Putnam's functionalism establishes that mental states are multiply realizable and defined by functional organization, not the physical or cognitive properties of any implementing substrate.

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Functional organization(as a possible basis for explaining consciousness): The way different parts of a system work together and interact to perform their jobs—like how different organs in your body work together to keep you alive.
Multiply realizable(philosophy of mind): The idea that the same mental state or function could be implemented in different physical ways—like how the same software can run on different computers with different hardware.
Putnam, Hilary(as a philosopher cited for natural kind essentialism): A 20th-century philosopher who developed the idea that the meaning of words like 'water' depends on what water actually is in nature, not just on how it appears to us.
Substrate(as the underlying physical foundation being discussed): The physical stuff or material that something is made of or runs on; in this case, the brain as the physical basis for mental states.

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