Functionalism versus intentionalism

From a sociological point of view, health and illness play an important role in society. Structural functionalist’s see society as interrelated parts that function to maintain balance within the society. Each individual within a society has designated roles that they must perform in order to do their part within a society. According to this paradigm, illness is seen as a dysfunction as it inhibits an individual from performing their designated role, threatening the balance and stability of the…

answers. Could Ava be thinking in order to give this answer or is she programmed to give just the same answer whenever she is asked a question? Ava performs human-like functions do this, push toward the side that she has a mind because according to functionalism you must have a mind in order to have the ability to perform certain functions (taken from Doing Philosophy An Introduction Through Thought Experiments, Lewis Vaughn). Ava was programmed to know what Caleb liked and who he was as a…

the idea that society is a system of interrelated parts that is relatively stable. Each part of society work together in an orderly way to promote stability. Another aspect is that members generally agree about what is morally right and wrong. Functionalism is characterized in two ways functional and dysfunctional. Homelessness in a functionalist perspective homelessness is a dysfunction. In this perspective society is normal and functioning therefore, the problem is in the homeless people an…

Structural Functionalism Structural functionalism is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. In Animal Farm, Old Major’s dream was to create a utopian society where harmony and equality was the standard. He wanted to create a society where animals were unified and everyone was treated as equals. He believed this was possible if they didn’t “tyrannize over each other,” and fall prey to vices like…

Structural functionalism is a perspective which views society as interconnected in to meet society’s needs. Early structural functional theorists compared the organs in the human body in that they are all connected to function properly. The structures in society include social institutions which can be described as patterns and beliefs. Institutions include government, family, healthcare, and religion. Structural functionalism refers to social facts as the activities that make our society stable…

We have discussed materialism at length. For the purpose of this essay, I will first give a quick overview of what materialism is. I will then discuss an objection made by Searle in his “The Chinese Room”. I will then discuss how a materialist might answer this objection. I will conclude with whether or not this answer was satisfactory or not. Materialism is, in essence, the idea that matter is what makes a human being what they are. There is nothing more than matter and physical…

In this essay I will argue that functionalism is the right way to view the ideology of the inverted spectrum. I will first briefly explain the inverted spectrum, then stating why it is a problem for functionalist’s. I will follow by considering the objections to functionalism due to it’s uncertainty to explain why different people feel the same experience. However, I will argue it is the best way when thinking about the inverted spectrum because although it may remain a “subjective experience”…

In this paper I will define, explain, and give an example of functionalism. Then, I will examine the three premises and conclusion that constitute the Absent Qualia argument against Functionalism. Additionally, I will evaluate premise 1 of the Absent Qualia argument and explain my agreement. Lastly, I will evaluate premise 2 of the Absent Qualia argument and explain my disagreement with Phenomenal Consciousness. Functionalism is the idea that a particular mental state is identified by…

Searle states that syntax itself is neither constitutive of, nor sufficient for, semantic content. Therefore, the computers are not sufficient enough to have a mind because of their purely syntactical form of processing information. Searle argues that his claim is correct by using an argument that he wrote called, “The Chinese Room Argument”. Searle believes that being able to understand information requires having the ability to have consciousness, self awareness and intentionality.This…

Structural functionalism is a theory that explains why society functions the way it does and how different institutions work together in order to create a well-functioning society. This theory explains how everyone’s lives are built based around social structures and basic human behavior. The different institutions in society are: government, education, economic, family, and religion. Each one of the institutions create a different social structure, behavior, and role in society. Examples of…