Functionalism

What’s the Historical Context of Functionalism?

Emerged in response to problems with identity theory

What had identity theory argued?

Each mental state is identical to a particular brain state, believing that pain is c-fiber activation

What’d multiple realizability argue against identity theory?

Different organisms or artificial systems might experience the same mental state despite having different physical structures

And why’d functionalism arise from the debate between identity theory and multiple realizability?

To help explain mental states without tying them to one specific material

What’s the definition of Functionalism?

Theory that mental states are defined by the functional or causal roles they play within a cognitive system rather than by the material from which they are made of

Addition to the definition, a mental state is understood by its relationship to?

Sensory inputs, other mental states, and behavioural outputs

What's Functionalism’s Relevance to Cogsci?

Shifted ongoing discussion and focus from the physical brain and material to the organization of cognitive processes

What’s the aftermath of Functionalism’s Relevance to Cogsci?

Made it possible for cognition to be compared across species

What’s another result of Functionalism’s Relevance to Cogsci?

Became the philosophical foundational for computational theories of mind and early AI

What’s an example of functionalism?

Clock—composed of different materials yet functioned and told time the same way

What’s another example of functionalism?

Pain—occur even in different physical structure, both human and octopuses may experience pain regardless of different nervous systems

What’s the discussion/question that functionalists raised?

Computational functionalists argue that cognition consists of manipulating internal representations according to formal rules

What challenges the computational functionalists?

That syntactic symbol is insufficient and an inaccurate representation of human cognition