Functionalism and the Absent Qualia Argument
Canadian Journal of Philosophy June 1, 1983 DOI: 10.1080/00455091.1983.10716353 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | The text presents functionalism as the view that each type of mental state is identical with a state that causally results from certain inputs and other mental states and that in turn causally produces certain outputs and other mental states. It invokes Leibniz's mill passage to raise the difficulty of explaining perception through mechanical parts alone. |
Abstract
And supposing there were a machine, so constructed as to think, feel, and have perception, it might be conceived as increased in size, while keeping the same proportions, so that one might go into it as into a mill. That being so, we should, on examining its interior, find only parts which work on one another, and never anything by which to explain a perception.Gottlieb Leibniz, The Mondadology, Section 17Functionalism, as it is currently understood, is the view that each type of mental state is identical with a state that is a causal consequent of certain kinds of inputs and other mental states and which, in turn, causally brings about certain kinds of outputs and other mental states.