Abstract
In this chapter I will explore some of the implications of homuncular functionalism and causal role functionalism for Freud’s conception of the mind. I understand causal role functionalism as the doctrine that mental items are type-individuated on the basis of their causal role. I take homuncular functionalism to be the view that psychological processes are rightly understood as brought about by interconnecting components ‘homunculi’), each of which is functionally individuated, and each of which can be broken down into simpler sub-components, until the simplest neuroanatomical level is reached (Lycan, 1990).
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Smith, D.L. (1999). Freudian Functionalism. In: Freud’s Philosophy of the Unconscious. Studies in Cognitive Systems, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1611-6_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1611-6_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5289-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-1611-6
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