Plant intentionality and the phenomenological framework of plant intelligence

Plant Signal Behav. 2012 Nov;7(11):1365-72. doi: 10.4161/psb.21954. Epub 2012 Sep 5.

Abstract

This article aims to bridge phenomenology and the study of plant intelligence with the view to enriching both disciplines. Besides considering the world from the perspective of sessile organisms, it would be necessary, in keeping with the phenomenological framework, to rethink (1) the meaning of being-sessile and being-in-a-place; (2) the concepts of sentience and attention; (3) how aboveground and underground environments appear to plants; (4) the significance of modular development for our understanding of intelligence; and (5) the concept of communication within and between plants and plant tissues. What emerges from these discussions is the image of a mind embodied in plant life.

Keywords: communication; intentionality; life-world; modular development; phenomenology; plant intelligence.

MeSH terms

  • Environment
  • Plant Physiological Phenomena*
  • Plants / metabolism*