Discussion Topic #8: Behaviorism, Identity Theory and Functionalism

Consider the following thought experiment

To begin the thought experiment, imagine that you are the subject of some mental event–perhaps you are experiencing an intense pain.

Now imagine that one of your neurons is replaced by a silicon chip prosthesis that has the exact same input/output profile as the neuron it replaces.

Now imagine that, one by one, the rest of your neurons are swapped for silicon prostheses. Thus, at the end of the procedure the organ in your head, which was previously made of lipid and protein neurons, is now entirely composed of silicon neuronoids.

Now, consider three possible outcome of this procedure.

I. Your consciousness shrinks to nothing, but your behavior remains completely unchanged.
II. Your consciousness remains completely unaffected, but you lose the ability to engage in any behavior at all.
III. Both your consciousness and behavior remain completely unaffected.

Q1: What, if anything, would this outcome tell you about the truth (in turn) of

1) behaviorism
2) identity theory
3) functionalism

Q2: Now ask yourself the following question. Would you ever allow such a procedure to be performed on you (suppose that a silicone brain would be more resistant to degradation over time than your organic brain)? Why or why not?

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