Functionalism and Aristotle

This article discusses the theory of functionalism in the contemporary philosophy of Mind and compares it with Aristotle's functionalism. As the word "ergon" is of a high significance in Aristotle's philosophy, sometimes he is regarded as the pioneer of this theory. Therefore the relation between these two theories and their similarity may be worth considering. What follows will reveal that different versions of the theory of new functionalism are not matched with Aristotle's idea seemingly but his viewpoint can be considered as one of the attitudes in functionalism. Although Aristotle's theory of mater and form, together with his emphasis on essence, is not valid in the light of new findings, his functionalistic approach to the relation between body and soul is of a high significance.