Paper "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis" scheduled for presentation online at IAEP 2024 May 22nd

My paper «Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis» has been scheduled for oral presentation at the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy, IAEP 2024, which is to be held online May 22-24th, on Wednesday May 22nd at 9-10.30 a.m. EDT (which compares to 3-4.30 p.m. CEST), as part of the session “Phenomenology, Language, and Hermeneutics” (moderated by Jonathan Beever).

3 hours of seminar teaching

Today I have been teaching for 3 hours. First I gave a 1-hour digital seminar in the department´s master course in environmental psychology, the topic was ecology and lifeworld. Then, straight after, I gave a physical 2-hour seminar in the department´s bachelor course in law and ethics, for bachelor students in psychology, focussed on occupational ethics and summary of the ethics teaching in the course. This concludes my teaching in both courses this Spring.

#37; book contract offer for CCS book

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to contributing to the article "Friluftsliv in therapeutic residential care: Taking adolescents out to find a way in" which I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland, with some 350 words added to the text. I also received and considered a book contract offer for my book Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 37 writing days. 

In April, I logged 5.161 words written.

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness getting widespread media attention (BBC, NBC, New Scientist, etc.)

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, which I have signed, although after it was launched April 19th (I was not among the initial signatories), has been getting extensive media coverage in major news outlets, most of it before my signature was added to the list of signatories on April 23rd. This includes:

Scientists push new paradigm of animal consciousness, saying even insects may be sentient (NBC News, April 19th)

It’s ‘irresponsible’ to ignore widespread consciousness across animal world, dozens of scientists argue (The Hill, April 19th)

Consciousness a ‘realistic possibility’ in birds, fish, squid and bees, scholars say (The Globe and Mail, April 22nd)

Scientists believe insects may have feelings (BBC, April 22nd)

Some scientists say insects are conscious – it doesn't settle anything (New Scientist, April 23rd - paywall)

See also:

"New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness" signed (April 23)

Næss article proof-read

Today I have responded to language washing / proofs of the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and which will appear in issue 1/2, 2024, of Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift.

Fifth and final ethics lecture

Today I have given what has turned out to be the fifth and last lecture in ethics in the University of Stavanger course "Lovgivning og etikk". The focus was occupational ethics in the context of psychology, and the ethics of coercion.

"New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness" signed

I have signed the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, which was launched April 19th 2024 at New York University. See also an informative background text. PS: I was not among the initial signatories.

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The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness 

Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged. 

First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds. 

Second, the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects). 

Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.

Google Scholar: 1.100 citations

According to Google Scholar - cf. my profile - my research has to date attracted 1.100 citations (+17 since March 21st), including 41 in 2024 (+10 since March 21st). My h-index remains 19 and my i10-index 37.

WIth 54 citations (+3 since March 21st), the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism, which I co-wrote with Alexei Sharov, is now my second most cited text (up from shared #3 spot March 21st, #4 March 8th and #9 January 3rd). 

I passed the last +100 in the total citations count on December 5th 2023, i.e. about 5 months ago (see link below). 

See also:

Google Scholar: 1000 citations; updated Google Scholar history (December 5th 2023)

Two forthcoming lectures in Trento, Italy May9th and 10th

As part of my upcoming Erasmus exchange to Italy and Slovenia I will be giving two lectures at University of Trento, in Trento. 

On Thursday May 9th at 4-6 p.m., I will give a lecture for ph.d. students titled ”Semiotic agency and the Anthropocene”.

On Friday May 10th (exact time not known) I will give a lecture for BA students on the perspective of the Anthropocene and what it says about humans´ place in nature, in a philosophical anthropology course.

To give lecture "The Anthropocene: Alpha and omega?" at AMEU–ISH in Ljubljana May 14th

My Erasmus exchange to Italy and Slovenia is approaching. On Tuesday May 14th, I will give a lecture at Instititum Studiorum Humanitatis, Alma mater Europaea (AMEU–ISH), in Ljubljana, titled “The Anthropocene: Alpha and omega?”. Abstract and bionote below.

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Title: The Anthropocene: Alpha and omega? 

Abstract: For about a generation, the perspective of the Anthropocene has been much discussed as a framing of our current socioecological predicament. Recently, the Anthropocene reportedly failed to become an official designation for the time we live in, after a majority of the members of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), sorting under the International Commission on Stratigraphy´s Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy, voted against it. But this is not the end of the Anthropocene, given how fruitful the concept and perspective has proven to be over the last several years. Key questions remain to be satisfactorily answered: What does the perspective of the Anthropocene say about humans´ place in nature, generally and currently? When did human impact start overwhelming ecosystems? When did humans start having a global impact? For how long is it likely – or desirable – that we humans, and the Earth, will remain in a predicament in which humans predominate environments globally? And how can the Anthropocene perspective be informative with regard to understanding how we should solve environmental problems, including the climate crisis?   

Bionote: Morten Tønnessen (born 1976) is a professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, Norway. Tønnessen has been an Editor-in-Chief of Biosemiotics and is currently a member of its editorial board. He is a past president and the current secretary of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), and a member of Norway´s Council for animal ethics. His writings on the Anthropocene include “The Global Species” (New formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics, 2010), Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder (co-editor, Scandinavian Academic Press 2013) and Thinking about animals in the age of the Anthropocene (co-editor, Lexington Books 2016). Academic (b)log: https://utopianrealism.blogspot.com. For an overview of publications see Tønnessen´s Google Scholar profile.

#36 - Encyclopedia of ecology chapter "Ecological semiotics" finished

Today I have had half an article day devoted to finishing my chapter "Ecological semiotics" for the forthcoming 3rd edition of Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of ecology, with some 250 words added to the text, and the manuscript finally completed, and submitted. So far this Spring I have had 36 writing days.

Article on Arne Næss´ philosophy of economics accepted for publication in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift

We have just been notified that our article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics) has been accepted for publication in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift. I have co-written the article along with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen.

#35,5

Today I have had an article writing day with some 500 words added to my encyclopedia chapter "Ecological semiotics" and discussions of feedback and further work on the GDP review article which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm.

#34,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to expanding my encyclopedia article "Ecological Semiotics", which I write for Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, third edition, with some 1.000 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have had 34,5 writing days.

#33,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to expanding my encyclopedia article "Ecological Semiotics", which I write for Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, third edition, with some 700 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have had 33,5 writing days. I have now logged more than 20.000 words written so far in 2024.

Paper "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis" accepted for presentation at 2024 IAEP virtual conference

I have been notified by the organizers of the 2024 virtual conference of IAEP, the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP), that my paper proposal "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis" has been accepted for oral presentation. The conference takes place online May 22-24th.

See also:

Proposal for IAEP 2024: "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis"

"Wasted GDP in the USA" tops HSSC "Top 10 by Altmetric attention score" list for 2023; included in "Top articles of 2023" collection

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA" appears on #1 on Humanities and social sciences communications´ "Top 10 by Altmetric attention score" list for articles published in 2023. It currently has an Altmetric score of 1006, which is the highest achieved by any article published in Humanities and social sciences communications in 2023.

The journal has made a collection featuring the top 10 articles by citations, downloads, and Altmetric attention score titled "Top articles of 2023". Follow the link to see all three Top 10 lists.

#32,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to expanding my encyclopedia article "Ecological Semiotics", which I write for Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, third edition, with some 1.100 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have had 32,5 writing days.

#31,5

Today I have had half an article writing day devoted to expanding my encyclopedia article "Ecological Semiotics", which I write for Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, third edition, with some 100 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have had 31,5 writing days.

#31

Today I have had half an article writing day devoted to expanding my encyclopedia article "Ecological Semiotics", which I write for Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, third edition, with some 350 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have had 31 writing days.

"What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" resubmitted

Yesterday I submitted a revised version of the article on Arne Næss´ views on the philosophy of economics which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), to Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift. 

Moscow presentation at Sharov 70 conference held digitally

Today I have I presented the paper ""Semiotic agency" as a unifying concept for the life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities”" at the one-day conference  “The active forces of development and semiotic agency (Developmental and semiotic agency)", which was held in Moscow and online, hosted by the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN) . Some 20 people attended altogether physically and online. 

See also:

Moscow presentation on semiotic agency scheduled (April 10th); Zoom link

#30,5

Today I have had what ended up as half an article writing day, #30,5 so far this Spring. I have made some minor edits in the article on Arne Næss´ views on the philosophy of economics, which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and obtained a figure permission for and done a little writing on the chapter "Ecological Semiotics" which is to be published as part of Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology (third edition).

Moscow presentation on semiotic agency scheduled (April 10th); Zoom link

I have been scheduled to give the presentation "Semiotic agency" as a unifying concept for the life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities” at 11.10-11.40 CET as part of the one-day international Conference “The active forces of development and semiotic agency” (Developmental and semiotic agency), which will be held at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION RAN) in Moscow, Russia, and online on Wednesday April 10th. The conference is held in celebration of the 70th year birthday of Alexei Sharov, with whom I co-wrote the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism. The conference, which is held in Russian (mainly) and English, starts with a presentation of this book. 

The conference, which lasts from 10.00 to 14.10 CET (11.00 to 15.10 Moscow time, GMT +3) can be followed via this Zoom link.

#30

Today I have finished the revised version of our article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and which will be resubmitted to Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift soon. In the process I added some 400 words net to the article concerning my text contributions, and also made substantial deletions. So far this Spring I have had 30 writing days.

#29

Today I have had a writing day devoted to revision of our article on Arne Næss´ view on the philosophy of economics, with some 250 words written net in the process, and portions of text deleted. So far I have had 29 writing days this Spring.

Peer-review

I have recently done a peer-revieew for Semiotica.

Citation stats for Department of social studies, UIS - #7 at department, #117 at UIS overall; most-cited philosopher

I´ve had a look at the most cited scholars at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, where I work, according to Google Scholar. All 453 University of Stavanger profiles can be found in ranked order here. With 1088 citations, I currently rank as #7 at Department of social studies, and as #117 at University of Stavanger overall.

I am the 4th most-cited Professor at Department of social studies, after Head of department and Professor Kolbjørn Brønnick (#5 at University of Stavanger overall), Professor Sarah Hean (#40 at University of Stavanger overall) and Professor Nicolay Gausel (#67 at University of Stavanger overall). 

Of the 10 most-cited scholars at Department of social studies, 8 work in psychology. The only exceptions on the top 10 are Sarah Hean and myself. Five scholars from my department feature among the 100 most-cited scholars at University of Stavanger - these are: Kolbjørn Brønnick, Sarah Hean, Nicolay Gausel, Bianka Karshikoff (#80 at University of Stavanger overall) and Lilla Magyari (#97 at University of Stavanger overall). Danilo Garcia is the second-most cited scholar at the department, but does not yet have a University of Stavanger profile at Google Scholar. Altogether I am one of 11 scholars at Department of social studies who feature among the University of Stavanger´s 200 most-cited scholars.

I appear to be the most-cited philosopher at University of Stavanger.

#28

Today I have had what ended up as (only) half a writing day, with some 150 words added to, and bits deleted from, the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" ("What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics"), which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. So far this Spring I have had 28 writing days.

#27,5

Today I have had half a writing day with work done on the revision of the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I am co-writing with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. So far this Autumn I have had 27,5 writing days.