N. K. Brendleton: "According to reductive materialism, a particular
mental state will correspond to a specific physical state in brains. It
therefore allows the future possibility of cyborgs -- people with
extensive electronic replacement parts -- becoming zombies: beings who
may act as if they are conscious, but are really not. Functionalism, or
non-reductive materialism, rejects this possiblity because the
replacement parts will perform the same purpose as the original neural
****tions of the brain. Functionalism recogizes Multiple Realizability,
that the mechanistic material being utilized is irrelevent and any
physical system (like a computer) that runs the same program as the
brain will produce its various characteristics, including the notorious
qualia."
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