“Cognitive biology aims at a synthesis of data of various scientific disciplines within a single frame of conceiving life as epistemic unfolding of the universe (the epistemic principle). In accord with evolutionary epistemology, it considers biological evolution as a progressing process of accumulation of knowledge. The knowledge is embodied in constructions of organisms, and the structural complexity of those constructions which carry embodied knowledge corresponds to their epistemic complexity. In contrast to evolutionary epistemology, cognitive biology is based on the assumption that the molecular level is fundamental for cognition and adheres to a principle of minimal complexity, which stipulates that the most efficient way to study any trait of life is by studying it at the simplest level at which it occurs.”

                From L. Kovac (2000) Fundamental principles of cognitive biology.  Evolution and Cognition 6: 51-69.