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Slime Mould and Philosophy

Expected online publication date:  02 January 2025

Matthew Sims
Affiliation:
Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Summary

Physarum polycephalum, also known more colloquially as 'the blob', 'acellular slime mould', or just 'slime mould', is a unicellular multinucleate protist that has continued to attract the interest of biologists over the past century because of its complex life cycle, unique physiology, morphology, and behaviour. More recently, attention has shifted to Physarum as a model organism for investigating putative cognitive capacities such as decision making, learning, and memory in organisms without nervous systems. The aim of this Element is to illustrate how Physarum can be used as a valuable tool for approaching various topics in the philosophy of biology. Physarum and its behaviour not only pose a challenge to some of the received views of biological processes but also, I shall argue, provide an opportunity to clarify and appropriately sharpen the concepts underlying such received views.
Type
Element
Information
Online ISBN: 9781009488648
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

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Slime Mould and Philosophy
  • Matthew Sims, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  • Online ISBN: 9781009488648
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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Slime Mould and Philosophy
  • Matthew Sims, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  • Online ISBN: 9781009488648
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Slime Mould and Philosophy
  • Matthew Sims, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  • Online ISBN: 9781009488648
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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