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posted 03. November 2003 12:32
Featured in PCID Volume 2.3
Functionalism Without Physicalism: Outline of an Emergentist Program
by Robert C. Koons
Abstract—The historical association between functionalism and physicalism is not an unbreakable one.There are reasons for finding some version of a functional account of the menta lattractive that are independent of the plausibility of physicalism. I develop a non-physicalist version of functionalism and explain how this model is able to secure genuine emergence of the mental, despite Kim's arguments that such emergence theories are incoherent. The kind of teleological emergence of the mental required by this model is in fact fully compatible with the best available interpretations of physics and does not simply repeat the mistakes of vitalism. In addition, this model of teleological, emergent causation provides an attractive account of free/libertarian agency.
To read the entire paper, click here.
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