19 research outputs found
The Real Combination Problem : Panpsychism, Micro-Subjects, and Emergence
Panpsychism harbors an unresolved tension, the seriousness of which has yet to be fully appreciated. I capture this tension as a dilemma, and offer panpsychists advice on how to resolve it. The dilemma, briefly, is as follows. Panpsychists are committed to the perspicuous explanation of macro-mentality in terms of micro-mentality. But panpsychists take the micro-material realm to feature not just mental properties, but also micro-subjects to whom these properties belong. Yet it is impossible to explain the constitution of a macro-subject (like one of us) in terms of the assembly of micro-subjects, for, I show, subjects cannot combine. Therefore the panpsychist explanatory project is derailed by the insistence that the world’s ultimate material constituents (ultimates) are subjects of experience. The panpsychist faces a choice of abandoning her explanatory project, or recanting the claim that the ultimates are subjects. This is the dilemma. I argue that the latter option is to be preferred. This needn’t constitute a wholesale abandonment of panpsychism, however, since panpsychists can maintain that the ultimates possess phenomenal qualities, despite not being subjects of those qualities. This proposal requires us to make sense of phenomenal qualities existing independently of experiencing subjects, a challenge I tackle in the penultimate section. The position eventually reached is a form of neutral monism, so another way to express the overall argument is to say that, keeping true to their philosophical motivations, panpsychists should really be neutral monists.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Unity between God and mind? A study on the relationship between panpsychism and pantheism
The author thanks the John Templeton Foundation and The Pantheism and Panentheism Project for sponsoring this paperA number of contemporary philosophers have suggested that the recent revival of interest in panpsychism within philosophy of mind could reinvigorate a pantheistic philosophy of religion. This project explores whether the combination and individuation problems, which have dominated recent scholarship within panpsychism, can aid the pantheist’s articulation a God/Universe Unity. Constitutive holistic panpsychism is seen to be the only type of panpsychism suited to aid pantheism in articulating this type of unity. There are currently no well-developed solutions to the individuation problem for this type of panpsychism. Moreover, the gestures towards a solution appear costly to the religious significance of pantheism. This article concludes that any hope that the contemporary panpsychism might aid pantheists in articulating Unity is premature and possibly misplaced.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Softwareframework zur effizienten Entwicklung medizinischer Dokumentationssysteme und Register
Tailoring rice varieties to consumer preferences induced by cultural and colonial heritage: Lessons from New Rice for Africa (NERICA) in The Gambia
The 14-3-3 protein interacts directly with the C-terminal region of the plant plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase.
Accumulating evidence suggests that 14-3-3 proteins are involved in the regulation of plant plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase activity. However, it is not known whether the 14-3-3 protein interacts directly or indirectly with the H(+)-ATPase. In this study, detergent-solubilized plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase isolated from fusicoccin-treated maize shoots was copurified with the 14-3-3 protein (as determined by protein gel blotting), and the H(+)-ATPase was recovered in an activated state. In the absence of fusicoccin treatment, H(+)-ATPase and the 14-3-3 protein were well separated, and the H(+)-ATPase was recovered in a nonactivated form. Trypsin treatment removed the 10-kD C-terminal region from the H(+)-ATPase as well as the 14-3-3 protein. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we could show a direct interaction between Arabidopsis 14-3-3 GF14-phi and the last 98 C-terminal amino acids of the Arabidopsis AHA2 plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase. We propose that the 14-3-3 protein is a natural ligand of the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase, regulating proton pumping by displacing the C-terminal autoinhibitory domain of the H(+)-ATPase
Nucleus-outgrower schemes as an alternative to traditional smallholder agriculture in Tanzania – strengths, weaknesses and policy requirements
Upscaling agriculture and food security in Africa in pursuit of the SDGs: What role does China play?
China and Africa constitute more than a third of the world’s population and China has become Africa’s largest trading partner. This has led to other forms of engagement with African countries, shaping development policies and outcomes. This chapter focuses on one important set of outcomes: the implications of the China-Africa relationship for global food security and the transferability of the Chinese model of agriculture to African countries. As the world redirects attention to pursuing sustainable development goals (SDGs), such engagements with China in agricultural development will affect the attainment of SDG 1 on eliminating extreme poverty and SDG 2 on achieving zero hunger. China has embarked on an effort to improve African agricultural capacity and productivity partly by sharing experience, technology transfer and by encouraging Chinese agricultural investments in Africa. This has included setting up new exchange frameworks and programmes to both bring Chinese experts to African countries and African students and researchers to China