Blackwell Reference Online

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P hilosophy of mind Also called homuncular functionalism. A theory in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, associated with W. G. Lycan and D. Dennett . In opposition to reductionism , it explains a mind or intelligent system by considering it to be a system made up of interconnecting departments. Each department can be seen as a homunculus , a small sub-personal agent , with its own function to perform. These homunculi are coordinated with each other to produce the overall behavioral response of a mind or an intelligent system to stimuli. Each department, or each homunculus, can in turn be viewed as a system composed of interconnected sub-departments or sub-homunculi. This process can go down to the neurological level. In this hierarchy, the task performed by lower-level units are simpler and easier than the task of the higher-level unit which they are supposed to explain. “The irreducibility of institutional types makes for a mark in favour of homunctionalism as a philosophical theory of the mental.” Lycan, Consciousness ... log in or subscribe to read full text