Paper "A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis" accepted for presentation at (Un)Common Worlds III conference

I have been notified by the conference organizers that my paper "A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis" has been accepted for presentation at the conference (Un)Common Worlds III Human-Animal Studies Conference (to be held at University of Oulu, University and Derby and online October 4-6th).

Presentation scheduled for 23rd Gathering in Biosemiotics (Copenhagen)

My presentation «A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis» has been scheduled for presentation at the 2023 Gatherings in Biosemiotics 23, which is to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, at University of Copenhagen’s Social Sciences Faculty Library July 31st–August 4th, at Wednesday August 2nd at 16.30-17.00.

#52

Over the 2 last days I had a writing day, the 52nd this Spring, with some 500 words written of my contribution to the book Mars and the Earthlings, and some work done on the two articles I am co-writing with Jan Karlstrøm, our GDP review (the two of us) and our article about Arne Næss and his view of economics (the two of us plus Thomas Hylland Eriksen).

Google Scholar: 938 citations; i10-index 35, h-index 18

According to my Google Scholar profile, my research has to date attracted 936 citations (+18 since May 31st). This includes 66 citations so far from 2023 (+5 since May 31st). My i10-index is now 35 (+1) and my h-index 18 (+1). This implies that 35 of my texts have been cited at least 10 times, and that 18 of my texts have been cited at lest 18 times.

Altogether 123 texts are listed on my profile.

Interview "Making Meaning With Morten And Martin" published in Hortus Semioticus blog

The interview "Making Meaning With Morten And Martin", conducted by Thorolf van Walsum, has been published in the blog of Tartu´s student journal Hortus Semioticus, featuring me and Martin Avíla (Konstfack, Stockholm). At about 4.000 words, its is a quite long interview.

#51

Today I have had a writing day, the 51st this Spring, with work done on our GDP review article for Samfunnsøkonomen. Also, I had to correct some formalities in my manuscript "Wasted GDP in the USA", which has been submitted to Humanities & Social Sciences Communications.

#50

Today I have had a writing day, the 50th this Spring, with some 600 words added to our article on Arne Næss and his views on economics.

#49

Today I have had half a writing day devoted to work on our GDP review article and our article on Arne Næss and his views on economics, with some 200 words added to each text. So far this Spring I have had 49 writing days.

This week I have had 3 1/2 writing days.

#48,5; revision of "Wasted GDP in the USA" finished

Today i have had half a writing day, and added some 200 words to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA" in the process of finishing the second revision of the article, which has now been submitted to Humanities & Social Sciences Communications. Number of writing days this Spring is up to 48,5.

2,2 publication points in 2022

In 2022 I got 2,2 publication points in the Norwegian publication system (0,5 point for a co-authored article, 1 point for a Routledge chapter and 1 point for another chapter). See my profile in the Current Research information System in Norway.

#48

Today I have had a writing day, the 48th this Spring, with some 600 words added to my article "Wasted GDP in the USA". The current revision is due tomorrow.

#47

Today I have had half a writing day, with some 300 words added to our article on Arne Næss and his views on economics. I have also made some prospective writing plans for my monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement.

#46,5

Today I have had a writing day focussed on revising my article "Wasted GDP in the USA", with some 300 words added.

NASS General Assembly chaired; elected Secretary of NASS; Lauri Linask new NASS President

Yesterday, on Friday June 9th, I chaired the general assembly of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) in conjunction with the 13th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) in Helsinki (June 7-9th). After three terms - six years - as President, I stepped down from this role, and was elected Secretary (I was also Secretary in 2011-2017). Lauri Linask was elected President of NASS.

Göran Sonesson in memoriam - at closing of NASS XIII in Helsinki

Yesterday, on Friday June 9th, I shared some words in memory of Göran Sonesson (1951-2023) as part of the closing of the 13th conference of the Nordic Assosiation for Semiotic Studies (NASS) at UniArts Helsinki. Something like 70-80 people attended. Sonesson was, among other things, President of NASS from 1992 to 2011, and passed away March 17th.

Two sessions chaired at NASS XIII in Helsinki

On Thursday June 8th I chaired two sessions at the 13th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), which was held at UniArts Helsinki and had the theme "Feeling - Skill - Knowledge", namely "Interdynamics, interactions" (4 papers) and "Medicine" (2 papers including my own).

Paper "Nosology and semiotics" presented at NASS XIII

On Thursday June 8th I presented my paper "Nosology and semiotics" at the 13th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) in Helsinki (June 7-9th), as part of the session "Medicine". Some 14 people attended.

Abstract "Nosology and semiotics" submitted to NASS XIII organizers and approved

On December 23rd 2023 I submitted the abstract below to the organizers of NASS XIII. I was notified Debruary 7th that the abstract had been approved.

Abstract for NASS XIII, Feeling – Skill – Knowledge, Helsinki, Finland, 7–9 June 2023   

Author: Tønnessen, Morten 

Affiliation: Department of social studies, University of Stavanger, Norway 

Email address: ***@uis.no 

Title of the paper: Nosology and Semiotics   

ABSTRACT 

Semiotic concepts such as ‘sign’ and ‘symptom’ have been applied in medicine ever since ancient Greece. Medicine relates to biological phenomena. On this background, a biosemiotic perspective on medicine may be relevant and informative. Semiotic perspectives are perhaps particularly pertinent in Nosology, the theory or study of diseases, or more specifically “the scientific study and classification of diseases and disorders, both mental and physical” (APA dictionary of psychology 2021), especially regarding the recognition of diseases. Nosology is related to the concept of diagnosis and the practice of diagnostics, where making a diagnosis often, and historically, typically, entails recognizing a disease or condition by its signs and symptoms.  This presentation draws on a forthcoming book chapter (Tønnessen, forthcoming), “Nosology and Semiotics”, which provides an overview of key works in semiotics on the study of medicine in general and nosology in particular. It presents a biosemiotic perspective on human health, starting with the ‘Umwelt’, the organism´s subjectively experienced lifeworld, and ending with ‘endosemiosis’, the sign processes that are internal to the body and relate to somatic phenomena. The chapter contributes to biosemiotic medicine by commenting on how such an approach can be understood as process-based medicine, the way in which it can bridge human and animal health studies, and how it can be understood as involving a conception of the human being as a system of interrelated sign systems. It concludes by making remarks on how organ crosstalk – “the complex and mutual biological communication between distant organs mediated by signaling factors” (Armutcu 2019) – can be understood within a biosemiotic framework.  

REFERENCES 

— APA dictionary of psychology (2021). Nosology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/nosology  

— Armutcu, F. (2019). Organ crosstalk: The potent roles of inflammation and fibrotic changes in the course of organ interactions. Inflammation Res. 68: 825–839. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-019-01271-7  

— Tønnessen, forthcoming. Nosology and Semiotics. Chapter in Carlo Guido Musso & Adrian Covic (eds.), Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices. Springer Nature.   

KEYWORDS Endosemiosis, Umwelt, biosemiotic medicine, One Health, nosology   

BIONOTE  Morten Tønnessen (born 1976) is Professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, Norway. He obtained his ph.d. at University of Tartu´s Department of semiotics in 2011, with the thesis “Umwelt Transition and Uexküllian Phenomenology. An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management”. Tønnessen was an Editor-in-Chief of Biosemiotics 2013–2020. He was the Secretary of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) 2011–2017 and has been the President of NASS in the period 2017–2023. He is co-author, with Alexei Sharov, of the monograph Semiotic Agency: Science beyond Mechanism (Springer Nature 2021). 

NASS XIII opened in Helsinki

This morning I took part in the opening of the 13th conference of the Nordic association for semiotic studies (NASS), which is held at UniArts Helsinki, and includes an anniversary symposium for the Semiotic Society of Finland. I gave welcome words following Jaana Erkkilä-Hill, vice-rector of Uniarts Helsinki, and before Eero Tarasti, honorary president of the IASS and Juha Ojala, head of the NASS XIII organizing committee. Close to 100 people are attending the conference.

Book featuring "Nosology and Semiotics" chapter now advertised online

There are now some descriptions of the forthcoming book Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices, where I contribute with the opening chapter, "Nosology and semiotics". I found a book description on the webpage of Amazon Australia, the bookshop Lavoisier, and GoodReads. At Lavoisier, publication date is said to be in September 2023.    

Description:

This is an original work dedicated to an important and current topic in nephrology: organ crosstalk in acute renal injury. Acute kidney injury is a prevalent and serious syndrome. The related mortality to this syndrome has not been significantly reduced in the last decades despite the advances in renal replacement therapy technology. For this reason, a new approach to obtain an effective treatment is urgently needed. The organ crosstalk perspective could be useful in order to achieve this objective since it implies a very early acute kidney injury diagnose and treatment. This book includes a comprehensive review of the organ crosstalk perspective in acute kidney injury. Organized in two parts, the chapters in the first part present general subjects as an introduction to analysing the crosstalk concept. These chapters give an overview of the concepts of biosemiotics, hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines, signalling and adhesion molecules, organ intercommunication, and epigenetics. The second part gathers chapters on the different kidney crosstalk, such as brain, lung, heart, liver, gut, and placenta. Finally, there is a chapter dedicated to the influence of renal replacement treatment on kidney crosstalk. Since acute kidney injury is a topic of interest to many health professionals, this work will be a useful resource to general practitioners, internal medicine physicians, geriatricians, nephrologists, critical care therapists, immunologists, and also biologists and bioengineers.

#45,5

Today I have had what ended up as half a writing day, with work done on the revision of my article "Wasted GDP in the USA". Among other things I thought about what distinguishes "wasted GDP" compared with related concepts. So far this Spring I have had 45,5 writing days.

Wonderful world festival: Contributions during 2 events, on future humanity and free will in animals

"Wonderful world - den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap" (Wonderful world - the Nordic festival for philosophy and science) has been held, for the first time, at and around Tou in Stavanger over the 4 last days (June 1st to 4th). I have been part of the editorial board (redaksjonsråd) of the festival, as the only one representing the University of Stavanger there. 

I contributed to two events over the last few days:

* On Thursday June 1st I took part in panel discussion following Anders Sandberg´s introduction to the topic "Fremtidsmennesket?" (future man?). The panel also featured Leonora Onarheim Bergsjø and Einar Duenger Bøhn. Alexandra Esdaile chaired. Some 80 people attended.

* On Saturday June 3rd I took part in a panel discussion on the topic "Har dyr fri vilje? Og derfor rettigheter?" (Do animals have free will? And therefore rights?), and also introduced the topic. The panel also featured Norun Haugen and Lars Risan (chair). Some 40 people attended.

Talk on phenomenological triangulation given in Cognitive Semiotics research seminar

On Thursday June 1st I gave a talk on phenomenological triangulation in the Cognitive Semiotics research seminar at Lund University, Sweden (online, via Zoom). The title of the talk was "Phenomenological triangulation in the study of animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics" (see event info and abstract here). Some 13 people attended the event, which lasted almost 2 hours including a 1-hour talk.

NASS XIII conference booklet now available online

The 13th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS XIII) starts next week. The conference booklet, with program, abstracts and bios, is now available here.

Abstract for IAVS13: "If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizer of the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS13), to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, this autumn, where I will give a keynote speech.

***

If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology   

ABSTRACT  

Morten Tønnessen 

Professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger (Norway)  

As I have argued, an updated version of the classical Umwelt theory developed by Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) can serve as the basis for a more comprehensive iteration of phenomenology that goes beyond human phenomena to encompass the phenomena of all sentient organisms. The importance of the visual sense compared to other senses varies from animal to animal. In humans, the visual sense tends to be predominant, and crucial for our spatial orientation. By way of our current ecological dominance in the epoch of the Anthropocene, human ecology comes to the fore as a critical field of study. The number of animal species featuring individuals that are capable of getting eye contact with humans is quite limited. Such species are nevertheless important in that they constitute a notable, biodiverse category in our visual ecology. Many animals are endangered simply by being seen by us, whether they are capable of eye contact with humans or not. When animals hide from view, it is often because their history of co-evolution with humans has taught them that being seen by a human can be a sign of danger and possibly imminent death. In the context of visual semiotics, this raises questions such as: How does the human species´ predominantly visual orientation affect the ways in which we treat non-humans? What animal worlds are visible to us, and which ones do we overlook? Are we guilty of visual-based discrimination of other species? To what extent are we capable of engaging with the visual cultures of other species? Is achieving a comprehensive vista of the visual worlds of other species attainable at all, for us as humans? I will look into such questions using a notion of semiotic agency that applies to both humans and animals and is compatible with Umwelt phenomenology.

#45

Today I have had half a writing day with some 100 words added to my article in revision "Wasted GDP in the USA".

In May I logged 7,5 writing days. 45 so far since New Year.