An existence proof of multiple realization

BARBERIS, SERGIO DANIEL

Florianópolis

Simposio; 10th Principia International Symposium; 2017

Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)

In this paper, I present direct evidence of the multiple realization of memory in mollusks. Polger and Shapiro (Polger, Th., and Shapiro, L., 2016, The multiple realization book, Oxford University Press) ask: Is there any direct evidence of multiple realization across species? If the same psychological state or process is present in members of different species and even phyla, for instance, in members of cordata and mollusca, then the difference in realization in each species would amount to an 'existence proof' of multiple realization. In this paper, I revisit the neurobiological research on memory in mollusks and argue that there is direct evidence that the same abstract computation is multiply realized in the vertical lobe of octopus and cuttlefish.