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<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
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255); text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color:
initial;" align="center"><font size="+1"><b><font face="Arial">Call
for Papers - Special Issue "Plant Sentience: Theoretical and
Empirical Issues" (<i>Journal of Consciousness Studies</i>)</font></b></font><br>
</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
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background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Guest Editors:<br>
Vicente Raja (Rotman Institute of Philosophy, Western University)<br>
Miguel Segundo-Ortin (School of Liberal Arts, University of
Wollongong)</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Recently, scientists
have started paying attention to a series of organisms that have
traditionally deemed cognitively un-interesting. Plants are among
these organisms. The current scientific evidence seems to show
that plants are not merely reactive organisms and that the way
they interact with the environment is far more complex than we
initially assumed. We know, for example, that plants do not react
to the environmental impingements on a one-by-one basis. Rather,
they seem to be able to integrate information from multiple
vectors, eliciting sophisticated responses (at the level of
physiology, morphology, and phenotype) to maximize fitness
(Trewavas, 2014). Plants seem to also be able to anticipate
upcoming events (Novoplansky, 2016) and to show some communicative
skills (Falik et al., 2012). Likewise, the empirical evidence
suggests that they are able to memorize and learn from previous
experiences, having found evidence of associative and
non-associative learning in <em>Mimosa pudica</em> and garden pea
(Gagliano et al., 2014; 2016). This scientific evidence has called
the attention of philosophers, initiating the debate about whether
plants can be considered intelligent in a proper, non-metaphorical
way (Adams, 2018; Segundo-Ortin & Calvo, 2019).</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">A much less explored
issue is, however, whether plants are conscious (whether they have
subjective, phenomenal experience of the world). In 2017, Calvo
[this journal] defended the possibility that plants could be
subjectively aware or conscious of the world. Calvo argues that
plants lack none of the functional structures supposedly needed to
have phenomenal consciousness, and, then, that there is no solid
reason to neglect, before serious engagement and investigation,
such a possibility (see also Calvo et al., 2017). This idea has
recently been further explored and challenged (see, e.g., Maher,
2018; Taiz et al., 2019), which shows that the topic of plant
sentience/consciousness is currently a matter of controversy.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">In this special issue,
we seek to address the issue of plant sentience/consciousness from
different disciplines that combine both <strong>theoretical</strong> and <strong>empirical</strong> perspectives.
Some of the questions to be addressed in the special issue include
the following: </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">· Plants exhibit
interesting behaviors; does it entail they are conscious to some
extent? </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">· What are the
requirements for a living organism to be conscious? Do plants meet
these requirements? </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">· What does the
possibility of plant sentience/consciousness entail for the
studies of the evolution of consciousness? </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">· It is just a
categorical mistake to attribute consciousness to plants?</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">· Can we talk about
different levels or degrees of consciousness?</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Several authors have
already confirmed their contribution to this special issue: <strong>Paco
Calvo</strong>, <strong>Eva Jablonka</strong> & <strong>Simona
Ginsburg</strong>, <strong>Monica Gagliano</strong> & <strong>Pamela
Lyon</strong>, and <strong>Chauncey Maher</strong>. </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
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background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong><br>
</strong></p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
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font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong>How to submit?</strong></p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Deadline: <strong>June
1st, 2020</strong></p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Please submit your
papers (max. 9000 words including footnotes, references, abstract,
etc.) to <strong><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:vgalian@uwo.ca">vgalian@uwo.ca</a></strong> with subject “Paper
Special Issue JCS”. </p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">For more information,
including bibliography and more detailed descriptions of the
topics and questions to be addressed in the papers submitted to
the special issue, please contact the guest editors at <strong><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:vgalian@uwo.ca">vgalian@uwo.ca</a></strong> (Vicente)
or <strong><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:miguel@uow.edu.au">miguel@uow.edu.au</a></strong> (Miguel).</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong><br>
</strong></p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong>References</strong></p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Adams, F. (2018).
Cognition wars. <em>Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Part A</em>, 68, 20-30.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Calvo, P. (2017). What
is it like to be a plant? <em>Journal of Consciousness Studies</em>,
24(9-10), 205-227.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Calvo, P., Sahi, V. P.,
& Trewavas, A. (2017). Are plant sentient? Plant. <em>Cell
& Environment</em>, 40(11), 2858-2869.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Falik, O., Mordoch, Y.,
Ben-Natan, D., …, & Novoplansky, A. (2012). Plant
responsiveness to root-root communication of stress cues. <em>Annals
of Botany</em>, 110, 271-280.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Gagliano, M., Renton,
M., Depczynski, M., & Mancuso, S. (2014). Experience teaches
plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it
matters. <em>Oecologia</em>, 175(1), 63-72.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Gagliano, M.,
Vyazovskiy, V. V., Borbély, A. A., Grimonprez, M., &
Depczynski, M. (2016). Learning by association in plants. <em>Scientific
Reports</em>, 6, 38427.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Maher, C. (2018). <em>Plant
minds: A philosophical defense</em>. New York: Routledge.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Novoplansky, A. (2016).
Future perception in plants. In N. Mihai (Ed.), <em>Anticipation
Across Disciplines</em> (pp. 57-70). New York: Springer.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Segundo-Ortin, M. &
Calvo, P. (2019). Are plants cognitive? A reply to Adams. <em>Studies
in History and Philosophy of Science Part A</em>, 73, 64-71.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Trewavas, A. (2014). <em>Plant
behaviour and intelligence</em>. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.</p>
<p style="font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 56, 61); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-style: normal;
font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal;
widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Taiz, L., Alkon, D.,
Draguhn, A., …, & Robinson, D. G. (2019). Plants neither
possess nor require consciousness. <em>Trends in Plant Science</em>,
24(8), 677-687</p>
<p><b><font face="Arial"></font></b><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
<b>Dr. Miguel Segundo-Ortin</b>
<br>
Postdoctoral Fellow
<br>
School of Liberal Arts
<br>
Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, 19.1089
<br>
University of Wollongong, Australia
<br>
Visit my website: <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/sy38Cp81lrtqMvEvIPw6Rg?domain=miguelsegundoortin.com/">miguelsegundoortin.com</a></div>
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