What to say to a skeptical metaphysician: a defense manual for cognitive and behavioral scientists.
The Behavioral and brain sciences October 1, 2004 Don Ross, David Spurrett
A recent metaphysical critique argues that functionalism in cognitive science—the view that mental states are defined by what they do rather than by their physical makeup—makes mental processes epiphenomenal (causally impotent) and that reductionism is needed to restore causal significance. The authors contend that returning to reductionism would devastate cognitive and behavioral sciences by invalidating most existing work and imposing unworkable constraints. They further argue that the metaphysical challenge fails because it reifies two distinct notions of causality (scientific and metaphysical) and equivocates between them. Once these notions are properly distinguished, functionalism faces no serious philosophical threat, and the choice between reducing minds or accepting causal impotence is false. The critique relies on a naïve view of physics and its relation to metaphysics.