"A philosophy, yes. It began as a religious movement, an off-shoot of Primean Determinism. Hm, where to begin..." He drums his pedipals against Purple's hat in thought. "I should mention, for context, that it is commonly believed on Cybertron that the planet itself is a deity, and the progenitor of our species. Certainly it used to be true that newsparks were generated by certain regions of the planet's crust via no means science has been able to explain. Whether that is adequate evidence of sapience on the planet's part I leave for you to decide, but the Determinists believed that, as every newspark 'born' in this manner comes online with their altmode already determined, it is therefore desirable that every Cybertronian be given the chance to pursue an occupation which will make use of their 'Primus-determined' form. This is what passed for natural on a planet populated entirely by robots." He snickers.

"The Functionists, now...as I said, they began as an offshoot of this philosophy. They developed the idea further, reaching the conclusion that it is undesirable for any Cybertronian to hold an occupation that does not make use of his alt-mode. You can imagine how satisfying this restriction was for those of an intellectual or creative bent, who the Functionists now decreed were only fit for menial labor."