On Whitehead and Deleuze: The Process of Materiality

In his long career, Whitehead was, variously, a mathematician, speculative physicist, historian of science, philosopher of science, and philosopher in his own right. As such, he occupies a perhaps unique place within recent western thought. Not only did he advance scientific thought, he also developed a novel, systematic philosophical understanding of science based on a deep historical appreciation of both its theoretical premises and its practical procedures. Whitehead did not dismiss science, he did not see it as divorced from philosophy, nor did he accept the premises which, he maintained, still inform much of modern science. One of Whitehead’s great achievements, which will be taken up later in this paper, is his insistence that science, philosophy, the humanities, and social theory all require a renewed conception of nature (in the broadest sense of the word), one which goes beyond strict scientific limitations, beyond any form of biological essentialism or reliance upon some notion of the ultimate laws of physics or nature. Through his philosophy of organism, Whitehead aims to develop a concept of nature that is able to incorporate all existence, thereby bringing together the empirical, the material, the social, the aesthetic, and thinking beings

Language, Subjectivity and Individuality

It is clear that within Deleuze and Whitehead’s work, there is an important re- description of the time, place and status of all subjectivity, a subjectivity which is not limited to the ‘human’. Both writers provide compelling reasons as to why, and how, contemporary analyses should avoid positing the human person as either an object or a subject. Rather, ‘human’ individuality is to be envisaged as an aspect within the wider, processual effectivity whereby the virtual becomes actual (Deleuze), or the solidarity of the extensive continuum becomes actualized into individuality (Whitehead). It may appear that I am eliding or confusing the distinction between subjectivity and individuality here. However, one of the arguments that I wish to set out in this chapter is that the validity and complexity of such a distinction can be helpfully re-thought through a sustained engagement with the work of Whitehead and Deleuze

Do those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease lose their souls? Whitehead and Stengers on persons, propositions and the soul

In this article, I use the work of Alfred North Whitehead and Isabelle Stengers to challenge the biomedical and commonsense view that those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease suffer an irreparable and inevitable loss of self and that this loss is inextricably tied to a decline in linguistic capability which itself bears immediate witness to a deterioration in the brain. Through an analysis of Whitehead's (1933, 1938) provocative conceptualization of the soul, and Stengers' (2005) reading of this, I suggest that it is possible to dislocate language from its supposed position as that which produces and fully expresses human experience. This involves a challenge to the ‘linguistic turn’ as to be found in much contemporary social theory, philosophy and social psychology. The discussion of Whitehead's (and Stengers') ideas regarding the soul involves a reading of Whitehead's notions of ‘propositions’, ‘contrasts’ and the ‘social environment’. Through these analyses, I seek to relocate the problem of language and identity and its relation to Alzheimer's disease. I go beyond any reduction of the problem either to its social component, where the self is seen as a resolutely human ‘person’, or to its natural element, where Alzheimer's disease is seen solely as a problem located within the brain. Instead, I try to think the natural and social together. My aim is not to explain away the problem but to suggest a more productive way of thinking about those diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and ourselves

Subjectivity and matter in the work of A.N. Whitehead and Gilles Deleuze : developing a non-essentialist ontology for social theory

This thesis examines the concepts of matter and subjectivity in the works of A. N. Whitehead and Gilles Deleuze, and draws out a non-essentialist version of ontology from their work. It argues that many recent accounts of subjectivity have refused to engage with the material or ontological aspect of subjectivity and that this has led to an over-reliance on 'linguistic constructionism' and 'discursive production'. This has meant that the social sciences have focused on the 'cultural' body and left the 'biological' body in the realm of the natural sciences. The thesis uses a range of critiques of Butler's Bodies That Matter to develop the need for a re-thinking of the relations between materiality, subjectivity and ontology. This re-thinking is carried out through an analysis of the work of Spinoza, Whitehead and Deleuze. It is argued that although Spinoza's Ethics may set the parameters of a non-essentialist ontology, he ultimately fails in his attempt to fully materialise his conception of individuality. Whitehead's 'philosophy of organism' (as set out in Process and Reality) is presented as providing a coherent account of existence as a process within which all subjectivity is constituted through a physical and conceptual concrescence. However, his account of the role of language within this process is seen as deficient. It is argued that much of the work of Deleuze is involved with the same concerns as that of Whitehead but that The Logic of Sense (1990) is able to produce an account of the position of language which is consonant with Whitehead's ontological approach. The thesis, thereby, contributes to contemporary analyses of subjectivity by developing a theoretical framework within which the materiality of subjectivity can be conceptualized without invoking scientific or essentialist accounts of physicality

'Workshop for Nagoya Protocol and Plant Treaty National Focal Points in Latin America and the Caribbean’

The capacity-building Workshop for National Focal Points in Latin America and the Caribbean on Mutually Supportive Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, was held 25-28 September 2018 at the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru. The workshop was attended by over 60 participants, including National Focal Points for the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (CBD) for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty), from 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop was also attended by representatives from the Secretariats of the Plant Treaty and CBD, the International Seed Federation, farmer and indigenous peoples organizations, national and international agricultural research organizations and experts from the region who have been working for decades on access and benefit-sharing policy issues. The objectives of the workshop were to: 1. Strengthen network ties between National Focal Points within each country and across the regions; 2. Analyse challenges and opportunities for implementing the Plant Treaty and the Nagoya Protocol in a mutually supportive manner, and in ways that advance complementary policy goals, such as climate change adaptation, and improving the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities; 3. Equip participants with tools to help address ‘real life’ scenarios where mutually supportive implementation is important, and 4. Identify the kinds of additional support that countries need to implement the Plant Treaty and Nagoya Protocol in mutually supportive ways

Mainstreaming agricultural biological diversity across sectors through NBSAPs: Missing Links to Climate Change Adaptation, Dietary Diversity and the Plant Treaty

This Information Note presents a summary of an analysis of the revised NBSAPs that were submitted by 119 countries to the CBD Secretariat prior to 20 November 2016. The study focused on how agrobiodiversity has been mainstreamed across sectors through the NBSAP

“Class is always a matter of morals”: Bourdieu and Dewey on Social Class, Morality, and Habit(us).

This article argues that all judgements or statements about social class are inherently moral in that they implicitly advocate how people should (or should not) act. The argument extends Bourdieu’s linking of social class and representation by introducing Dewey’s intertwining of morality and habit. It is suggested that Kant’s apparently distinct critiques have set up three domains – knowledge, morality, aesthetics – which modern thought has treated as radically discrete. Although successful in linking the objective and the aesthetic (social class and its representation), Bourdieu was unable to incorporate the moral. Dewey’s reconceptualization of morality and habit is presented as able to overcome this limitation. The introduction of morality is intended to reflect the contingent and complex operations of social class. The article aims to destabilize contemporary conceptions of social class by clarifying the enduring moral aspect which supports its conceptualization and existence

Mise en œuvre concertee et solidaire du Traite sur les ressources phytogenetiques et du Protocole de Nagoya : Abecedaire pour points focaux nationaux et autres parties prenantes

The overall objective of this report – and the survey, workshop and follow-up analysis upon which it is based - is to provide national policy actors with a tool to increase their ability and confidence to implement the CBD/NP and ITPGRFA/MLS in mutually supportive ways

Resilient seed systems for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in the East Africa sub-region: Report of training workshop, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 17-21 September 2019

Bioversity International is implementing a Dutch-supported project entitled: Resilient seed systems for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in the East Africa sub-region. This work aims to boost timely and affordable access to good-quality seed for a portfolio of crops / varieties for millions of women and men farmers’ and their communities across east Africa. A first project training: i) contextualized farmer varietal selection, ii) provided practical demonstrations of tools for climate-change analysis, iii) introduced policy issues associated with managing crop diversity, iv) outlined characterization and evaluation of genetic resources, and v) articulated associated gender issues, and issues related to disseminating elite materials. The training concluded with a contextualizing field trip. In the workshop evaluation, 98% participants declared their overall satisfaction level to be high (74%) or medium (24%), indicating the training furnished them with good ideas for networking and using the tools and methods they learned about