easy · MCAT Critical Analysis & Reasoning Skills
Functionalism is the view in philosophy of mind that mental states are defined by their functional roles—that is, what they do—rather than by the physical substance they are made of. To have a mental state like 'pain' is to be in a state that is caused by a certain input (such as an injury), produces certain outputs (such as a 'wince' or a 'cry'), and interacts with other mental states (such as a 'desire' for it to stop). This allows for 'multiple realizability': if a robot or an alien from another planet possessed a system that functioned in exactly the same way, we would have to say it is in pain, even if its 'brain' was made of silicon or green slime rather than neurons.
Like a clock, which can be made of gears, quartz, or digital circuits as long as it keeps time, the mind is a matter of the software’s organization, not the hardware’s composition. the concept of 'multiple realizability' suggests that:
- A robot must be composed of biological neurons in order to truly experience pain.
- Mental states can exist in various physical systems as long as they perform the same role.
- Clocks and minds are functionally identical, since both rely on digital circuits to work properly.
- Silicon and green slime are inherently superior to human neurons in the processing of pain and desire.
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