Maher, Chauncey: Might Plants Be Conscious?

In The Scientific Study of Consciousness – Experimental and Theoretical Approaches. forthcomingThis chapter examines whether we can know that plants are or are not conscious. We consider a recent debate between an optimistic view, which holds that plants might be conscious, and a pessimistic view, which denies that current evidence supports this claim. The optimistic position appeals to similarities between plants and conscious animals, noting that plants exhibit adaptive, flexible, and goal-dir