Functionalist reasoning is increasingly popular in the philosophy of physics. Where authors are clear on their form of functionalism, they often appeal to functionalism in the tradition of David Lewis. Such functionalism involves establishing the functional role of some term in a higher-level theory in the service of finding realizers of the functional role in a lower-level theory. Its aim is ultimately reduction. This talk, based on joint work with David Wallace, will suggest that this kind of functionalism is a poor fit for physics. The philosophy of physics is better served by a form of functionalism that is not explicitly reductive, and has more in common with the philosophy of Dennett than of Lewis.
Professor Knox will be dining with the Jowett Society and other members of the Philosophy Faculty after the talk and we would be delighted if you would join us. Please send Imogen a message at imogen.rivers@philosophy.ox.ac.uk by Friday 8 October to guarantee your spot.
