| Philosophy of Mind | |||||
| Introduction | Dualism | Behaviourism | Identity Theory | Functionalism | Dennett |
| How is Functionalism different? | |
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Functionalism agrees that brain states are responsible for mental states, but disagrees that they are identical with them. To do this, it argues that neurological states or brain activity help to realise mental states, which then lead to behaviour. In this way it solves the main problems with the other two theories by proposing that brain states are "low level" activities that help realise "high level" mental states. To help understand
this idea, consider the usual Functionalist example of a computer.
Imagine that you ask a computer to add the numbers 3 and 7. On one
level - at a low level - what is happening in the computer is dependent
on the hardware; on another level - a high level - the computer's
software is calculating the answer. Since, historically, computers
have had different hardware that works in different ways, we cannot
describe the process of calculation as the activity of hardware.
Instead, the Functionalist argues, the process of calculation is
simply realised by the hardware. Therefore, the software is a function
of the hardware. |