Cases

Chapter 2 begins to illustrate the problem with details of recent scientific research into plants and bacteria and the uses of psychological predicates to describe the new discoveries. Plants are responsive to their environments in ways that have prompted researchers to ascribe learning, individuality, the ability to make choices, and other capacities to them. Bacterial colonies possess complex signaling mechanisms for communication and group decision-making. Individual bacteria, once considered mere bags of chemicals, have internal machinery that enables them to engage in signal transduction and information-processing. The chapter further articulates the role in the debate of the assumption that human mental capacities are the standard to which all other entities’ capacities are compared and found wanting. It begins to defend Literalism’s denial of this anthropocentrism of psychology. The growing evidence reveals how the burden of proof is shifting onto those to object to a default literal interpretation of psychological terms in the new domains.