functionalist
- noun
- /ˈfʌŋkʃənəlɪst/
- Specialized
- A functionalist believes that social institutions serve important roles in society.
- functionalist approach
- functionalist argument
- functionalist perspective
Examples
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But I think the main argument against a functionalist view of consciousness is that the nature of consciousness looks to be something more biological.
-
I am not undertaking a critique of functionalist arguments per se.
Academic text (1997) -
There is nothing particularly original about the functionalist conception of morality.
Academic text (2000) -
Functionalist perspective: The organic imagery of the "body" is a classical functionalist account of a social "body."
Academic text (2005) -
Merton, as a functionalist, did not see change as a central process of human and systems theory.
Academic text (2007) -
Instead, Richter's definition, as we shall see, is a functionalist one.
Academic text (2003) -
Merton's work as a functionalist moves social science theory beyond mere personality theory.
Academic text (2007) -
Generally speaking, functionalists direct their attention to the order inherent in societies.
Academic text (2005) -
The first is the functionalist perspective of illness and conceptualizes disability as a problem of individual functioning.
Academic text (2004) -
Initially, it was particularly the younger Durkheim, the functionalist Durkheim who had such an extraordinary impact.
Surface Forms
Morphology
functionalist = functional (transparent) = function + al + ist
Clear derivation from 'functional' (function + -al) plus the agent suffix '-ist' meaning a follower or advocate.
Etymology
Functionalist comes from the common word function ('purpose' or 'work') plus the ending -ist ('person who believes or does'). So a functionalist is someone who thinks the use or job of something matters most, for example in architecture or sociology they focus on how things work rather than how they look.