Docent/associate professor promotion application assessed for Södertörns högskola

This Autumn I have assessed an application concerning promotion to docent/associate professor for Södertörns högskola (Sweden), within philosophy.

#45,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, focussed on my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign, with some 300 words added to the text. This was writing day #45,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 31,5 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.

I also added to my preliminary plans for book writing over the next decade, with prospective titles including Global Species and The Natural History of the Phenomenal World.

#45

Today I have had half an article writing day, focussed on the article I am co-writing with Maren Sagvaag Retland on refugee issues, and some planning of writing days for the next couple of months. This was writing day #45 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 14 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#44,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 150 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. I also tried out some initial searches in Retriever´s media archive Atekst in preparation of the article´s media analysis. Moreover, while drafting a basic manuscript structure including subheadings etc., I added some 400 words to an article I am co-writing with Maren Sagvaag Retland on refugee issues.

This was writing day #44,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 13,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

Google Scholar: 1484 citations

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 1.484 citations (+14 since November 3rd). This includes 131 citations so far in 2025 (+12 since November 3rd). My h-index remains 21 and my i10-index 44. 

Sixth Ex.phil. seminars

Today I have given the sixth seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included feedback on the compulsory assignment that I recently assessed and exam preparations.

This concludes my teaching this Autumn semester.

Twelfth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the twelfth and final lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s main topic was political philosophy and specifically political justice.

Video of Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2025 available on YouTube

Recordings of the Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference 2025 (Dyreetikkonferansen 2025) are available on the YouTube channel of The Norwegian Veterinary Institute. The topic was "Når dyr dør. Perspektiver på livets slutt" (When animals die. Perspectives on the end of life). Note that this full-day event was all held in Norwegian.

See also:

Panel discussion chaired at Animal Ethics Conference 2025 on animals´ death

20 compulsory assignments assessed a second time; plus three more assignments assessed

Today I have assessed 20 submitted compulsory assignments in Ex.phil. for a second time (that is, I assessed revised versions). Moreover, I assessed three extra assignments related to insufficient compulsory presence at seminars. The assignments are considered as pass/fail.

See also: 

96 compulsory assignments assessed

Chronicle "Life in Earth" published in Dyrenes forsvarer

My chronicle «Livet i Jorden» (literally: Life in Earth) has been published as my annual guest commentary in the magazine of Dyrebeskyttelsen, a Norwegian animal protection NGO, Dyrenes forsvarer no. 4, 2025, (pp. 4–5). The same text was previously published by forskning.no with a different headline.

See also:

Popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth published at forskning.no

Text «The reindeer´s invisible world» included in art catalogue for Åfjord Art Month 2025

This Autumn I have written a text for an art catalogue, "Åfjord Art Month 2025", in relation to an art exhibition that takes place this month (November 2025). Specifically, I wrote the text «Reinsdyrets usynlige verden» for Ingvild Melberg Eikeland´s art installation at this art exhibition, which takes place in Åfjord municipality (pp. 48–50 in the art catalogue). An English translation, «The reindeer´s invisible world», is also included in the art catalogue (pp. 51–53). Eikeland´s art work and my text draws on the Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll.

First SNL encycklopedia article; plus three articles edited

Yesterday my encyclopedia article "Ulvejakt" was published by Store Norske Leksikon. This is my first encyclopedia article. A couple of weeks ago edits I made were published in three other encyclopedia articles, "barneskolen", "dødsstraff" and "Thomas Kuhn". 

#43,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the chapter on environmental semiotics which I co-write with Jonathan Beever. I also proof-read my forthcoming chapter "Steffens´ early outlook reconsidered. Nature conceptions of the industrial-age Anthropocene", volunteered to write a book review for Biosemiotics, and considered a call for papers on the history of climate economics from the journal Œconomia – History | Methodology | Philosophy.

This was writing day #43,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 12,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date. According to current plans, this concludes my writing days in November, with a paltry 3 writing days altogether, and 654 words written.

Updated CONTRADICTionary reference

Here is an updated reference for my contributions to the forthcoming book publication CONTRADICTionary:

— Tønnessen, Morten, forthcoming, entries in CONTRADICTionary: An Almanac of Resistance (eds. Bernd Herzogenrath and Nicol A. Barria-Asenjo), entries: “Environmental quality” and “Pollution”. Open Humanities Press.

See also:

#34,5; contributions for CONTRADICTionary written and submitted (23 September 2025)

My profile at Nasjonalt vitenarkiv (NVA)

Norway has recently transitioned from one research information system to another. My profile at Nasjonalt vitenarkiv (NVA) is here. Research information data has been automatically imported from the Current Research Information System in Norway (Cristin), which will no longer be updated. From the onset, my NVA profile starts out with 393 registration posts from the period 2012-.

#42,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 50 words added to my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign. I did some readings and mostly worked with improving the chapter disposition (with altogether 14 chapters and soon four times as many subchapters). This was writing day #42,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 31 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.

"Wasted GDP in the USA" surpasses "The ethics of laying hen genetics" as my most read article, with 17.000 accesses

My article "Wasted GDP in the USA", which was published Autumn 2023, now has 17.000 accesses. This compares to about 14.000 accesses by March this year, and likely makes it my most read article, ahead of "The ethics of laying hen genetics" (2019) which now stands at 16.000 accesses.

See also:

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total (March 2025)

96 compulsory assignments assessed

Over the last three weeks or so I have assessed 96 submitted compulsory assignments in Ex.phil. (120 including non-submitted assignments). The assignments are considered as pass/fail.

Eleventh Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the eleventh lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s main topic was political philosophy and specifically political freedom.

Paper presented at "Phenomenology in research" seminar featuring Scott Churchill

Today I have presented my paper "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" in the research seminar "Phenomenology in research», held by and at the University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The research seminar featured three lectures by Scott Churchill, along with my presentation, a presentation on reflexivity by Olga Lehmann, and a concluding panel/discussion session. The seminar was opened by head of department Liv Sand. Some 20 people attended.

Council for animal ethics meeting attended

Today I have attended a meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, at Næringslivets hus in Oslo. Among other things, we discussed the consultative statement we are in the process of writing on climate change and animal ethics, and recent developments in the ethical work that is done in relation to Norway´s Government Pension Fund Global.

Panel discussion chaired at Animal Ethics Conference 2025 on animals´ death

Today I have attended Norway´s Animal Ethics Conference (Dyreetikkonferansen) 2025, which had the theme "Når dyr dør. Perspektiver på livets slutt" (When animals die. Perspectives on the end of life) and was held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. I chaired the panel discussion which took place at the end of the day. The panel included all the presenters, namely Espen Gamlund (UIB), Elisiv Tolo (Animalia), Helen Øvregaard (Vet-Talk), Steffen Tretvoll (Norsk Vegansamfunn), Jon M. Arnemo (Universitetet i Innlandet), Åsa Maria O. Espmark. More than 150 people were registered for the conference, which is organised by Norway´s Council for animal ethics.

Fifth Ex.phil. seminars

Today I have given the fifth seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds, with altogether some 85 students attending. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included criticism, and authority and truth.

Tenth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the tenth lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s main topic was political philosophy and specifically the legitimacy of the state and form of government.

#41,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 450 words added to my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign. This was writing day #41,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 30 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.

Wonderful World program committee meeting attended

Today I have attended a meeting in the program committee for Wonderful World - Den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, at the campus of University of Stavanger.

#41

Today I have had what ended up as half an article writing day, with planning and outline work done in relation to a philosophy handbook chapter I am co-writing with Jonathan Beever on environmental semiotics in the context of environmental philosophy. This was writing day #41 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 11,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

Ninth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the ninth lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s main topic was free will and determinism.

NASS board meeting attended

Today I have attended this Autumn´s board meeting of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS). Topics included initial plans for the next NASS conference, to be held in 2027.

Popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth catching on online

My popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth which was published in Forskersonen at forskning.no yesterday (see yesterday´s post) has done quite well online, with close to 500 likes and 50 shares on Facebook. It also appears to be the third most read text right now in Forskersonen (though not at forskning.no generally).

Popular science chronicle on life on and in Earth published at forskning.no

Today a chronicle of mine, titled «Vi har et ansvar for livet vi ikke ser» (literally, We have responsibility for the life we don´t see), was published in Forskersonen at forskning.no. 

Google Scholar: 1470 citations

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 1.470 citations (+16 since October 1st). This includes 119 citations so far in 2025 (+10 since October 1st). My h-index remains 21 and my i10-index 44. 

Fourth Ex.phil. seminars

Today I have given the fourth seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds, with altogether some 85 students attending. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included what it means to be human, academic writing and argumentation, and lies in politics.

Eigth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the eight lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s main topic was how the human self can be understood, including in connection with material reality.

#40,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 850 words added to a book review I am writing for Fontene Forskning of the book Critical Realism for Health and Social Reseach (eds. May-Britt Solem and Dag Jenssen). I finished and submitted the book review, titled "Kritisk realisme for viderekomne samfunnsvitere". Altogether in October I logged 2.077 words written. This was writing day #40,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 11 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#39,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with work done related to my book manuscript Being and Sign, and some 200 words added to the manuscript. This was writing day #39,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 29,5 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.

Seventh Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the seventh lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topic was how humans can be understood from the perspectives of biology, social sciences and human dignity.

#39

Today I have had an article writing day, with coordination and planning work done in relation to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad, and preparatory work done in relation to a book review I have committed to write for Fontene Forskning. This was writing day #39 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 10 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#38; first SNL encyclopedia article submitted, on wolf hunting

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 900 words added to my encyclopedia article "Ulvejakt" (Wolf hunting), which I have now submitted to the editors of Store Norske Leksikon (SNL). This was writing day #38 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 9 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

Forthcoming book on CCS renamed

The title for my forthcoming book with Bloomsbury Academic previously titled Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement has now been renamed Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism. The book manuscript is currently in review.

Margrethe Voll Storaas´ ph.d. defence successfully completed; opposition given

The last couple of days I have been in Oslo, in relation to the ph.d. defence of Margrethe Voll Storaas at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, at the occasion of her ph.d. thesis "As Agent and Environment: A Biosemiotic Understanding of the Moving Body within Ecology and Technology through Case Studies in Sport". I acted as first opponent, along with second opponent Kathinka Evers (Uppsala University, Sweden), while Ørnulf Seippel was internal committee member. Margrethe started the day by giving the trial lecture "The ecology of the non-human body in the Anthropocene: Comparing the human and non-human body", on our indication. She completed the ph.d. defence successfully. The day ended on her doctoral dinner at the restaurant Park 29 in downtown Oslo.

Third Ex.phil. seminars

Yesterday and today I have given the third seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds, with altogether some 95 students attending. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included ethics, academic writing and argumentation with emphasis on logics, and orientation about a compulsory submission.

New Live Better article

I am credited as a co-author of another article from the Live Better research consortium, which is about to be submitted to Psychological Science. My co-authorship is based on data gathering in Norway in the Live Better project.

Preliminary reference: 

— in submission, with Brian W. Haas, Xiaobin Lou, Gayeong Yun et al. Adaptive positivity: Parasite-stress explains regional variation in optimism. Psychological Science.

Programme for Churchill seminar; scheduled to give talk "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation"

The program for the research seminar «Phenomenology and Research», featuring Scott Churchill (mainly) along with Olga Lehmann, Liv Sand and myself, has now been finalized. The research seminar will take place on University of Stavanger November 19th. I am scheduled to give the talk "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" at 12:45-13:30.

Programme

09:00- 09:10  - Welcome by Head of Department Liv Sand and Introduction  

09:10 – 10:00  Basics of phenomenology and its relation to qualitative research methods - prof. Churchill

10:00- 10:10  Break  

10:10 – 11:00  Intro: Existential Phenomenology and psychology - prof. Churchill  

11:00- 11:20  Q&A  

11:20-12:00  - Existential phenomenology in practice – Examples from prof. Churchill’s work.  

12:00-12:45 LUNCH (Attendants cover their own lunches)  

12:45-13:30 More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation - prof. Tønnessen 

13:30-13:45 Break  

13:45-14:30  - Phenomenology and reflexivity statements in research - A.Proff. Lehmann  

14:30-14:45 Break  

14:45-15:30  Dialogue and questions – Prof. Churchill, prof. Tønnessen, A.proff. Lehmann 

See also:

Scheduled to contribute at "Phenomenology in Research" research seminar with Scott Churchill Nov. 19th

Sixth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the sixth lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics were Nietzsche´s and Freud´s approach to people´s inner lives and moral motivation, and ethics of proximity, among other topics.

#37,5

Over the last couple of days I have had half an article writing day, with work done on an article on refugees in Europe, and a little thinking concerning my planned climate ethics article and an article on friluftsliv in child protection services.

Not included in special issue on climate ethics

As mentioned in a previous post, in the end of August I prepared an abstract in relation to an upcoming special issue of The Journal of Ethics on the theme "Climate ethics: Prospects and Retrospectives", titled "The ethical case against Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)". I have now been notified that my paper has not been selected for inclusion in the special issue.

Peer-review

I have recently done a peer-review for Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science.

#37

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 100 words added to my book chapter "Steffens´ early outlook reconsidered. Nature conceptions of the industrial-age Anthropocene» in the process of proof-reading it. 

Preliminary reference:

— in production. Steffens´ early outlook reconsidered: Nature conceptions of the industrial-age Anthropocene. Pp. 95–114 in Andreas Benedikt Jager & Marius Mjaaland (ed.), Philosophizing with Rocks: Henrik Steffens and the Anthropocene. Karl Alber Verlag.

I also did a little bit of work on an article on refugees; and over the last few days I have kept track with the status of Live Better manuscripts (as per usual).

This was writing day #37 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 8 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

See also:

Second Steffens chapter invited and planned for (March 2024)

Involvement in ph.d. assessment and defense of Margrethe Voll Storaas

Earlier this year I have taken part in the assessment of the ph.d. thesis of Margrethe Voll Storaas for the  Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (specifically their Department of Sport and Social Sciences), along with Ørnulf Seippel and Kathinka Evers. In a couple of weeks I will act as first opponent at her public ph.d. defense, which has been scheduled for October 17th (see announcement).

Programme:

10.15–11.00 Trial lecture on the topic “The ecology of the non-human body in the Anthropocene: Comparing the human and non-human body" 

13.00–16.00 Public defense of the thesis "As Agent and Environment: A Biosemiotic Understanding of the Moving Body within Ecology and Technology through Case Studies in Sport" followed by a discussion 

In addition to in person attendance, it will also be possible to watch the defense live on the YouTube channel of the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Fifth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the fifth lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics were Hume´s ethics and normative ethics, specifically utilitarianism and Kant´s duty ethics.

Scheduled to contribute at "Phenomenology in Research" research seminar with Scott Churchill Nov. 19th

On Wednesday November 19th I will take part in a research seminar on "Phenomenology in research", which is to be held at University of Stavanger featuring Scott Churchill along with Olga Lehmann and myself. You can register for the seminar (in-person) here.

Google Scholar: 1.454 citations, "Wasted GDP in the USA" reaches 10+ citations

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 1.454 citations (+13 since September 2nd). This includes 109 citations so far in 2025 (+13 since September 2nd). My h-index remains 21 and my i10-index is now 44 (+1), meaning that 44 of my texts have been cited at least 10 times each. My latest text to reach 10+ citations is "Wasted GDP in the USA" which now has 11 citations, 6 of which from this year.

#36

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 250 words added to my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign, and a draft made of the table of contents. This was writing day #36 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 29 book writing days, to date.

This rounds up September, with 3.435 words written and 7 writing days (of which 6 article writing days).

#35,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 600 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. This was writing day #35,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 7 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

Second Ex.phil. seminars

Today I have given the second seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds, with altogether some 95 students attending. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included types of knowledge and good sources, with Anne Beth Våga contributing on the latter.

Fourth Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the fourth lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics were metaethics and virtue ethics.

Climate pasts and futures paper presented at Lund University conference on cognition and evolution

Today I have presented my paper «Prospective Studies of Contested Climate Pasts and Futures» online at the conference "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", which has been held at Lund University, Sweden, September 23-24th. My paper was part of session 5, «Contemporary society».

See also:

Climate pasts and futures paper scheduled for presentation at "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research" conference September 24th

Abstract for Lund conference: "Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures"

#34,5; contributions for CONTRADICTionary written and submitted

Today I have had half an article writing day, with 1000 words altogether written on my entries "Environmental quality" and "Pollution" for the book volume CONTRADICTionary: An Almanac of Resistance (ed. Bernd Herzogenrath), which is to be published by Open Humanities Press. As mentioned previously, this book is organised around the ca. 200 words the Trump administration is attempting to ban from science. 

This was writing day #34,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 6 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#34

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 400 words added to the draft of my first Store Norske Leksikon (encyclopedia) article, "Ulvejakt" (wolf hunting). This was writing day #34 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 5,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#33,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. This was writing day #33,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

Third Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the third lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topic was theory of science, with emphasis on Popper and Kuhn, and the classification of psychology.

#32,5

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad. This was writing day #32,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 4 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#32; work on Being and Sign commenced

Today I have had a writing day, divided into half an article writing day and half a book writing day. This included adding some 100 words to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad, and planning for proof-reading of the book chapter «Steffens´ early outlook reconsidered. Nature conceptions of the industrial-age Anthropocene», which is forthcoming in an anthology edited by Benedikt Jager and Marius Timmann Mjaaland and published by Karl Alber Verlag.

It also included starting writing on my next book manuscript, Being and Sign, with some 300 words written and some plans made.

This was writing day #32 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 3,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing, and 28,5 book writing days, to date.

Google Scholar: 100+ citations in 2025

I have (finally) reached 100 citations, or more specifically 101 citations, so far in 2025, on the count of Google Scholar (cf. my profile). This is the fifth year in a row my research attracts 100+ citations per year.

Peer-review for Biosemiotics

I have recently done a peer-review for Biosemiotics.

Climate pasts and futures paper scheduled for presentation at "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research" conference September 24th

My paper «Prospective Studies of Contested Climate Pasts and Futures» has been scheduled for oral presentation at the conference "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", which takes place at Lund University, Sweden, September 23-24th, on Wednesday September 24th at 11.55–12.15, as part of session 5, «Contemporary society». The presentation will be given digitally.

First Ex.phil. seminars

Today I have given the first seminar in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, in two rounds, with altogether some 95 students attending. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topics included how to have good discussions and use of references, with Anne Beth Våga contributing on the latter.

Second Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the second lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topic was epistemology, with emphasis on Kant´s philosophy, and an introduction to critical thinking.

Articles featured in new ReFill article "Humans are not alone"

In January, the website ReFill at University of Stavanger published a literature recommendation article titled "Mennesket er ikke alene" (Humans are not alone), written by Alessandro Falcetta and featuring some of my texts in Norwegian on animals and environmental issues.

#31

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 450 words added to the article "Når gode råd er plagsomme" (When good advice is bothersome), which I co-write with Svein Tuastad.  This was writing day #31 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 3 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date.

#30

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the chapter "Environmental semiotics", which I co-write with Jonathan Beever for Springer´s Handbook of environmental philosophy.  This was writing day #30 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with 2 days devoted to article writing days so far.

Master thesis in child welfare graded, supervised

Today I have taken part in the grading of a master thesis in child welfare at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, which I also supervised.

First Ex.phil. lecture

Today I have given the first lecture in Ex.phil. this Autumn, at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The course is part of the bachelor in psychology as well as the year-long study in psychology. Today´s topic was epistemology. About 100 students attended.

#29,5

Today I have had half an article writing day, with work done on the revision of the article "Friluftsliv in therapeutic residential care: When staff take youth out to find a way in", which I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland. This was writing day #29,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st).

Overview of membership in editorial boards

I am currently a member of the editorial board of six academic journals:

– Biosemiotics (Springer) 

– Eikon – Journal on Semiotics and Visual Culture (Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal) 

– Environmental and Sustainability Indicators (Elsevier) 

– Journal of Quality-of-Life Studies (JQoLS) (UPM Press, Malaysia) 

– TRACE ∴ Finnish Journal for Human-Animal Studies (Finnish Society for Human-Animal Studies) 

– Politics and Animals (Lund University, Sweden)

To join the editorial board of Journal of Quality-of-Life Studies

I have agreed to join the Editorial Board of the Journal of Quality-of-Life Studies (JQoLS) as part of the international advisory panel. The new journal is to be published by UPM Press, which is a university press related to Universiti Putra Malaysia, a public Malaysian university.

Third Live Better article published: "Mind the Gap: Perceived economic inequality and the well-being gap around the globe"

In July, the article "Mind the Gap: Perceived economic inequality and the well-being gap around the globe" was published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. I am credited as a co-author of the article based on data gathering in Norway as well as input to the content and framing of the article. This is the third article from the Live Better research consortium where I am credited as co-author.

Reference:

Á. Sánchez-Rodríguez, M. R. Górski, M. Joshanloo, K. Krys, M. Tønnessen, L. M. W. Li, P. Akaliyski, B. W. Haas, M. A. Hussain, F. Guemaz, M. Boussena, N. Iter, O. Vlasenko, V. M-C. Lun, V. L. Vignoles, N. A. Aminnuddin, İ. Işık, L. Ngom-Dieng, M. Fülöp, D. Igbokwe, M. Adamovic, R. B.a Garðarsdottir, N. Soboleva, J. Teyssier, F. K. Glückstad, J. Park, J. Zelenski, V. W. L. Yeung, J. Chun Yeung, E. K. Yau, J.-W. Yang, B. Yakhlef, C. Xing, A. Wasiel, C.-M. Vauclair, W. van Tilburg, V. Turjacanin, K. T. T. Trà, C. Torres, C.-R. Sun, B. Sokolov, R. Sobhie, D. Sirlopú, H. Selim, A. M. Rocha, M. Rizwan, I. Polacková Solcová, Z. Pavlovic, E. Palikot, M. Olechowski, A. Okvitawanli, D. Ochoa, K. Nowak, M. Nader, K. Myslinska-Szarek, E. Murdock, O. Mosca, M. Mosanya, F. Mokadem, L. Mohammed, A. Malyonova, A. Malyonov, H. Lee, M. A. Lauri, N. Kronberger, A. Kocimska-Bortnowska, M. Kluzowicz, N. Kascakova, M. A. Imran, E. R. Igou, K. Henk, R. Hasanov, B. Gjoneska, A. Gavreliuc, M. Garvanova, V. Gamsakhurdia, A. Espinosa, A. D. Espinosa, J. Deltour, V. Costin, A. Bolatov, A. Baltin, R. Bakyono-Nabaloum, R. Asif, L. Appoh, P. Anic, L. Andrade, A. Almakaeva, M. Al-Zoubi, G. Akello and M. H. Bond (2025). Mind the Gap: Perceived economic inequality and the well-being gap around the globe. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506251345937  

Meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics attended; ongoing work on consultative statement on climate concerns and animal ethics

Today I have attended the third meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics held this year (I also attended the second, in June, whereas I fell sick on my way to the first in February). The meeting was held digitally. Among other topics we discussed the organisation of this year´s Animal ethics conference (Dyreetikkonferansen), which takes place November 17th in Oslo. We also touched upon a consultative statement on trade-offs between climate concerns and animal ethics concerns in food production which a work group which includes me currently works on.

Abstract for Lund conference: "Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures"

I have just composed the abstract below for the organisers of the upcoming conference "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", which is to be held September 23–24, at Lund University, Sweden (I have been invited to contribute). 

***

Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures  

While most researchers in relevant fields of study may agree that the current scale of human impact on current ecology is massive and unprecedented, there is no agreement on the time frame for the Anthropocene. Like the epoch itself, the current conceptualisation of the Anthropocene remains a work in progress. We are currently situated in the middle of an ongoing climate crisis. On this background, it may come as no surprise that both how we should understand recent modern history, and how we should understand possible climate futures, is contested. In this presentation I will outline how biosemiotics and Umwelt theory can contribute to prospective studies of past and future lifeworlds. I will then proceed to discuss how climate futures may be construed by way of a few examples. The presentation will draw on my articles «The study of past Umwelten» (Discipline Filosophische, 2023) and «What can be known about future Umwelten?» (The American Journal of Semiotics, 2019) as well as my forthcoming book Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement (Bloomsbury Academic). In relation to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), I will touch upon the influence ideas about CCS have had on envisioned climate futures over the last 30 years or so. Disturbingly, there is no consensus among researchers or regulators on the relevant time scales for CO2 storages. Short retention times for CO2 in CO2 storages (<10,000 years) may delay rather than solve the problem of climate change, in effect exposing future generations to the risk of anthropogenic climate change caused in our time. Lastly, I will look into the challenges of long-term waste management in the contexts of radioactive waste and CO2 storage, respectively, including the challenge of communicating across multiple generations.  

Short bio: Morten Tønnessen (born 1976) is a professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, Norway. Academic (b)log: https://utopianrealism.blogspot.com 

Google Scholar: 1.441 citations; 10 publications with 40+ citations

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 1.441 citations (+22 since July 31st). This includes 96 citations so far in 2025 (+18 since July 31st). My h-index remains 21 and my i10-index 43. 

I now have 10 publications with 40+ citations each.

My 2023 article "Wasted GDP in the USA" is now listed by Google Scholar - with 9 citations (including 4 in 2025). This places it as my 44th most cited text along with three other papers.

#29; 2025 by now most-productive writing year on record

Today I have finished half an article writing day, with some 1.400 words written in the process of composing an abstract prepared in relation to an upcoming special issue of The Journal of Ethics, on the theme "Climate ethics: Prospects and Retrospectives". My paper is titled "The ethical case against Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)". This was writing day #29 this Autumn (starting July 1st).

Over the last days of this week I have also made a prioritised writing plan for the rest of this Autumn.

By now (or rather by the writing day I had August 8th, when I finished the Captured manuscript) I have written more in 2025 than any previous year on record. In 2021, when I worked on the book Semiotic agency, co-written with Alexei Sharov, among other writing projects, I logged 84.739 words written. By now in 2025 I have already logged 86.459 words written, mostly owing to my work on Captured.

Session chaired at GiB25, Rotterdam

Today I chaired a session with two papers at the 25th Annual Gathering in Biosemiotics, which is held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 25-29th.

"Ecological semiotics" paper presented at 25th gathering in biosemiotics, Rotterdam

Today I presented my paper "Ecological semiotics" on the first day of the 25th Annual Gathering in Biosemiotics, which is held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 25-29th. Some 55 people attended.

Teaching plan made for Ex.phil.

Today I have made a teaching plan for Ex.phil. at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies for this semester.

#28,5

Today I have had half an article writing day, with work done related to an article on migrant rights and living conditions which I co-write with Maren Sagvaag Retland. This is writing day #28,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), and the first devoted to article projects.

"Ecological semiotics" paper rescheduled for presentation at GiB25 in Rotterdam August 25th

My paper "Ecological semiotics" has been rescheduled for oral presentation at The 25th Annual Gatherings in Biosemiotics, which is to be held 25-29th of August 2025 at Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Monday August 25th at 3.30 pm (not 10.30 as previously communicated).

#28, Captured finished

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 3.400 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 28th writing day I have had this Autumn.

This was my most productive writing day ever in terms of words written, pages processed, and maybe also my longest writing day in terms of hours worked (a day and a night).

And I finished the manuscript. Tomorrow I´ll submit it.

#27

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.200 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 27th writing day I have had this Autumn.

#26

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 850 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 26th writing day I have had this Autumn.

#25

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 25th writing day I have had this Autumn, and the most productive ever in terms of words written on this book manuscript. The length of the manuscript passed 100.000 words altogether (while the contracted length is 80.000 words).

#24

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.300 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 24th writing day I have had this Autumn.

#23

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.400 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 23rd writing day I have had this Autumn.

#22

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 800 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 22nd writing day I have had this Autumn.

"Farewell, civilization" - opinion peace in Khrono

Yesterday my letter to the editor "Farvel, sivilisasjon" (Farewell, civilization) was published in Khrono. The text draws on Peter Wessel Zapffe´s "Farvel, Norge" (1958) and relates to a debate about academic studies started by politician and member of parliament Peter C. Frølich.

#21; records in July in terms of no. of writing days, words written

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 21st writing day I have had this Autumn.

This month I have logged 17.610 words written. This is a new record. The previous record (16.832 words) was set in May.

Moreover, 21 writing days in a month, all book writing days, is also a record. The previous record (17,5 writing days) was likewise set in May.

See also:

#60; record May totals

Google Scholar: 1.419 citations, 43 texts cited 10+ times

According to my Google Scholar profile, my research has now attracted 1.419 citations (+12 since July 1st). This includes 78 citations so far in 2025 (+15 since July 1st). My h-index remains 21 while my i10-index is now 43 (+1). 

My 43rd text to reach 10 citations is the article "Recreation in the outdoors—exploring the friluftsliv experience of adolescents at residential care" which I co-wrote with Joakim Jiri Haaland.

#20

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 600 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the 20th writing day I have had this Autumn.

#19

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 900 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, and ten tables designed. This is the nineteenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#18

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 500 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, and two figures designed. This is the eighteenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

Paper on Næss´ views on economics presented at ISQOLS 2025 in Luxembourg

Today, on the last day of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), held in Luxembourg (organised by STATEC Research and ISQOLS) July 22-25th with the theme “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, I presented the paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics” in session 22A, “Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability”, which was chaired by Joonas Uotinen. Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen were credited as co-authors. Some 20-25 people attended.

Review

I recently did another review for Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science.

#17

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 600 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the seventeenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#16

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.250 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the sixteenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#15

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 600 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the fiftheenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#14

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.000 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the fourteenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

30.000 reads on ResearchGate

 My research items have reached 30.000 reads on ResearchGate. This is about 3.500 more than 9 months ago, and about 20.000 more than by 2021.

See my Researchgate profile here.

#13

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.200 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the thirteenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#12

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 750 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the twelth writing day I have had this Autumn.

Interviewed live on NRK on the ethics of cloning animals (and humans)

This morning I was interviewed live on Norwegian national TV and radio, in the NRK program Nyhetsmorgen, which is broadcasted on NRK1 (TV) and P1 (radio), in the news feature "Etikk rundt kloning av dyr" (Ethics about cloning of animals). The news feature related to a news story published last weekend about Kristin G. Andresen´s cloning of a horse. Marte Kaasa Arntsen was the program host.

#11

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 800 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the eleventh writing day I have had this Autumn.

#10

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 800 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the tenth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#9

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the ninhth writing day I have had this Autumn - and the number of words written today appears to be the highest on record for this manuscript. More importantly, I am progressing with completing sections and chapters.

Ecosemiotics talk scheduled for presentation August 25th at 25th Gathering in Biosemiotics, Rotterdam

My paper «Ecological semiotics» has been scheduled for presentation on Monday, August 25th at 10.30-11.00 at the 25th Gathering in Biosemiotics, which is to be held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands, August 25-29th.

#8

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 1.000 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the eighth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#7

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the seventh writing day I have had this Autumn.

"Cultural religiosity moderates the relationship between being in love and subjective well-being" published in International Journal of Intercultural Relations

The article "Cultural religiosity moderates the relationship between being in love and subjective well-being" has now been published in International Journal of Intercultural Relations. This is my fifth scientific publication in 2025, and the second Live Better-article I am a co-author of (on the basis of data collection in Norway).

Full reference:

Mateusz Olechowski, Maciej R. Górski, Mohsen Joshanloo, M. Azhar Hussain, Arkadiusz Wasiel, Victoria Wai Lan Yeung, Michael Harris Bond, Brian W. Haas, Farida Guemaz, Mahmoud Boussena, Ángel Sánchez-Rodríguez, Nuha Iter, Olha Vlasenko, Vivian Miu-Chi Lun, Liman Man Wai Li, Nur Amali Aminnuddin, İdil Işık, Dieynaba Gabriel Ndiaye, Márta Fülöp, David Igbokwe, Mladen Adamovic, Ragna Benedikta Garðarsdóttir, Natalia Soboleva, Julien Teyssier, Fumiko Kano Glückstad, Joonha Park, Plamen Akaliyski, Grace Akello, Charity Akotia, Marwan Al-Zoubi, Isabelle Albert, Anna Almakaeva, Laura Andrade, Lily Appoh, Douglas Marlon Arévalo Mira, Rasmata Bakyono-Nabaloum, Arno Baltin, Pablo Eduardo Barrientos Marroquin, Diana Boer, Vlad Costin, Alejandra Domínguez Espinosa, Agustin Espinosa, Carla Sofia Esteves, Vladimer Gamsakhurdia, Alin Gavreliuc, Biljana Gjoneska, Rafail Hasanov, Eric Raymond Igou, Mostak Ahamed Imran, Naved Iqbal, Natalia Kascakova, Lucie Klůzová Kračmárová, Agata Kocimska-Bortnowska, Aleksandra Kosiarczyk, Olga Kostoula, Nicole Kronberger, Anna Kwiatkowska, Mary Anne Lauri, J. Hannah Lee, Magdalena Łużniak-Piecha, Alexander Malyonov, Arina Malyonova, Fridanna Maricchiolo, Linda Mohammed, Tamara Mohorić, Fatma Mokadem, Magdalena Mosanya, Oriana Mosca, Elke Murdock, Nur Fariza Mustaffa, Katarzyna Myślińska-Szarek, Martin Nader, Azar Nadi, Danielle Ochoa, Ayu Okvitawanli, Ewa Palikot, Patrick Denoux, Vassilis Pavlopoulos, Zoran Pavlović, Iva Poláčková Šolcová, Muhammad Rizwan, Ana Maria Rocha, Vladyslav Romashov, Espen Røysamb, Adil Samekin, Ruta Sargautyte, Beate Schwarz, Heyla Selim, Ursula Serdarevich, David Sirlopú, Rosita Sobhie, Boris Sokolov, Maria Stogianni, Stanislava Stoyanova, Moritz Streng, Chien-Ru Sun, Morten Tønnessen, Claudio Torres, Kiều Thị Thanh Trà, Vladimir Turjačanin, Yukiko Uchida, Yvette van Osch, Wijnand van Tilburg, Christin-Melanie Vauclair, Jorge Vergara-Morales, Vivian L. Vignoles, Cai Xing, Belkacem Yakhlef, Eric Kenson Yau, June Chun Yeung, John Zelenski, Kuba Krys (2025): Cultural religiosity moderates the relationship between being in love and subjective well-being. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 108: 102227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2025.102227 

#6

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 950 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, and three figures added. This is the sixth writing day I have had this Autumn.

By now in 2025 I have logged in excess of 60.000 words written.

#5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 600 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, and a figure added. This is the fifth writing day I have had this Autumn.

#4

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 950 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the fourth writing day I have had this Autumn. By now I have written in excess of 80.000 words on the manuscript (which is contracted to be approximately but not more than 80.000 words).

Appointed co-supervisor of Federico Comollo

I have been appointed as co-supervisor of Federico Comollo, who is a PhD Candidate in Italy´s national PhD Programme in Sustainable Development and Climate Change, at IUSS Pavia / Luiss Guido Carli (Italy). His research project is entitled “The Ethics and Politics of Plant Conservation in the Anthropocene”, and his main supervisor is Gianfranco Pellegrino. Earlier this year I hosted Federico´s 2 month long exchange to the University of Stavanger.

#3

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 750 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the third writing day I have had this Autumn.

#2

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 450 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the second writing day I have had this Autumn.

Explanations of grading

Today I have written a couple of explanations of grading in the University of Stavanger´s master course in environmental psychology (MPS180).

#1

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 600 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This is the first writing day I´ve had this Autumn (the second half of the year).

One more bachelor thesis graded

Yesterday I took part in grading a fifth bachelor thesis in social work for this term.

See also: 4 bachelor theses in social work graded (June 17th)

Google Scholar: Half-year update

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date, halfway through the year, attracted 1.407 citations (+3 since June 13th). This includes 63 citations so far in 2025 (+3 since June 13th). My h-index remains 21 and my i10-index 42.

By 31st of December 2024, half a year ago, I had 1251 citations, meaning that 156 citations have been registered by Google Scholar since then. At that point my h-index was 20 and my i10-index 38, these have since increased by +1 and +4 respectively. I surpassed 1.300 citations in January and 1.400 citations in mid-June.

Over the last half year, the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism which I co-authored with Alexei Sharov, has reached 100 citations, as my second text to do so, and replaced my 2009 article "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" as my most cited text.

#70; last writing day this Spring

Today I have had a book writing day (partly on the go, by train from Oslo to Stavanger, and partly on a library), with some 250 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. This Spring I have had 70 writing days, including 61 book writing days.

This concludes my writing days in Spring 2025. Altogether, since New year I have logged 56.767 words written, including 55.726 words on Captured. This includes 5.826 words in June.

I am slightly delayed with the completion of the book manuscript, and now aim to finish it by July 10th.

#69

Today I have had a book writing day (on the go, by bus from Stavanger to Oslo), with some 550 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement, and four figures added. So far this Spring I have had 69 writing days, including 60 book writing days.

Peer-review

I have recently done a peer-review for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. 

ReFill-podcast interview on prison experience, environmental philosophy, activism released

A few days ago, a podcast episode of ReFill, released by University of Stavanger, which features an interview with me by podcast host Alessandro Falcetta, was published online. The episode (ReFill no. 12) is titled "Hvordan kan filosofi hjelpe oss å forstå miljøkrisen?" (How can philosophy help us understand the environmental crisis?). An automatically transcribed version of the interview in PDF format is also available.

#68

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 50 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 68 writing days, including 59 book writing days.

#67,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 950 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. Among other things, I finished the book abstract. So far this Spring I have had 67,5 writing days, including 58,5 book writing days.

By the time I finished placing all researched references in the text on May 7th, the bibliography counted 502 references. It now counts 548 references.

#66,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 850 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 66,5 writing days, including 57,5 book writing days.

Council for animal ethics meeting

Monday this week, June 16th, I attended the meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, in Oslo.

8 exam papers in environmental psychology graded

Along with an external examiner I have just completed grading 8 exam papers in the University of Stavanger´s master level course in environmental psychology (run by Department of social studies).

#65,5; 75.000 words+ written

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 65,5 writing days, including 56,5 book writing days.

I have by now written in excess of 75.000 words on the manuscript.

Two more Live Better articles accepted for publication

These two articles from the Live Better project have been accepted for publication and are now forthcoming:

— forthcoming, with Ángel Sánchez Rodríguez et al. "Mind the Gap: Perceived Economic Inequality and the Well-Being Gap around the Globe". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 

— forthcoming, with Mateusz Olechowski et al. "Cultural religiosity moderates the relationship between being in love and subjective well-being". International Journal of Intercultural Relations.

I am credited as a co-author of both articles based on my data collection in Norway in the first wave of the Live Better project.

4 bachelor theses in social work graded

Today, along with an external examiner, I have graded four bachelor theses in social work for University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. I was appointed supervisor for all four and met three of them for supervision.

#64,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 450 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. I also made plans for one final writing day in the end of the month. So far this Spring I have had 64,5 writing days, including 55,5 book writing days.

Reelected as Norway repr. and Secretary of NASS at NASS general assembly

On the eve of the 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), held in Tallinn, Estonia in conjunction with the 15th Annual Lotman Days with the theme “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence” June 11-13th, the general assembly of NASS was held. I was reelected as Ordinary representative for Norway (which I have been since 2011), and as Secretary of NASS (which I have in this round been since 2023). Lauri Linask (Estonia) was reelected as President and Paulius Jevsejevas (Lithuania) reelected as Treasurer.

Two Certificates of Excellence for Best Student Presentation granted at NASS XIV in Tallinn

Over the last three days I have taken part in selecting the winners of the best student presentations at the 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS), held in Tallinn, Estonia in conjunction with the 15th Annual Lotman Days with the theme “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence”. At the closing session today, two Certificates of Excellence for Best Student Presentation were granted, to:

• Karl Joosep Pihel for the presentation "Musical semiotics in a major key: Between Deleuze and topic theory" 
• Heidi Campana Piva & Michele Cerutti for the presentation "Everything is connected: Signs of a conspiracy"

Google Scholar: 1400+ citations; h-index 21; i10-index 42

According to Google Scholar (cf. my profile) my research has to date attracted 1.404 citations (+29 since May 15th). This includes 60 citations so far in 2025 (+21 since May 15th). My h-index is now 21 (+1), while my i10-index is now 42 (+1).

I have now passed 1.400 citations. As for my Google Scholar history, on Google´s count I passed 1.000 citations in December 2023, 1.100 citations in April 2024, 1.200 citations in September 2024 and 1.300 citations in January 2025. For a detailed history further back (100-1000 citations, achieved 2016-2023), see my 2023 blog post "Google Scholar: 1000 citations; updated Google Scholar history".

Session chaired, ecosemiotics presentation given at NASS XIV in Tallinn

Today I chaired the session «Complexity in Ecological Thought» at the 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies along with the 15th Annual Lotman Days, “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence“ (NASS XIV), which is currently being held at Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia (June 11–13, 2025). As part of the session, I presented my paper «Ecological semiotics, lifeworld perspectives, and sustainability». About 25-30 people attended.

#64

Today I have had what ended up as half a book writing day, with some 150 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 64 writing days, including 55 book writing days.

#63,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 150 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 63,5 writing days, including 54,5 book writing days.

Responsible for environmental ethics in Store Norske Leksikon

I have been recruited as responsible (fagansvarlig) for environmental ethics in Store Norske Leksikon, which is the largest and most read edited encyclopedia in Norway and written by professionals. The category now also includes animal ethics.

#63

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 500 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 63 writing days, including 54 book writing days.

#62,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 700 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 62,5 writing days, including 53,5 book writing days.

By now in 2025 I have logged 52.036 words written. This is more than what I wrote in the entire year of 2024 (51.879 words).

#62

Today I have spent half an article writing day editing the article "Friluftsliv in therapeutic residential care: When staff take youth out to find a way in", which I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland. Hopefully this article is now completed. I also had a look at reviewer feedback on a rejected article from the "Live better" research consortium which I take part in. 

So far this Spring I have had 62 writing days, including 9 article writing days.

#61,5

Today I have had a book writing day, with work done on the article now titled "Friluftsliv in therapeutic residential care: When staff take youth out to find a way in" which I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland. So far this Spring I have had 61,5 writing days, including 8,5 article writing days.

#60,5

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 400 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 60,5 writing days, including 53 book writing days.

Philosophy business 2024

Today I have summarized the financial report of my one person company (enkeltpersonforetak) "Spør Filosofen Tønnessen" for 2024. I had 7 NOK in income and 4.351 NOK in expenses, resulting in a negative result of 4.344 NOK. Over a 5-year period, the company has a margin of (in terms of positive result as a share of income) of 32%.

Fourth and final Wonderful World event 2025 attended on stage, on ecocentric democracy

Today, on the fourth and final day of the philosophy and science festival "Wonderful World - den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap" (Stavanger, Norway May 28-31st), I took part in my fourth event this time around, «Kan Norge bli et økosentrisk demokrati?» (Can Norway become an ecocentric democracy?). I was part of a discussion panel that also included Andrew P. Kroglund, who recently published abook on "Ecotopia", and fellow philosopher Hedda Hassel Mørch. The event was chaired by journalist Ingvild Paulsen, and attended by about 70 people. 

Over these four days, I have reached a total audience of about 335 people. Moreover, I have attended about 3-4 events each day.

Two Wonderful World events attended on stage, on Mars exploration and personhood

Today I have taken part in two events at the Wonderful World festival which is being held May 28-31st in Stavanger, Norway.

First, I took part in the panel discussion «Kom Mars du skjønne milde», on exploration of and travel to Mars, with Brage W. Johansen and UIS colleague Alex Nielsen. The event was chaired by Johanne Pontoppidan Tuxen, and attended by about 45 people.

Then somewhat later I took part in the event «Er alle egentlig bare én person?» (Are everybody really the same person?), which featured an introduction by Hedda Hassel Mørch, and a discussion between her, me and Terje Sparby. The event was chaired by Jostein Gjertsen, and attended by about 70 people.

#60; record May totals

Today I have had half a book writing day, with some 500 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 60 writing days, including 52,5 book writing days.

In May, I had 17,5 writing days, all devoted to this book manuscript (a record), and logged 16.832 words written (also a record, at least in living memory).

#59,5 - extended due date for Captured

Over the two last days I have had what ended up as half a book writing day altogether (initially I planned half a writing day each of the days), with some 100 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. Importantly, I concluded, during a sleepless night, that I would not be able to finish the full draft manuscript this week, but will need the next month to complete the writing. Over these two days I have communicated to the publisher that I will only be able to finish the manuscript and related materials by June 30th (versus June 1st as contracted), due to three rounds of hospitalization and sick leave over the last six months, although 90% of the text has been written. I have further reworked and made room for my writing plans for June, and rearranged some of my holiday plans for this summer. 

So far this Spring I have had 59,5 writing days, including 52 book writing days.

Comments given after John Ellis´ lecture at Wonderful World festival on Theory about everything

Yesterday evening I took part as a commentator in the event «Teorien om alt – fysikkens hellige gral?» (The theory about everything - the holy grail of physics?), following John Ellis´ lecture on the subject. The event was part of the Wonderful World festival, a science and philosophy festival being held in Stavanger, Norway, May 28-31st (third year), and was well attended, with about 150 people in the room. UIS colleague Anders Tranberg also served as commentator, while UIS colleague Eero Aleksi Kurkela chaired the event.

Screenshot from Wonderful World.

"Semiotic agency" book now my most cited text

On Google Scholar´s count, the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism (official publication year 2021, but appeared only in 2022), which I co-wrote with Alexei Sharov, has now overtaken "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (published 2009 as the key article in my ph.d. work) as my most cited research publication (with 102 vs. 101 citations overall, and 10 vs. 2 so far this year).

See my profile in Google Scholar.

Ecological semiotics paper scheduled for presentation June 12th in Tallinn at NASS XIV

My paper «Ecological semiotics, lifeworld perspectives, and sustainability» has been scheduled for presentation On Thursday June 13th at around 14.30-15.00, in the preliminary program of The 14th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies along with the 15th Annual Lotman Days, “Creativity – Complexity – Intelligence“ (NASS XIV), which is to take place at Tallin University, Tallinn, Estonia, June 11–13, 2025. My paper will be part of the session «Complexity in Ecological Thought» (involving four papers by skilled biosemioticians).

Popular science article on life on Mars published in astronomy magazine

My popular science article "Livet på Mars" (Life on Mars) has been published in the magazine Astronomi, which is published by Norsk Astronomisk Selskap (Norwegian Astronomical Society), in no. 2, 2025 (5 pages).

Moreover, our book Mars and the Earthlings: A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement is highlighted in a section with book recommendations.

#59

Today I have had a book writing day, with some 800 words written on my scientific monograph Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. So far this Spring I have had 59 writing days, including 51,5 book writing days.

I have logged more than 16.000 words written so far this month.

By now in 2025, I have written in excess of 50.000 words.

Næss and economics paper scheduled for presentation July 25th at ISQOLS 2025 (Luxembourg)

The paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics", submitted on behalf of Jan Karlstrøm, Thomas Hylland Eriksen and myself, has been scheduled for presentation (by me) at the 2025 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies  (ISQOLS 2025), which is held in Luxembourg July 22-25th. The paper will be presented on Friday July 25th at 14.14-14.36 as part of the session 21A, "Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability".

Letter to the editor in SA on CCS

Today a letter to the editor I have written titled "Fanget av tidsånden" (about Carbon Capture and Storage) is published in the paper version of Stavanger Aftenblad, in response to a chronicle titled "Stavanger-regionen kan ta en lederrolle i karbonfangst" which was published a few days ago. My letter to the editor was published online yesterday.