Functionalism

Research papers on functionalism can apply functionalism to any area of study you need. Mainly examined through psychological theories, the philosophy of functionalism can be studied under the light of many relevant applications. Have Paper Masters write your functionalism research paper.

Functionalism is a theory of the mind that encompasses both modern philosophy and psychology. At the center of functionalism is the belief that the various mental states are constituted only by their functional role. Mental states are therefore realized on multiple levels and are akin to a computer's processes, in which computations are produced by neurons.

Key functionalist theorists are:

• Emile Durkheim
• Herbert Spencer
• Talcott Parsons

Functionalism declares that thoughts and other mental states depend entirely on the role it plays in the cognitive system. Pain, for example, is the state caused by injury, and produces the belief that something is wrong and the resulting desire to be out of that state and the associated physical reaction. Under functionalism, pain can be multiply realized by different types of states. Mental states are therefore caused by, and cause, physical states.

Functionalism and Hilary Putnam

Multiple realizability is an important component of functionalism. This theory holds that a mental property or state can be implemented by any number of different properties or mental states. This theory was first promulgated in the 1960s an 1970s by such thinkers as Hilary Putnam and Jerry Fodor.

Putnam's version of functionalism is now known as machine-state functionalism. Putnam used the analogy of a Universal Turing Machine, an early computer designed to process algorithms. Fodor, in contrast, developed psychofunctionalism, which was rejection of behaviorist schools of thought derived from the work of B.F. Skinner and others.