Transcript The Pain Role

functionalism
Something is a functional kind only if,
and because, it can be analyzed in
terms of a causal role (e.g., something is
an F only if, and because, it plays the Frole).
F is realized by P in X only if, and
because, P plays the F-role in X.
A property is multiply realizable only if,
and because, it can be realized by
different things in different objects.
Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza,
usually known as the common cold, is a highly
contagious, viral infectious disease of the
upper respiratory system, primarily caused by
picornaviruses (including rhinoviruses) or
coronaviruses.
The common cold virus is transmitted between
people by one of two mechanisms: contact
with the saliva or nasal secretions of an
infected person or in aerosol form generated
by coughing or sneezing.
Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose,
nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing…
Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza,
usually known as the common cold, is a highly
contagious, viral infectious disease of the
upper respiratory system, primarily caused by
picornaviruses (including rhinoviruses) or
coronaviruses.
The common cold virus is transmitted between
people by one of two mechanisms: contact
with the saliva or nasal secretions of an
infected person or in aerosol form generated
by coughing or sneezing.
Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose,
nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing…
Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza,
usually known as the common cold, is a highly
contagious, viral infectious disease of the
upper respiratory system, primarily caused by
picornaviruses (including rhinoviruses) or
coronaviruses.
The common cold virus is transmitted between
people by one of two mechanisms: contact
with the saliva or nasal secretions of an
infected person or in aerosol form generated
by coughing or sneezing.
Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose,
nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing…
Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza,
usually known as the common cold, is a highly
contagious, viral infectious disease of the
upper respiratory system, primarily caused by
picornaviruses (including rhinoviruses) or
coronaviruses.
The common cold virus is transmitted between
people by one of two mechanisms: contact
with the saliva or nasal secretions of an
infected person or in aerosol form generated
by coughing or sneezing.
Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose,
nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing…
Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, or acute coryza,
usually known as the common cold, is a highly
contagious, viral infectious disease of the
upper respiratory system, primarily caused by
picornaviruses (including rhinoviruses) or
coronaviruses.
The common cold virus is transmitted between
people by one of two mechanisms: contact
with the saliva or nasal secretions of an
infected person or in aerosol form generated
by coughing or sneezing.
Common symptoms are sore throat, runny nose,
nasal congestion, sneezing and coughing…
The Pain Role: (i) An internal state, (ii)
primarily caused by tissue damage, (iii)
which can result from kicking, burning,
etc. and (iv) which commonly causes
crying, frowning, and whimpering, as
well as (v) anger, the desire for it to stop,
the belief that one is in pain, etc.
Realizer Functionalism: Mental states are
the states that play the associated
causal role. Something is in pain only if,
and because, it is in the state that plays
the pain role.
Role Functionalism: Mental states are
higher-order states like the state of
having some state or other that plays
the associated causal role. Something is
in pain only if, and because, it is in some
state or other that plays the pain role.
Behaviorism: Mental states are behavior
or dispositions to behavior. Something is
in pain only if, and because, it is crying
or wincing or... and not pretending.
The Pain Role: (i) An internal state, (ii)
primarily caused by tissue damage, (iii)
which can result from kicking, burning,
etc. and (iv) which commonly causes
crying, frowning, and whimpering, as
well as (v) anger, the desire for it to stop,
the belief that one is in pain, etc.
We are assembled in the drawing room
of the country house; the detective
reconstructs the crime. That is, he
proposes a theory designed to be the
best explanation of phenomena we
have observed: the death of Mr. Body,
the blood on the wallpaper, the silence
of the dog in the night, the clock
seventeen minutes fast, and so on. He
launches into his story…
X, Y and Z conspire to murder Mr. Body.
Seventeen years ago, in the gold fields
of Uganda, X was Body’s partner… Last
week, Y and Z conferred in a bar in
Reading… Tuesday night at 11:17, Y
went to the attic and set a time bomb…
Seventeen minutes later, X met Z in the
billiard room and gave him the lead
pipe… Just when the bomb went off in
the attic, X fired three shots into the
study through the French windows…
The Pain Role: (i) An internal state, (ii)
primarily caused by tissue damage, (iii)
which can result from kicking, burning,
etc. and (iv) which commonly causes
crying, frowning, and whimpering, as
well as (v) anger, the desire for it to stop,
the belief that one is in pain, etc.
There are some internal mental states W,
X, Y, and Z, such that W is typically
caused by tissue damage and… W
typically causes X, and a Y for W to stop,
and a Z that one is in W, and…
In the previous chapter we noticed that mental states
can be multiply realized. In humans the state which
realizes pain is (say) c-fiber firing; in squid it’s (say) dfiber firing. Multiple realization raises a puzzle: what
do old Eight-legs and I have in common when we
are both in pain? It can’t be c-fiber firing because
Eight-legs has no c-fibers (or so I will assume). And it
can’t be d-fiber firing because I have no d-fibers (or
so I will assume). In virtue of what, then, is it true that
Eight-legs and I are both in pain?
Functionalism provides an answer to this puzzle.
Ravenscroft,
Philosophy of Mind