Functionalism may refer to:

  • Functionalism (aesthetics), a doctrine declaring that only objects based on utility and economy can be beautiful
  • Functionalism (architecture), the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building
  • Functionalism in international relations, a theory that arose during the inter-War period
  • Functional linguistics, a theoretical approach to the study of language
  • Functionalism (philosophy of mind), a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy
  • Functionalism versus intentionalism, a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust
  • Structural functionalism, a theoretical tradition within sociology and anthropology
  • Biological functionalism, an anthropological paradigm
  • Functionalism (sociology of science), a concept due to Robert K. Merton

See also

  • Danish functional linguistics
  • Functional (disambiguation)
  • Functional psychology
  • Neofunctionalism