Sentience in Plants: A Green Red Herring?
The attribution of sentience or consciousness to plants is currently a topic of debate among biologists and philosophers. The claim that plants are conscious is based on three arguments: (i) plants, like all living organisms, are sentient (biopsychism); (ii) there is a strong analogy
between the phloem transport system of plants and the nervous system of animals; and (iii) plants are the cognitive equals of sentient animals. On the basis of a model of consciousness that spells out criteria for assigning sentience to a living organism and presents a diagnostic evolutionary
marker of consciousness, we argue that these arguments are flawed and discuss some of the ethical issues they raise.
Keywords: biopsychism; electrical signalling
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Natural Science Department, The Open University of Israel, 1 University Road, POB 808, Raanana 4353701, Israel, Email: [email protected]
Publication date: 01 January 2021
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