Reference Information: Aristotle, On Plants. Editor: Jonathan Barnes. Most likely actual author: Nicolaus of Damascus.
Summary: Aristotle's "On Plants", discusses the implications of if plants have souls or not. His theorizes on this topic by comparing plants to humans and animals. Their "soul" is defined by whether or not it shows any characteristics we relate with living creatures. For example, the fact that plants seek out nutrients by growing out expansive root systems shows that they have similar motivations as humans and animals. The plant's reproductive desires are also a sign of a soul. However, the fact that plants do not sleep is a mark against them having souls.
Dicussion: I found Aristotle's observational very interesting. The soul is inherently a un-provable belief, so using primitive observational science techniques is a very unique approach. I'm not convinced if plants do have souls or not, but if they did have souls, the plant's natural survival instincts would most likely be a good indicator.
If one were to try extrapolate this form of analysis to computers, it would be much more difficult to determine if they have souls. My Macbook doesn't have any natural preservation instincts, so one could easily dismiss computers as not having souls. However, one could easily build, say, a solar powered robot, which would disobey and order to walk into the shade if it knew that leaving sunlight would shut it down. Would this robot have a soul? Much like plants, it is hard to determine where one draws the line between soul and souless.
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