Cell phenomenology: The first phenomenon.

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Mind
• Evolutionary Biology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Phenomenology traditionally studies subjective conscious experience from a first-person viewpoint.
• The philosophical movement emphasized subjective experience as the foundation of knowledge.
• This work proposes an expanded, evolutionary and physical perspective on phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To redefine phenomena as the subjective consequence of physical interactions within an organism.
• To explore the evolutionary origins of subjective experience and the subject-object distinction.
• To reframe the mind-body problem as a fundamental epistemic subject-object problem.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis integrating evolutionary and physical principles.
• Reduction of the mind-body problem to the symbol-matter problem at the origin of life.
• Examination of self-replicating units as the earliest form of symbol-matter distinction.

Main Results:

• Phenomena are interpreted as functional, subjective consequences of physical detection and measurement by an organism.
• The epistemic cut (subject-object distinction) is identified as essential for the emergence of phenomena and evolutionary adaptation.
• The first memory-based self-replicating units, like cells, represent the most primitive symbol-matter distinction.

Conclusions:

• Subjective phenomena are intrinsically linked to physical interactions and evolutionary processes.
• The subject-object distinction is a fundamental requirement for life's ability to adapt.
• Understanding phenomena through an evolutionary and physical lens offers new insights into consciousness and cognition.