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Synthese

, Volume 193, Issue 5, pp 1323–1343 | Cite as

The philosophy of plant neurobiology: a manifesto

  • Paco CalvoEmail author
S.I.: Neuroscience and Its Philosophy
First Online:

Abstract

‘Plant neurobiology’ has emerged in recent years as a multidisciplinary endeavor carried out mainly by steady collaboration within the plant sciences. The field proposes a particular approach to the study of plant intelligence by putting forward an integrated view of plant signaling and adaptive behavior. Its objective is to account for the way plants perceive and act in a purposeful manner. But it is not only the plant sciences that constitute plant neurobiology. Resources from philosophy and cognitive science are central to such an interdisciplinary project, if plant neurobiology is to maintain its target well-focused. This manifesto outlines a road map for the establishment and development of a new subject—the Philosophy of Plant Neurobiology—, a new field of research emerging at the intersection of the philosophy of cognitive science and plant neurobiology. The discipline is herewith presented, introducing challenges and novel lines of engagement with the empirical investigation, and providing an explanatory framework and guiding principles that will hopefully ease the integration of research on the quest for plant intelligence.

Keywords

Plant neurobiology (philosophy of) Plant intelligence Cognitive science 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The research reported here was supported by Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia, through project 11944/PHCS/09.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Minimal Intelligence Lab (MINT Lab), Department of PhilosophyUniversity of MurciaMurciaSpain

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