Res computans: The living subject from yeast to human

Abstract

Since modernity, the concept of subject supposes both an anthropocentric and a dualistic view of life and reality. In this study, we carry out an analytic interpretation of the Descartes' notion of subject, in order to build a different dimension of the concept of subject. We discuss the activity of computing, as the manner by which the living subject relates with and in-forms the world. We further examine computing in the aging yeast as an example of living subject and we try to comprehend the maturity of the subjectivity in Descartes' res cogitans and in our proposed res computans.