functionalists
Utility-over-form thinkers
Functionalists are people who prioritize how well something works over other considerations like appearance or tradition.
In sociology and anthropology, functionalists follow a school of thought that analyzes social institutions by their role in maintaining societal stability—asking what purpose a custom or structure serves rather than where it came from.
In architecture and design, functionalists believe form should follow function: The functionalists stripped away ornament in favor of clean, practical lines.
Founding French sociologist
- MertonLondon borough
- social orderStructured arrangement of community
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
- normsExpected behavioral standards
values · solidarity · integration · equilibrium · anomie · collectivity · consensus · stability
State of mutual linkage
- holismWholes trump components
- complexityState of being complicated
- homeostasisBiological internal stability maintenance
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
feedback · cybernetics · network · structure · interdependence · regulation · dynamics · cohesion
Suited for real use
- efficientProductive without waste
- utilitarianPrioritizing function over beauty
- purposefulDone with intention
- workableAble to be implemented
effective · hands-on · realistic · sensible · applicable · operational · serviceable · no-nonsense
Influential modernist design school
- modernismFavoring contemporary approaches
- SullivanIrish-origin surname
- usabilityEase of interaction quality
- purposefulDone with intention
streamlined · minimalism · efficiency · user-centered · ergonomic · industrial design · utilitarian design · unornamented
Psychological conditions of awareness
- computationMathematical processing work
- PutnamHistoric publishing imprint
- physicalismAll is matter
- cognitive scienceStudy of mental processes
Durkheim
Founding French sociologist
- MertonLondon borough
- social orderStructured arrangement of community
- institutionsEstablished organizations or practices
norms · values · solidarity · integration · equilibrium · anomie · collectivity · consensus · stability · social system
interconnectedness
State of mutual linkage
- holismWholes trump components
- complexityState of being complicated
- homeostasisBiological internal stability maintenance
adaptation · feedback · cybernetics · network · structure · interdependence · regulation · dynamics · cohesion · synergy
practical
Suited for real use
- efficientProductive without waste
- utilitarianPrioritizing function over beauty
- purposefulDone with intention
workable · effective · hands-on · realistic · sensible · applicable · operational · serviceable · no-nonsense · results-oriented
Bauhaus
Influential modernist design school
- modernismFavoring contemporary approaches
- SullivanIrish-origin surname
- usabilityEase of interaction quality
purposeful · streamlined · minimalism · efficiency · user-centered · ergonomic · industrial design · utilitarian design · unornamented · machine age
mental states
Psychological conditions of awareness
- computationMathematical processing work
- PutnamHistoric publishing imprint
- physicalismAll is matter
cognitive science · intentionality · Turing · mind-body · psychological states
- mind theoriesmaterialists, dualists, illusionists
- Psychology SchoolsFreudians, behaviorists, psychoanalysts, humanists, structuralists
- believersbeliever, believers, adherent, devotee, theist
functionalistsMarxists
Adherents of communist theory
structuralists · neo-Marxists · feminists · postmodernists · constructivists