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Reference.org
Multiple realizability
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<p>In the <a href="/facts/Philosophy_of_mind/o6yNRjwd">philosophy of mind</a>, multiple realizability is the thesis that the same mental property, state, or event can be implemented by different physical properties, states, or events. </p><p>Philosophers of mind have used multiple realizability to argue that mental states are not the same as — and cannot be <a href="/facts/Reductionism/tc2aWaza">reduced</a> to — physical states. They have also used it to defend or criticize many versions of <a href="/facts/Functionalism_(philosophy_of_mind)/o5doIVHb">functionalism</a>, especially <i><a href="/facts/Functionalism_(philosophy_of_mind)/o5doIVHb">machine-state functionalism</a></i>. </p>