Questions tagged [functionalism]
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Could consciousness be a special kind of abstract object?
Could consciousness be a special kind of abstract object, such as a shape or a number?
For example, the squareness of a window depends on the window, but the squareness is presumably not independent ...
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Fodor's central systems in computability terms
According to Fodor, the mind is comprised of both peripheral systems that are modular (and thus can be computed), and central systems which are not modular (and thus cannot be computed).
On the ...
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Can the Super-Spartans analogy work to disprove functionalism?
It seems like it does!
We have input sure but the output? it doesn't apply here. Also the analogy seems to be begging the question, because it just assumes that they are in pain without defining why, ...
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Is consciousness "what the introspective faculty measures"?
For the purposes of this question, the "introspective faculty" is a particular subsystem of the brain that is capable of analyzing other subsystems of the brain and emitting judgments like, &...
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Does the "gradual brain replacement" thought experiment prove consciousness is independent of substrate?
In "gradual brain replacement," a person's neurons are gradually, over the course of perhaps a few minutes or hours, replaced by nanites, while the person is conscious and talking about the ...
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According to the theory of structural functionalism, what causes social disequilibrium?
I understand that the basic premise of structural functionalism is that social institutions serve the function of maintaining social stability and promoting social solidarity, but I don't understand ...
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On a reductionist/functionalist account of consciousness, would we have ethical obligations toward robots?
If consciousness arises from specific functions instantiated by physical systems, consider a robot with functions mirroring those found in carbon-based life, particularly in humans. Would this imply ...
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Are qualia state variables of the mind, or input variables to the mind?
Qualia - the elements of conscious experience - are associated with sensory information, most identifiably with what we see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. This is information "coming in" to ...
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How plausible is it that every decohered entity has qualia, which merge into functional units?
I only say decohered because the quantum realm doesn't seem to have the local reality to have locally functional qualia, but maybe it has more diffuse probabilistic qualia? Then again in our macro ...
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Way to find a middle ground between functionalism and "panpsychism"?
Scientifically, given that we are just pieces of universe (earth), then parts of the universe can experience phenomenal consciousness.
"Panpsychism" says that therefore phenomenality must be ...
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What is a functional relationship?
By a "functional relationship" I mean "the way" a part of a system interacts with the rest of the system. In a certain sense it "doesn't matter" how the part of the ...
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Is there a mathematical grounding for functionalism?
Take the sep definition of functionalism:
Functionalism in the philosophy of mind is the doctrine that what makes something a mental state of a particular type does not depend on its internal ...
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Anthropomorphism and AI
The human brain and computer based AI are vastly different systems. Although both may perform similar functions, the mechanisms are different: one is purely electrical and assembled, the other is ...
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Seeking Help on Cartesian Dualism and the Mind-Body Relationship
I'm currently studying philosophy and I'm struggling with the concept of Cartesian dualism, particularly in relation to other theories about the mind-body relationship. I'm wondering if anyone here ...
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How can mathematical results impact the physical world?
In his 2007 book I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter uses an analogy based on a domino computer.
Indeed, it is possible to build logical gates made of dominoes (see e.g. here) and realize simple ...
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Functionalism and potential causation
Functionalism, in philosophy of consciousness, is the idea that consciousness arises from the functional role that parts of a system play within that system.
More specifically, as I interpret it here:
...
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Are Boltzmann brains conscious under functionalism?
How can they be conscious if there is no function/computation going on? And who argues that they are not conscious (I haven't found anyone except David Wallace just stating that this is his view on a ...
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Do qualia bring about issues for functionalism?
Do the personal experiences of qualia, such as what it is like to smell a flower, bring about issues for functionalism?
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Can behaviourism account for qualia?
If behaviourism is focused upon observable behavioural dispositions can it at all account for qualia; the way things feel, tase etc.
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Is functionalism a significant improvement on behaviourism with respect to behaviour?
Functionalism appears to be free of many of the issues that behaviourism faces, however is it all positive? Is there any objection at all to Functionalism being such an improvement in respect to ...
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Logical behaviorism vs Functionalism
I'm a little unclear on where exactly the distinction is made between logical behaviorism and functionalism.
The ability to experience pain, for instance, would seem to increase my chances of survival ...
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Turing Test and Functionalism
I know Turing Test and functionalism respectively but get confused about:
What is the influence of Turing Test on functionalism? (I suppose
Turing Test is both behaviorist and functionalist.)
Is ...
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Trouble understanding how the Chinese room experiment refutes computer functionalism
I'm listening to John Searle's lectures on the philosophy of mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL039MUyjHR1wfJpULVP1a1ZeCBmIHmhxt) and I don't really understand the significance of his Chinese ...
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What is Searle's argument against machine functionalism?
what is searle's main argument Machine functionalism?
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Does functionalism of the mind allow for free will?
Functionalism views the mental processes in terms of causes and effects (ex. inputs such as sensory stimuli and output such as moving an extremity).
But how would free will fit into this theory if at ...
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Cloning: Will you be the same person? [closed]
Imagine, in the future, we have mastered the technology of cloning.
The rich and powerful have got their own cloning devices. They clone their bodies and keep the clones in a cryogenic environment to ...
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What are the premises and conclusion of the Functionalist claim that "matter doesn't matter"?
I'm referring to the logical framework (the premises and conclusion) of the Functionalist argument that claims that two entities with indistinguishable inputs and outputs are the same thing, "matter ...
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Functionalism, its key concepts and social phenomena
I have a class test and have been instructed to find the following information and I have chosen the functionalism perspective and in particular Emile Durkheim as one of its key thinkers.
State the ...
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From a functionalist point of view: when is an algorithm an A.I., and when is it just software?
Recently, The Atlantic published an article claiming that "Google Taught an AI That Sorts Cat Photos to Analyze DNA". When you look at the original paper published by the Google team, what they really ...
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What is the name (and ideally some further reading) for the Aesthetics theory that a thing is beautiful if it achieves its goal?
I'm listening to a podcast lecture by Michael Grant on Aristotle's poetics. The current topic is interpretations of Aristotle's theory that pleasure is derived from 'pity and fear'. One such ...
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What is the relationship between cognition and qualia?
First, I must admit I'm having trouble formulating this question because I'm somewhat confused about the relationship between these two items (cognition and qualia). Please let me know if I can ...
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Mind-body problem: supervenience vs dependence vs realisation
Could someone shed some light on the differences of these 3 hypotheses?
For me, it seems all 3 relations mean the same.
I can't seem to grasp the difference between supervenience physicalism and ...
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What are the problems with the argument for the mind-body dualism from immateriality of thoughts?
I have started studying philosophy of mind and I am currently reading an introduction to the field. The first topic that is presented in the book is dualism of the Cartesian brand, and the case for it ...
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What is the difference between functionalism and property dualism?
Functionalism and property dualism are both physicalist theories of the mind in that they don't admit any substances other than physical substance.
Property dualism holds that mental states are non-...
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What are some good books about the philosophy of mind?
I took a class covering some problems of philosophy of mind last term: On free will and mental causation. And I'm reading Jaegwon Kim's Philosophy of Mind. But since my professor was taught by Kim, I ...
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Is communism a religion?
In Arendts What is Authority she writes:
A convenient instance may be provided by the widespread conviction in the free world today that communism is a 'new religion'; notwithstanding its avowed ...
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How does Putnam's twin earth thought experiment disprove functionalism?
In the twin Earth thought experiment Putnam determines that meanings are not in the head. Later interpretations, by himself and by others, take it to falsify functionalism.
It seems to me that the ...
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How does functionalism solve the mind-body problem?
I can see how dualism and physicalism addresses the mind-body problem, but I don't quite get how functionalism attempts to solve the mind-body problem.
Functionalism is just the thesis that mental ...
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If a brain in a vat never received any sensory input, could it still develop a consciousness? What would a functionalist say?
First of all, I'm not knowledgeable of philosophy by any means (engineering student). However, I was wondering if from a philosophical point of view we could reason about what might happen to a brain ...
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Argument against conscious Turing machines?
Imagine a non-halting Turing machine that repeats the same calculation forever.
Let us assume that each time it runs its algorithm it increments a loop counter.
Surely such a machine is conceivable ...
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Does Fodor present any argument for his use of computable methods in his view of the mind?
In defense of his Language of Thought Hypothesis (SEP article), Jerry Fodor argues that Thought is recursively compositional in just the same way that Language is. When we understand a sentence, we ...
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How would Wittgenstein respond to Functionalist accounts of consciousness?
So far, I've only been able to dig up a partial footnote by Kripke in his essay "Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language" where he tantalizingly writes that
"... Wittgenstein would regard his ...
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