Freudian functionalism

pp. 112-119

in: David L. Smith, Freud's philosophy of the unconscious, Berlin, Springer, 1999

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).