Reference Information
Title: The Complete Works of Aristotle
Author: Aristotle
Editor: Jonathan Barnes
Summary
In this chapter, Aristotle describes plants in minute detail. He addresses the question - whether or not plants have a soul and intelligence. To find the answer to this question, he compares the characteristics of plants to human characteristics. The first characteristic he mentions is sleep. Plants do not sleep as humans and animals do. However, as he moves on to other characteristics like reproduction and needs for survival, he tries to imply that the plants do have a soul. He mentions that like we humans needs nutrition to grow, plants also need suitable climatic conditions, temperature and sunshine to live a healthy life. Towards the end of the chapter he also mentions various types of plants and trees.
Discussion
In this discussion, we can relate plants and computers. Computers, like plants don't evidently show any characteristics that prove that they have a soul. It can be argued that computers do need electricity for their operation like plants needs air, water and sunshine. However, computers do not grow or reproduce like plants do. I do not believe that computers have a soul. Firstly, computers are machines that simply process data and produce logical output. They are not biological, unlike any living organism. A plant, after it dies decomposes, but that's not the case with a computer. Computers are just tools designed for human use and to increase efficiency.
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