The article deals with the epistemological dimensions of the method of functional analysis of equivalence. This more general epistemological discussion enables the discovery of common heuristic grounds in the quantitative (explanation) and qualitative (understanding) methodologies in the social sciences . There are three main topics of interest . First, theoretical reasons for the formulation o...

This paper defends a social functionalist interpretation, modeled on psychological functionalism, of the meanings of social facts. Social functionalism provides a better explanation of the possibility of interpreting other cultures than approaches that identify the meanings of social facts with either mental states or behavior. I support this claim through a functionalist reinterpretation of so...

Abstract Functionalism about kinds is still the dominant style of thought in special sciences, like economics, psychology, and biology. Generally construed, functionalism view that states or processes can be individuated based on what role they play rather than are constituted realized by. Recently, Weiskopf (2011a, 2011b) has posited a reformulation model-based approach to explanation. We refe...

Talcott Parsons’ career spanning nearly half a century can be divided into three phases. These phases include the social action school, traditional functionalism, and finally general or modern systems theory. In this paper based on literature review, macro-functionalism approach of Parsons, one pioneers is mentioned. Also, in context sociology religion, although Parsons rarely wrote about much ...

Analysis of the terms profession and professional is problematic, and this limits our understanding of professionalisation as a process. On the one hand, there seem to be no necessary or sufficient criteria to define a professional, yet there are undeniable status markers between existing professions. This paper suggests that confusion arises because of the legacy of naïve functionalism. Naïve ...

In Chapters 4 and 5 of his 1998 book From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis, Frank Jackson propounds and defends a form of moral realism that he calls both „moral functionalism‟ and „analytical descriptivism‟. Here we argue that this metaethical position, which we will henceforth call „analytical moral functionalism‟, is untenable. We do so by applying a generic thought-ex...

The Society of Mind is an 'implementation' of the philosophical theory of functionalism. Even so, the search for consciousness continues to go on in areas of psychology and philosophy, providing both answers and new questions to be solved. AI as a whole should stop seeing each facet as different competiting implementations and should start combining symbolism and connectionism, which would give...

Abstract In this essay, I propose a functionalist theory of grounding (functionalist-grounding). Specifically, argue that is second-order phenomenon realized by relations play the noncausal explanatoriness role. also show functionalist-grounding can deal with powerful challenge. Appeals to explanatory unificationism have been made success explanations does not depend on existence relations. Aga...

This paper argues that functional states, and states defined in terms of them, cannot be causally relevant to the output or state transitions in terms of which those functional states are defined, or to intervening mechanisms or to anything to which their output is in turn causally relevant. Functional states therefore cannot be correctly invoked in what I call "simple causal explanations". Exp...

According to the extended cognition hypothesis (henceforth ExC), there are conditions under which thinking and thoughts (or more precisely, the material vehicles that realize thinking and thoughts) are spatially distributed over brain, body and world, in such a way that the external (beyond-the-skin) factors concerned are rightly accorded fully-paid-up cognitive status. According to functionali...