Abstract for Steffens conference: "Steffens´ ideas about organic meteorology: From the Totalorganismus to planetary health?"

I have today composed the abstract below for my invited lecture at a conference about Henrik Steffens which is (hopefully) to be held at University of Copenhagen October 1-2nd, "“…just as alluring as instructive…” – Henrik Steffens’ Concept of Nature in Science, Humanities and Arts around 1800".

Steffens´ ideas about organic meteorology: From the Totalorganismus to planetary health?  

Morten Tønnessen Professor of philosophy, Department of social studies, University of Stavanger  

As Linda Richter (2019) has recently investigated, in a report to the Prussian state in 1811, Henrik Steffens made the argument that the atmosphere is a living being, and that adopting this perspective could lead to advances in medicine and our understanding of diseases in humans and animals. The context of the commissioned report was the idea – which was widely held at the time – that many diseases were caused or affected by the climate or weather. In another recent article based on her Ph.D., Richter (2020) distinguishes between Semiotics, Physics, and Organics of the weather as three distinct forms of meteorological knowledge in the period 1750–1850 in German-speaking countries, and presents Steffens as a prominent representative of the Organics perspective.  

I will approach Richter´s two articles and Steffens 1811 report from four different angles. First, I will look into in what ways Steffens´ proposal for an organic perspective on meteorology highlights key aspects of his nature view more broadly. This will include reflecting on possible interpretations of his notion of a “grand organism” (Totalorganismus) in the context of ecology. Second, I will discuss how Steffens´ perspective on organic meteorology fares in comparison with the Gaia theory of James Lovelock. Third, I will discuss whether Steffens´ idea that human and animal health and the weather mirror each other has any resemblance with how we think about human ecology and anthropogenic climate change today. Lastly, I will discuss how Steffens´ perspective connects with contemporary (w)holistic notions such as `One health´, `One Welfare´, and `Planetary health´.