Functionalism

• Functionalism


  All mental states can be characterised in terms of functional roles which can be multiply realised.
• The possibility of a functional duplicate with different qualia (issue with functionalism)

  • The spectrum of private colour qualia I experience could be systematically inverted in comparison to others.
  • However I use the vocabulary of colour terms in the same way so never notice the difference.
  • According to functionalism we would be identical, but this seems counter-intuitive.
• The possibility of functional duplicate with no qualia

  • Ned Block imagined the population of China working together to control a body and realising an identical functional economy to the human brain.
  • The body behaves in the same way a human would when experiencing mental states.
  • According to functionalism the body would have a mind, even though we do not feel it would experience qualia.
• The knowledge/Mary argument applied to functionalism


  P1: Mary knows all the functional facts involved in colour vision.

  P2: But she learns something new when she experiences colour vision herself.

  C1: Therefore there is more to learn about colour vision than what is given in the complete functional account of it.

  C2: Therefore functionalism is false.