ABSTRACT
Suppose we agree to accept the functionalist’s depiction of states of mind as functional states. This means that you possess a given state of mind: you are in pain, for instance, if, and only if, you are in a state that satisfies a particular job description, a state that plays a particular kind of causal role. Among other things, you are in a state brought about by tissue damage, or pressure, or extremes of temperature, and one that brings about a range of characteristic ‘pain responses’, behavioral and mental: you cringe, you form the belief that you are in pain, and you acquire a desire to take steps to alleviate the pain.
