Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 200 words written. Accumulated number of writing days in 2020 is up to 31.
I wrote the summary reiterated below, which is the abstract for an invited book chapter for an anthology edited by Amir Biglari, Open Semiotics.
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"Umwelt theory for practitioners: Practical guidelines for a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology"
By Morten Tønnessen
Descriptive phenomenology denotes a scientific method for describing lived experience, based on phenomenological philosophy. But despite the fact that classics such as Husserl and Heidegger acknowledged the existence of animal lifeworlds, descriptive phenomenology in its current forms is typically only applicable to the study of human lifeworlds. Using the semiotically framed Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll as foundation allows for the development of a novel version of descriptive phenomenology that is non-anthropocentric and pluralistic. In this chapter, I introduce practical guidelines for a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology which is applicable in the study of human as well as animal lifeworlds. Whereas prominent current forms of descriptive phenomenology rely heavily on the subject´s mastery of verbal interviews and/or written accounts, i.e. the mode of human language, a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology depends primarily on participatory observation of and interaction with the subjects under study, possibly supplemented by expert interviews. In the study of animals, applied Umwelt theory can be of use e.g. to veterinarians, ethologists, and zookeepers. It is also of use to any anthropologist or social scientist that studies humans who interact with animals. By providing a scientific method informed by both ethology and semiotics, it offers researchers an invaluable tool for qualitative studies of human and animal lifeworlds separately or in relation to each other.
