philosophy of mind, can functionalism be defended
Functionalism is one of the many different theories of the mind and how to categorize its workings. Functionalism is a view or doctrine that proposes mental states are functional states. Functional states are defined in terms of what something does rather than what it is made of .For example computers are made of many different things, such as wiring, processors, screens, modems, etc. However when we think of a computer we think of the things or functions they perform like word processing, Internet connections and mathematical calculations. Functions are best defined in terms of an imaginary box, which receives an input and processes it to return a specific output. Our brains receive various inputs through our five senses and in turn produce an output. According to functionalism, anything that performs the same functions as the brain has a mind Functionalism also states that having a brain is not a necessary condition for having a mind. In the movie, The Matrix, Agent Smith, w!hom is a computer program existing within the Matrix, displays many of the same characteristic functions that are associated with the brain and human activities and therefore according to functionalism, has a mind.(heil,ch1))
John Searle, for instance, is scathing of what he calls the 'Strong AI Hypothesis' (that a machine is conscious iff it reproduces the functionality of a human being). But the replicants take advantage of their human-like attributes and, employing the effects offunctionalism, integrate themselves with human society in order to avoid capture. Both are intellectually impoverished by trying to straight-jacket everything into the category of structure. What does Turing do? He defines "thinking" purely and strictly in terms of the function of passing the imitation game. Mind-brain identity therefore can't be right. Indeed, the Turing reading is excellent for keying so exactly into the central concept of function which the functionalist exploits. Feelings in humans are the results of the functioning of the brain, but anything that functions the way the brain does would also be conscious. In contrast to this an argument was given by Turing. Understanding requires (genuine) intentionality, which this system lacks. This theory was influenced by the development of computers and artificial intelligence At first, identity theorists had tended to adopt type identity, according to which pain, or imagining the Eiffel Tower, would be identical with the same kind of brain state in every creature with these mental states. But the person inside has no understanding of Chinese. g Consider the concept of a mousetrap. Behaviourists treated the brain as a 'black box' about which the psychologist must not speculate, but the interdependence of our mental states so complicates the relation of stimulus to response that this relation can only be understood with the aid of a model of our inner workings.
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