  In prior work, we have argued that spacetime functionalism provides tools for
clarifying the conceptual difficulties specifically linked to the emergence of
spacetime in certain approaches to quantum gravity. We argue in this article
that spacetime functionalism in quantum gravity is radically different from
other functionalist approaches that have been suggested in quantum mechanics
and general relativity: in contrast to these latter cases, it does not compete
with purely interpretative alternatives, but is rather intertwined with the
physical theorizing itself at the level of quantum gravity. Spacetime
functionalism allows one to articulate a coherent realist perspective in the
context of quantum gravity, and to relate it to a straightforward realist
understanding of general relativity.
