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17. Mind and Body / C. Functionalism / 3. Psycho-Functionalism

[minds exist as the result of brain function]

2 ideas
Does consciousness arise from fine-grained non-reductive functional organisation? [Chalmers]
     Full Idea: I claim that conscious experience arises from fine-grained functional organisation….. we might call it 'non-reductive functionalism'.
     From: David J.Chalmers (The Conscious Mind [1996], 3.7.1)
     A reaction: This is Chalmers' final position. If consciousness is 'emergent' and cannot be reduced, what has fine-grained got to do with it? I take 'fine-grained' to be a hint at why the brain becomes conscious. Fine-grained functions cause something.
Hearts are material, but functionalism says the property of being a heart is not a material property [Heil]
     Full Idea: Although your heart is a material object, the property of being a heart is, if we accept the functionalist picture, not a material property.
     From: John Heil (Philosophy of Mind [1998], Ch.4)
     A reaction: Presumably functional properties are not physical because they are multiply realisable. The property of being a heart is more like a theoretical flow diagram than it is like a muscle. That word 'property' again…