Filosofía de la Biología Cognitiva. Enfoque biosemiótico de la cognición en organismos sin sistema nervioso: El caso de los Mixomicetos (PhD. Thesis)

Philosophy of Cognitive Biology. Biosemiotic approach to cognition in organisms without nervous system: The case of myxomycetes (In Spanish)Abstract The  question  of  cognition  in  organisms  without  nervous  system  is the  main  objective  of  my research. In fact, the question of cognition itself is an insoluble question. We have dared to question the question  to  the  primitive  organisms  lacking  nervous  system.  Humberto  Maturana  was  that  in 1970,  in  his  book  "Biology  of  Cognition",  on  page  13  specifically  says:  "Living  systems  are cognitive  systems  and  the  process  of  living  is  a  process  of  cognition.  This  applies  to  all agencies, whether or not the nervous system. " It  is  that  cognitive  processes  in  organisms  without  nervous  system are  plausible.  Furthermore, Maturana  says  that  while  interactions  are  physical-chemical nature,  their  cognitive  process  is out  of  the  domain,  rather  holds  a  significant  relationship  to the  autopoietic  process.  This relationship is primarily emergency a knowing observer who study the phenomenon. My hypothesis  is  based  on cognitive processes  can be identified  in  organisms  without  nervous system.  No  wonder  by  cognition  itself,  but  by  the  processes  that  empower,  allowing  self-holding and  is  enriched  in a "biogenic" as  it is  called  Pamela Lyon  in these  organisms  lacking brain.I  focused  on  the  slime,  specifically  in  the  plasmodium  Physarum polycephalum,  for  their exceptional  character  is  a  giant  der  celled  organism,  but  multinucleate,  with  some  exceptional capabilities  still  further.  But  his  partner  is  present  pseudoplasmodial,  multicellular,  no  less outstanding,  Dictyostelium  discoideum.  I  refer  also  inevitably  of  the  best  known  prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli. I developed my work dividing into two fundamental aspects of the study: The first part goes to the agencies  epistemology.  Namely  begin  from the theory  of  knowledge and  scientific  disciplines. Start  with  the  basics  of  biosemiotics  as  reference  frame transdisciplinary research, to continue the phenomenology of cognition in biology. Then  we  deep,  from  systems  biology,  in  the  descending  branch  of  the  subsystems,  containing concrete examples of agencies and their internal components, primarily the cytoplasm. Thus we intend to focus the plausibility of a speech on the "proto-cognition" in these subsystems (proto-cellular agents and intracellular stability and phenomena, both structural and homeodynamics).From  this  stadium  we  had  the  phenomenon  of  biocommunication  to  discuss  about mechanotransduction signals as a fundamental phase for the "decision-making" and its ability to discriminate to make sense of what happens endogenously that it happen exogenously. From  here  we  move  on  to  study  cognitive  biology,  from  the  perspective  of  phenomenology. This entails an historical approach that allows us to see the conceptualizations in theoretical and experimental biology of the first confrontations on the conception of cognition – understood in the  early twentieth century as  "psychology" –of  protozoa and  how his  speech, as  Uexküll that has not lost force (saving the distances of these scientists diachronic speeches, sons  of his age, deserve  considerable  attention).  Then  we  went  to  the  fundamentals  of  cognition  non-representationist to put the speech in the proper fit to  the reality  of  organisms.  And finally  we speak of cognitive biology and principles of minimal cognition that structure the state of affairs on  its  plausibility  in  organisms  without  nervous  system,  and,  in  fact,  that  is  the  thesis  in question. The  second  part  goes  from  organisms to  epistemology  from  its  methodological  development research.  So  we've  prioritized  to  briefly  know  what  a  slime  mold  and  more  specifically  the plasmodium Physarum polycephalum, morphological and physiological fundamentals that make them exceptional organizations. Then  we  started  with  a  brief  history  of  the  slime  from  the history  of  biology,  mycology,  until now, part of the protistology. From this point the development of research is consistent with the question about the condition of possibility of cognition, offering interesting and exceptional developments that allow at least deeply  questioning  by  a  more  categorical  formulation  of  the phenomenon  of  agency  under cognition as indisputable part of it. Finally  it  exposed –  as  a  synthesis  of  the  thesis –  tables  of  principles  of  minimal  cognition, identified by the authors, to relate the processes acquired by Physarum polycephalum described in this research. It has focused - in line with its authors - the description "biogenic", although we accept a hybrid response principles of minimal cognition with AI as interactions with robotic or "memristors"  generating  a  nervous  mimetic  of  great  importance  to  the  study  of  adaptive behavior. The question ultimately cannot be resolved; It also is intended. Rather the goal is the correct fit within  the  relevant  disciplines,  and  provides  guidance,  coherent  and  constructive  phenomenon of cognition, which is not tautological to the phenomenon of life, but contains both natural and artificial. Or as Aristotle tells us, "Being in a subject means that which occurs in one thing / subject specific(πρᾶγμα)  without being separable part (μέρος) own, cannot exist outside (χωρίς) of what they are" (Categories II, 1st 24- 25). Keywords:  Cognition,  biosemiotics,  transdisciplinarity,  Physarum  Polycephalum,  cognitive minimum    principles,    molecular    semantics,    tensegrity,    buffer, biogenic,    autopoiesis, biohermeneutics,  systems  biology,  regulation,  agency,  adaptive  behavior,  autopoiética enactividad, teleonomic lace, qualitative organicism, proto -qualia.