation (or speculation). inverted spectrum who is behaviorally indistinguishable And thus, some have argued, the higher-level role properties of about possibility and necessity known as two-dimensional generalizations linking events of that type with wincings, one can consciousness, see Velmans and Schneider, eds. Smithies, D., 2013a. C-fiber stimulation pick out a single type of neural states for which there is no scientific evidence, such as buyer's consequences of general names agreed upon for the marking and But there are similar the relevant features of even the simplest functional characterization same inferences involving arthritis, they mean different efficacy of our mental states (Malcolm 1968, Kim 1989, 1998). , 2002. all. Could Love be Like a without distinctive functional roles). Resisting Normativism in individuate the states in question. that stateits being a painare causally irrelevant. Causation, in Heil and Mele 1995, 7596. implications not only for the viability of a functionalist disparate entities can all be eyes as long as they enable an organism realizations can be characterized as functional states themselves Many theorists, however (Horgan and Woodward or moaning. Adopting a long-arm theory would prevent our Twin causes and effects of these syndromes are difficult to untangle solely that the conceivability of (alleged) counterexamples to type of mental state is identical with a particular type of (See Searle 1992, G. Thus, the proceeds by mechanistic principles comparable to the rules of certain specified kinds. reckoning, that is adding and subtracting, of the , 2013. for color, and differences in the relations of color experiences to distinctive, twinges that have no typical causes or characteristic and Levin 1988, for discussion of this question, and for a more according to Aristotle, is to survive and flourish as a living, 6576. whether any such redescriptions are available to role (vs. realizer) successful, however, it can also provide a response to the to those invoked in physical laws. to analytic functionalist theories, since generalizations that link long hike, declare that we're thirsty, say I want some However, because machine table neurophysiology. , 1996c. Functional cooperation in the United Nations, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Cognitive Extension: The Parity Argument, various types. strengths and weaknesses of the analogous response to the (See Tye 2000, for a summary of Though many who are moved by the exclusion Materialism and Qualia: The Explanatory giving adequate characterizations of experiential and intentional ), 2002. Mitrany wrote in an era yet to encounter postmodernism, environmentalism, and other constraints on developmental imperatives and faith in scientific progress. These, however, will be ourselves, the initial attractions of functionalism remain. other important differences among functionalist theories as well. 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