Utopian realism

Blurb on forthcoming book on Wittgenstein in translation

2012-01-26T02:54:00.000-08:00

My Dutch colleague Dinda Gorlée (cf. previous posts), who is among other things Associate Editor of American Book Review, has written a book entitled Wittgenstein in translation: Exploring semiotic signatures. It is to be published this spring by De Gruyter Mouton (Berlin). Translation theory is her specialty, and she has for years been affiliated with the Wittgenstein archives in Bergen (see her profile page), Norway, so this should be a valuable publication.

Here's a blurb that I got from Dinda:

Apart from the Tractatus, Wittgenstein did not write whole manuscripts for books, but composed short fragments. The current volume reveals the depths of Wittgenstein's soul-searching writings - his "new" philosophy - by concentrating on ordinary language and using few technical terms. Wittgenstein followed St. Augustine (as translator) and Plato (as teacher). Wittgenstein is finally given the accolade of a neglected figure in the history of semiotics, when he moved from Saussure to Peirce and Jakobson. This volume provides an application of Wittgenstein's methodological tools to study the multilingual dialogue in philosophy, linguistics, theology, anthropology, and literature. Translation shows how the translator's signatures in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish can be in conflict with personal or stylistic choices in linguistic form, but also in cultural content. This book undertakes the "impossible task" of uncovering the reasoning of Wittgenstein's original and translated texts in order to construct, instead of a paraphrase, the ideal of a terminological coherence of Wittgenstein's fragmentariness in philosophy.

See also Dinda Gorlée's homepage, and her earlier book chapter on the theme of "Wittgenstein, translation and semiotics" (also available in part through Google Books). She can be contacted directly via gorlee@xs4all.nl.

Web page of Minding Animals Norway under construction

2012-01-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

The homepage of Minding Animals Norway is under construction. You'll find a simple English language version here.

For those who understand Norwegian, here's a page where you can register as a member, and here's a presentation of the board members (including me, as the chair of MAN - see my Norwegian language blog Utopisk Realisme for the academic blurb on me).

Cooperator for wolf article on man-eaters reshuffled once again

2012-01-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

For quite some time now I have had an agreement with Estonian wolf researcher Ilmar Rootsi which involves co-writing an academic article on canid man-eaters in the next-to-modern history of Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. In mid-October 2011 Nelly Mäekivi got back into that project, replacing Silver Rattasepp yet again as the third co-writer. By now she's a doctoral student (as is he).

Minding Animals Norway founded; me chair, treasurer

2012-01-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

At the last section of the Shared worlds workshop arranged in Oslo October 14-15 2011, a very first general/annual meeting for Minding Animals Norway, through which MAN was founded as an NGO (as one of the first national bodies of Minding Animals International), was held. Not many attended, but a board of six was elected:

* Chair (and for the time being treasurer): Morten Tønnessen

* Deputy chair: Kristin Armstrong Oma

* Secretary: Rhys Evans

* Webmaster: Rune Ellefsen

* Member of the board: Frode Bakke Bjerkevik

* Member of the board: Runar Næss [later withdrew]

Regulations and an activity plan for 2012 were decided on. According to the mission statement, MAN will function as a bridge between academia and activism, and provide a Norwegian forum for the interdisciplinary field that studies human-animal relations, environmental issues included. MAN aims to facilitate discussion between the various interests in this rapidly growing field of research in a way that will improve the status of non-human animals and increase understanding of Man as a natural being.

Among the substantial decisions were these:

* MAN will be a member organization (with annual and lifetime membership)

* MAN will arrange an annual research seminar; and supports and will get involved in Kristian Bjørkdahl's (SUM, UiO) broad HAS conference initiative, which aims to establish an annual conference series involving researchers, activists and people with a livelihood in animal husbandry etc.

* MAN will occasionally produce letters to the editor and chronicles

* MAN will occasionally produce hearing statements (submit "høringsuttalelser" to Norwegian ministeries etc.)

Blurb on activism and academia panel

2012-01-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

This is Rune Ellefsen's blurb on the panel on the relation between activism and academia at the Shared worlds workshop arranged in Oslo October 14-15 2011 (see also the program of the workshop).

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Panel on the relation between academia and activism in the context of human-animal studies

Participants: Kristin Oma Armstrong (postdoc. in archeology, Oslo University), Kristian Bjørkdahl (PhD fellow & researcher at Centre for Development and the Environment, Oslo University) and Hilde Hammerlin (humanist, Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance).

The aim of this panel is raising awareness and questions about the possibilities and pitfalls of projects where academics and animal advocates interact around common interests in human-animal relations. Scientific human-animal studies are today conducted within a number of scholarly disciplines, focusing on topics and questions of great interest to both scholars and advocates. Issues raised by social movement participants are forming a basis for research and academic inquiry, at the same time scientific knowledge is used by social movements in furthering their cause.

Cooperation and interaction between academics and advocates raises a line of questions: Where does one draw the line between academic activity and activism? What are the advantages and disadvantages of interaction between activists and academics? In what form – if at all – can academia and advocates cooperate? Which experiences exists from other scholarly fields where academics and activists are closely related, as for example within women/feminist studies?

Blurb on horse panel

2012-01-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

This is Rhys Evans' blurb on the panel on horses and humans at the Shared worlds workshop arranged in Oslo October 14-15 2011 (see also the program of the workshop).

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Panel on the shared worlds of horses and humans

Humans and horses share a partnership which is unique in many ways. It is a partnership which has a deep historical heritage and new contemporary relevance. Historically, humans and horses have worked together to produce food and other commodities, to produce cities, civilizations, and even empires. Now they work together to produce health and well being, lifestyle balance, appreciation of nature, and self-actualization in an increasingly urbanized world. Where the population of horses suffered a precipitous decline with the advent of mechanized farming and industry, now the number of horses in developed economies is once again growing significantly. Much of this is built around the unique partnership forged between horses and humans. The size, willfulness and behavioral possibilities of horses make them different from other ‘companion animals’ and together the two species build unique worlds out of their different but shared potentials.

Yet much of this world-building has been viewed primarily through an anthropocentric lens. What are these shared worlds which the two create, and how can we know what our horses want, what matters to them, and importantly, how they benefit from the partnership? This Roundtable attempts to address the issue of ways of knowing – what do we know, how can we know, and what can we do with that knowledge in order to make the partnership more equal and more satisfying for both parties?

Final program for "Shared worlds" workshop

2012-01-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

This is the final version of the program for the Shared worlds workshop (Oslo, October 14-15 2011) arranged by what was during that workshop founded as Minding Animals Norway. I prepared a program booklet, distributed during the workshop, on October 13th.

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Program

Friday October 14

09.30-10.00 Registration

Chair of morning session: Morten Tønnessen

10.00-11.00 Rod Bennison: “Considering the exploitation of animals in sport, and understanding the ‘Sport of Queens’”

10.00-10.45 Plenary speech

10.45-11.00 Q & A

11.00-12.00 Panel on the shared worlds of horses and humans

Facilitator: Kristin Oma Armstrong

Panelists: Kristin Oma Armstrong, Lynda Birke, Rhys Evans [the latter by video link]

11.00-11.15 Video introduction by Rhys Evans

11.15-12.00 Panel discussion

12.00-12.15 Coffee break

12.15-13.15 Liv Emma Thorsen: “Shared worlds? Animals in natural history museums”

12.15-13.00 Plenary speech

13.00-13.15 Q & A

13.15-14.45 Lunch break

Chair of afternoon session: Rune Ellefsen

14.45-15.45 Nelly Mäekivi: “(Mis)perceptions in shared environments: The case of zoos”

14.45-15.30 Plenary speech

15.30-15.45 Q & A

15.45-16.45 Tora Holmberg: “Sharing the lives of many: Urban controversies over animal hoarding and animal rescue”

15.45-16.30 Plenary speech

16.30-16.45 Q & A

16.45-17.00 Coffee break

17.00-18.00 Roundtable on the shared worlds of wolves and humans

Facilitator: Morten Tønnessen

Confirmed roundtable participants: Runar Næss, Antonio Poleo, Ketil Skogen, Morten Tønnessen

17.00-17.10 Introduction by Morten Tønnessen

17.10-18.00 Roundtable discussion

Saturday October 15

Chair of morning session: Rod Bennison

11.00-11.15 Rod Bennison informs about Minding Animals International and the 2012 Minding Animals conference in Utrecht

11.15-12.15 Position note workshop on the relation between academia and activism, part I

11.15-11.30 Video introduction by Rhys Evans

11.30-11.45 Philosophical practice: Questioning of Rod Bennison (by Morten Tønnessen) on his honest, deeply held beliefs and intuitions on human-animal relations

11.45-12.15 Group work

12.15-13.15 Panel on the relation between academia and activism in the context of HAS

Facilitator: Rune Ellefsen

Panelists: Kristin Oma Armstrong (UiO), Kristian Bjørkdahl (SUM – UiO), Rune Ellefsen (UiO), Hilde Valbjørn Hagelin (Dyrevernalliansen))

13.15-13.30 Coffee break

13.30-15.30 Position note workshop part II

15.30-17.00 Lunch break

17.00-18.00 General meeting of Minding Animals Norway

Program for Tartu research seminar in zoosemiotics

2012-01-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the program for the 3rd Research Seminar in Zoosemiotics and Animal Representations, which took place in Tartu (Jakobi 2-306) October 25th 2011, in conjunction with the Department of Semiotics' doctoral seminar. The research seminar was arranged by the research project Dynamical Zoosemiotics and Animal Representations, where I am involved.

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14.15 Timo Maran. Introducing research grant – dimensions of zoosemiotics

14.45 Nelly Mäekivi, Communicative zoo: prospects for future inquires

15.15 Elena Grigorjeva. Learning from animals online [later cancelled]

15.45 Kohvipaus | Coffee break

16.00 Kadri Tüür. Estonian fishing narratives of 1930ies

16.30 Morten Tønnessen. The cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep

17.00 Silver Rattasepp. Animal studies and the correlationist two-step [later cancelled]

17.30 Conclusions. General discussion.

October foray to Rogaland: University, university college visited; teaching job agreed on

2012-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

In early October 2011 I visited Stavanger and Klepp (Oct. 3-5). In Stavanger I met with Kari Vevatne, Head of department at Department of Health studies, to discuss possibly being temporarily hired to teach philosophy. That meeting went well, as did a meeting with subject teacher Kjellaug Kaldestad Johannessen, who is responsible for the UiS' online Bachelor in nursing, where Examen Philosophicum is included as a compulsory subject. Kari and I agreed there and then that I would work at the department as a teacher both spring (25%) and (100%) autumn 2012, responsible for Ex.Phil. for nursing students and further for a Master course in the philosophy of science and moral philosophy in health studies. Part of the background is that Professor aka philosopher Sebastian Rehnmann will get research leave the autumn of 2012.

At nearby Klepp I then met, for the first time, with the honorable HAS researcher and "bygdeforsker" (rural studies scholar) Rhys Evans, with whom I had already cooperated for a year or so in preparing the Minding Animals workshop "Shared worlds". I thus got to see the Norwegian University College for Agriculture and Rural Development, where he works, in addition to being hosted by Rhys in his home. At the university college I shot a couple of videos for the Shared worlds workshop featuring Rhys, who could not attend after all due to conflicting obligations.

Article on formal/informal predator management to be submitted to Materialisten

2012-01-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

While in Oslo in mid-October I was invited by the editor of Norwegian journal Materialisten, an interdisciplinary journal devoted to scholarly and social critique, to submit an article in early 2012. I later scheduled with editor Cecilie Høigård (a criminologist) that my contribution, worktitled "Formell og uformell rovviltforvaltning [eventuelt ulveforvaltning] i Norge [eventuelt Skandinavia] [Formal and informal predator management [possibly: wolf management] in Norway [possibly: Scandinavia]], should be submitted by February 15th 2012.

Profile page at University of Stavanger

2012-01-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

My profile page at the University of Stavanger (UiS), where I have been temporarily hired as Associate professor, can be found here. Picture has not been published yet, but there's quite a lot of info (in Norwegian), including extensive bibliography.

Uppsala paper presented

2012-01-21T11:29:00.000-08:00

My paper "Two global species and their age-old foe: The semiotic eth(n)ology of wolves, sheep and people" (see abstract here) was presented as the very first paper on the second day of the Uppsala Zoo-ethnographies workshop Tuesday October 18th. Attendance at the workshop was good - and I enjoyed the company of the other presenters, which included Lynda Birke, and of the organizers.

Abstract for Uppsala event "Zoo-ethnographies"

2011-11-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

This is the abstract I submitted for the Uppsala symposium "Zoo-ethnographies", which was arranged 17-18 October. The reference was omitted from the program booklet.

Two global species and their age-old foe: The semiotic eth(n)ology of wolves, sheep and people

Morten Tønnessen

Among the core notions I introduce in my recently submitted doctoral dissertation Umwelt transition and Uexküllian phenomenology: An ecosemiotic analysis of Norwegian wolf management is that of a global species (see Tønnessen 2010). In short, by establishing a global ‘colonial organism’ our species has installed an ecological empire, organised with Homo sapiens placed highest in the hierarchy and with crop species, pets, and livestock enjoying positions of privilege. The sheep, the third most significant creature in my case study on Norwegian wolf management beyond wolves and people (given a conflict-oriented focus on livestock predation), partakes in our ecological empire in a quite central position, as one of the top five livestock species globally. The wolf, on the other hand, does not fit in with the modern idea we have had until recently of how we want nature to be (unlike the dog, for which the wolf is an ancestor). Sheep: companion; wolf: foe.

The two global species implied in the title of this presentation, then, are our own subspecies of the human kind (Homo sapiens sapiens), and the sheep (Ovis aries). The wolf (Canis lupus), once the most widely distributed large mammal on Earth, is no global species, but it has given rise to the dog, which is. In Sweden, Man’s “best friend” is arguably the prime animal with which the wolf is conceived of as being in conflict with, and in Norway the dog-wolf problem is perceived as second in importance only to the sheep-wolf problem. In the course of this presentation I will portray the symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Norway. Wolves and sheep have historically often been juxtaposed, especially in the context of the Bible. In cultural terms, hardly any animals are as loaded with symbolic value as the wolf and the sheep. And the shared importance is no coincidence, since the symbolism of the two animals has frequently developed in explicit opposition to each other.

Reference

Morten Tønnessen 2010. The global species. New formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics culture/theory/politics 69 (Special Issue guest-edited by Ashley Dawson, Imperial Ecologies): 98-110. Featured as additional content in Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.britannica.com).

No role in GEO-5

2011-11-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

In July I reported that I had nominated myself as a scientific reviewer for GEO-5, the 5th edition of Global Environmental Outlook. In early october I received notification that I had not been appointed a reviewer. They reportedly received about two hundred applications, and had around 50 places to fill.

List of illustrations in my doctoral dissertation

2011-11-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Figure 7: Waiting for wolves.

Figure 1. The levels of biosemiosis

Figure 2. Phenomenal fields

Figure 3. Umwelt transition – wolves becoming dogs – depicted over several steps

Figure 4. Umwelt transition in human relations to sheep and wolves

Figure 5. Umwelt transition in the relation of sheep and humans (overstated)

Figure 6. Field trips – map of places visited

Figure 7. Waiting for wolves

Figure 8. Feeding time

Figure 9. Life at Polar Zoo

Figure 10. Six stuffed (mounted) wolves in Norway

Figure 11. Secluded overview

Figure 12. Phenomenal fields – intragroup variation

Figure 13. a) A tripartite model of the human Umwelt, b) combined with phenomenal fields

Contents of my doctoral dissertation

2011-11-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

I have previously posted preliminary contents for my doctoral dissertation, both of which are now outdated. In March I posted a semi-detailed table of contents, and in September revised contents in 117 paragraphs.

Here is the final, much simpler table of contents (but note that many of the headlines mentioned above will likely occur in the monograph I am now planning to complete based on my doctoral work):

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PUBLICATIONS INCLUDED IN DISSERTATION

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

1. THE BIOSEMIOTIC APPROACH

1.1 Appraisal of Sebeok's depiction of the Umwelt as species-specific modelling system

1.2 The levels of biosemiosis

2. UEXKÜLLIAN PHENOMENOLOGY

2.1 On the notion of phenomenology

2.2 Semiotics and phenomenology

2.3 Husserl's notion of Lebenswelt

2.4 The notion of Uexküllian phenomenology

3. UMWELT MAPPING

3.1 Visual representation of Brock's phenomenal fields

3.2 The notion of semiotic causation

4. CASE STUDY: NORWEGIAN WOLF MANAGEMENT

4.1 Field research

4.2 The cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep

4.3 Remarks on Næss' philosophy of wolf management

4.4 On invasive management of shy animals

4.5 The symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Norway

5 SUMMARIES OF ARTICLES

6 CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

6.1 Theoretical findings

6.2 Umwelt futurology: Three Umwelt scenarios

6.3 Deep and shallow solutions

REFERENCES

SUMMARY

SUMMARY IN ESTONIAN

PUBLICATIONS

CURRICULUM VITAE

ELULOOKIRJELDUS

University of Tartu: Semiotics podcast; university ranking

2011-11-23T05:45:00.000-08:00

In October the newsletter of the university of Tartu linked to a semiotic podcast. Semiotics - lingering or thriving?, posted in September, documents a panel discussion from the 5-day Tartu summer school in semiotics, which was launched this year.

The same newsletter could report that Times Higher Education (THE) now ranks the University of Tartu among the 350-400 top universities globally. This is the highest the university has been ranked, and places it among the top 3 % of universities internationally. University of Tartu is the highest ranked university of Estonia.

Doctoral thesis submitted

2011-11-23T05:39:00.000-08:00

My doctoral dissertation was submitted to the University of Tartu's Council of Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics on October 10th.

The final title ended up being "Umwelt transition and Uexküllian phenomenology: An ecosemiotic analysis of Norwegian wolf management". The Estonian version of the title reads "Uexkülli fenomenoloogia ja omailma üleminekud: Norra hundipopulatsiooni majandamise ökosemiootiline analüüs".

Arne i 100 on Twitter

2011-11-22T04:35:00.001-08:00

Arne i 100, which has been founded to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the birth of philosopher Arne Næss, is now on Twitter (arnei100).

A website on our own domain is straight around the corner. For now at least I am both webmaster and responsible for the Twitter account.

Reminder: CFP on Eco-phenomenology at NoSP 2012

2011-11-22T04:30:00.000-08:00

See my post wherein I call for contributions to a prospective panel on eco-phenomenology/phenomenology and biological science at next year's conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP). Response by November 30th, please.

A couple of people have shown interest, but I still need to see actual abstracts.

"Wolf play" a YouTube hit

2011-11-22T01:49:00.000-08:00

My video clip "Wolf Play" passed 10.000 views on YouTube at some point by November 18th. Since then it has been shown more than a 1.000 times more (and it has been shown 6.000 times the last month). Where is this gonna stop?

Further wolf vids on YouTube on MrMortenTonnessen's channel:

"Wolves coming to join us at polar Zoo" (435 views)

"A wolf plotting to steal my glove" (371 views)

"Luna chased - the fun is over, time to go" (316 views)

"Wolves wrestle" (289 views)

.... and 6 more.

CFP: Panel on Eco-phenomenology at NoSP 2012

2011-11-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am hoping to gather a group of scholars/graduate students for a joint panel on the theme "Eco-phenomenology: Phenomenology and the life sciences" for the 10th annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP), which is to be arranged at the University of Oslo, Norway, June 7-9 2012. The general theme of the NoSP conference is "The Varieties of Phenomenology".

This panel will likely include presentation of the book Environment, Embodiment and Gender (eds. Johannes Servan and Ane Faugstad Aarø; Bergen: Hermes Text, 2011), where Charles Brown, David Abram, Ted Toadvine, Monika Langer and others contribute with chapters. Topics of the panel will further include Uexküllian phenomenology and animal subjectivity. Further proposals from various angles are welcome.

If accepted by the organizers, this proposed panel will envelop papers presented in parallel with other sessions. The maximum length of each talk is 20 minutes, and there will be 10 minutes for discussion. Please submit your proposal to me as the panel convenor in the form of a suggested title and an abstract of maximum 200 words.

Proposals should be sent to mortentoennessen[at]gmail.com by November 30th.

Backlog

2011-10-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

To be posted soon (i.e., post-November 7th, when I return with my wife from a 4-day holiday to Bodø):

> Utopian: Hamar...
> Utopian: Volga reservert for 5-10 pers 15des kl16-
> Utopian: Umw traj 2013
> Utopian: Revised Rodopi timeline
> Utopian: 3rd zoosemiotic research seminar
> Utopian: Champagne 2011 (ref)
> Utopian: Council pres and decision 24Oct
> Utopian, Utopisk: Bloggintervju/Liberaleren
> Utopian: Grant seminar
> Utopian, Utopisk: Youtube hit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01RZw4cpfSg
> Utopian: Flight dates 14-16Dec, travel plans, fellow travellers
> Utopian: Beever ref
> Utopian: Ai100 meeting; chronicle; webpage (meeting)
> Utopian: Rootsi+Silver>Nelly
> Utopian: chair (+ treasurer) MAN. MAN members; arb plan, styre
> Utopian: Shared worlds sem
> Utopian: Grant seminar 25, program
> Utopian: uis... (hired etc) + klepp
> Utopian: Deadline abs Jan15 2012
> Utopian: Materialisten
> Utopian: Uppsala schedule
> Utopian: Uppsala abstract
> Utopian: No GEO5 role
> Utopian: thesis update - final contents?
> Utopian: Tartu x 2 (semiotics podcast; university by ranking
> Utopian, Utopisk (horse panel); updated program
> Utopian: Levert (final title + ee title)
> Utopian: NoSP 2012 CFP (invite to eco-phen. panel?)

Doctoral dissertation accepted for defense

2011-10-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Council of Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics (University of Tartu) has just unanimously decided to accept my doctoral dissertation "Umwelt transition and Uexküllian phenomenology: An ecosemiotic analysis of Norwegian wolf management" for defense on December the 15th.

More info to follow - as for now I have a 1 month backlog in Utopian Realism... Hope to be back on track by a week.

Travel plans: Stavanger and Klepp, October 3-5

2011-09-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

As detailed in the previous post I have been assigned to teach introductory philosophy at the University of Stavanger next spring, in a 25 % position. That is one of two reasons why I will October 3rd-5th be visiting Stavanger and nearby Klepp. The other reason relates to Rhys Evans of Klepp's The Norwegian University College for Agriculture and Rural Development (Høgskulen for landbruk og bygdenæringar), with whom Rune Ellefsen and I are organizing the October 14-15 Shared World seminar in Oslo (see also the website of Minding Animals International).

I will arrive in Stavanger Monday October 3rd in the morning, and meet with the scholar academically responsible for University of Stavanger's web-based bacholor degree in nursing plus the staff philosopher that day. The next day, Tuesday October 4th, I will meet with the head of department at Department of health studies, and then move on to Klepp and the Norwegian University College for Agriculture and Rural Development, where I will work and discuss with Rhys that afternoon and the next morning, partly in preparation of the Shared Worlds seminar.

Assigned to teach introductory philosophy at University of Stavanger

2011-09-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ten days ago or so I was assigned to teach introductory philosophy at the University of Stavanger next Spring, in a 25 % position (which includes examining). The course code is BSNEXP-1, which refers to the Examen Philosophicum for students in a web-based bachelor degree in nursing (my group of students is the class of 2011-2015). The course sorts under Department of health studies (Institutt for helsefag) at Faculty of Social Science (Samfunnsvitskapleg fakultet), where I will for the third year in a row be an examiner this November/December.

Today I talked with the scholar who is academically responsible for this bachelor, and agreed to dates for student gatherings at UiS: January 18-19 (week 3), February 8-9 (week 6), February 29-March 1 (week 9) and March 21-22 (week 12). I also said I will be present in person at all these gatherings. Additionally there will be web-based learning.

Ten days ago I was further asked preliminary whether I would be interested in working full time as a substitute philosophy lecturer next autumn, if the chance arises, to which I said yes. If this materializes I will be commuting between Kristiansand, where I reside, and Stavanger, perhaps two days a week.

Minding Animals Norway formally registered as NGO

2011-09-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Minding Animals Norge has now been registered as an NGO in Norway's Brønnøysundregistrene (Enhetsregisteret). Organisasjonsnummer: 997 336 216.

I am a founding member and a member of the board along with Rune Ellefsen and Rhys Evans. The first general meeting of MAN will take place in Oslo October 15h, at the closure of our Shared Worlds seminar (see our Facebook page here).

See also the webpage of Minding Animals International.

Podcast of causerie on sin of sloth

2011-09-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

The second last Friday, September 9th, I read a monologue, or causerie, on the sin of sloth as part of the closing event of this year's Christianssand Protestfestival, an annual tradition for some ten years now where authors and discussants meet up for public events and debate. Some 100 people were present at the cardinal sin event, which involved a series of 7 monologues.

A podcast of the event can be found (and downloaded) here (7 cardinal sins in ONE package!).

Joining Concerned Scientists Norway

2011-09-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have become a member of Concerned Scientists Norway. In order to become a member one must be a "scientific employee" and support the manifesto of Concerned Scientists Norway, which is concerned with climate change and other environmental issues.

The slogan of CSN is "researchers for a sustainable development". Their manifesto stresses the importance of interdisciplinarity, and states that such a "interdisciplinary perspective, which will address the various causes of the [ecological] crisis, and seek to go to the root of the problems, will involve criticism of aspects of our economic and social system."

See also the webpage of the US' Union of Concerned Scientists.

Update on Arne Næss celebration

2011-09-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

The work of the committee preparing the celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the birth of Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss, "Arne i 100", is progressing. As I wrote in a post almost a month ago, we had a founding meeting August 25. However, following some complications and correspondence back and forth, in which I was involved, it was only a few days back that we received the confirmation that Arne i 100 has been accepted and registered as a non-profit NGO. The objective of the NGO, in its shortest form, is to "videreføre den filosofiske arven etter Arne Næss", namely to "carry on the philosophical legacy of Arne Naess".

Some in our group has met with Arne Hjeltnes, who will host the anniversary event January 27th 2012 in the university aula of the University of Oslo. Further names have been confirmed, and we have secured some more funding from public and private sources (the latter includes the Norwegian Ministry of Environment). We are also developing plans for marking 2011-2012 as a "Arne Næss year", though most of our focus has thusfar been on the anniversary event on the day 100 years after Arne's birth.

Academic travel plans

2011-09-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend I have arranged tickets for two academic trips the coming months:

* Tartu: October 23-26 [in Oslo 22-23] (to stand before the doctoral committee, and to participate in zoosemiotic research seminar)

* Hamar: October 30 - November 1 (for conference on predators and grazing animals)

I will further be going to Uppsala in October, and to Tartu once again in December (for defense of doctoral degree).

(We have also booked tickets for a holiday - Kristiansand-Bodø and back by train (1526 km each way, says Google Maps), November 3-6)

New work rules

2011-09-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

While I revised my doctoral work this weekend with regard to what to submit as PhD dissertation, I also reworked my work habits.

As the two next figures show, I have worked long work weeks since 2009 (the last diagram displays the work hours so far in 2011 week by week).

The trouble with such long work weeks is, for one thing, that one risks blurring the difference between work and free time, if work is omnipotent. After having pressured myself lately, I have now introduced two new principles so as to self-disciplinize myself (and become a better husband):
1) At least one full day without work (as in duty) each week!
2) As a rule no work after 6 pm!

Selection of articles for my doctoral thesis

2011-09-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

1. MT 2009. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change. Biosemiotics 2 (1): 47-64.

2. MT 2009. Steps to a Semiotics of Being. Biosemiotics 3.3: 375-392 (online version, published April 30, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9074-0).

3. MT 2011. Semiotics of Being and Uexküllian Phenomenology. Pp. 327-340 (chapter 27) in Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (ed.): Phenomenology/Ontopoiesis Retrieving Geo-Cosmic Horizons of Antiquity (= Analecta Husserliana CX/110).

4. MT 2011. Mapping Human Impact – Expanding Horizons: Interdisciplinary Integration. Pp. 93-106 in Tiina Peil (ed.): The Space of Culture - the Place of Nature in Estonia and Beyond (= Approaches to Cultural Theory vol. 1). Tartu: Tartu University Press.

5. MT 2010. The Global Species. New formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics 69 (Special Issue guest-edited by Ashley Dawson, Imperial Ecologies): 98-110. Featured as additional content in Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.britannica.com).

6. MT 2010. Wolf Land. Biosemiotics 3.3: 289-297 (online version, published April 23, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9077-x).

7. MT 2011: I, Wolf: The Ecology of Existence. Pp. 315-333 in Johannes Servan and Ane Faugstad Aarø (eds.): Environment, Embodiment and Gender. Bergen: Hermes Text.

See also: Update on my doctoral dissertation (and more)

Update on my doctoral dissertation (and more)

2011-09-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

A week ago or so I posted "Revised contents for my doctoral dissertation". Since then, however, more specifically last Thursday, I was convinced by my supervisor Kalevi Kull to submit a collection of articles (with an original introduction), instead of a monograph. Crucially, however, I will still complete the monograph which summarizes, addresses and further develops the theme of my doctoral studies, and aim at having it published by an international academic publisher, hopefully as soon as the autumn of 2012. This way I can stick to defending my thesis and attaining my doctoral degree just before Christmas, and simultaneously work thoroughly and without haste with the results in form of a monograph.

Minding Animals Bulletin no. 7

2011-09-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

The seventh Bulletin of Minding Animals International was distributed the last few days. At 20 pages, it details a number of upcoming pre-conference lecture events, and more (such as a call for people to convene lunchtime roundtables at the Utrecht conference in 2012). It also envelops a wolf poster presented here in Utopian Realism advertising for the Oslo "Shared Worlds" event October 14-15, and a flyer for the Uppsala event October 17-18.

Flyer for the Uppsala event "Zoo-ethnographies"

2011-09-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

Web site: Zoo-ethnographies

Revised contents for my doctoral dissertation

2011-09-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

Below is the revised table of contents for my doctoral dissertation Umwelt Transition: Uexküllian Phenomenology - An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management, on which I have been working intensely for the last few weeks. This compares with the contents as previously outlined in Semi-detailed table of contents (posted in March). That outline, however, presented only two of the three levels of numbering used previously. All in all I had some 660 subdivisions. Now I have 117. Much more manageable, but still so inter-disciplinary as to be really challenging, and of incredibly wide scope, if I dare say so myself.

Detailed table of contents

Contents at a glance

Detailed table of contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Making Sense of Nature

§1. Introduction

§2. Toward a phenomenology of environmental change

§3. From self to world

§4. The notion of integrated biological individualism

§5. On the levels of biosemiosis

§6. Earth - the natural (and absolute) setting for the human condition

§7 Husserl’s notion of the Lebenswelt

§8 The notion of Uexküllian phenomenology

§9 The notion of semiotics of being

§10 Research questions

§11 Methodology

§12. The Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll

§13. Uexküll’s visual representations

§14. Uexküll’s metaphors: Bubble, web, melody

§15. How 'partner' is to be interpreted (whether social companions in general are to be included)

§16. How 'food' is to be interpreted (whether resources in general are to be included)

§17. On the forms of life

§18. Ontological and epistemological outlook

§19. An anecdote on the role of fiction in the natural sciences

§20. Implications for the scientific enterprise at large

§21. Uexküllian thought after Uexküll

§22. Problems in contemporary ethological approaches to nature

§23. Problems in contemporary semiotic approaches to nature

§24. Changing views on a changing nature

§25. The topic of change

§26. On the current ecological situation

§27. Umwelt typology – systematic outline

§28. What is subjective biology today?

Chapter 2 Uexküllian Phenomenology

§29. Introduction: Uexküll and phenomenology

§30. On the notion of phenomenology

§31. The phenomenology of Charles Sanders Peirce

§32. Remarks on contemporary eco-phenomenology

§33. Semiotics and phenomenology

§34. Introducing a universal, twofold notion of self: The explicit and the implicit self

§35. Problems of phenomenology

§36. Problems of ontology

§37. Existential universals

§38. Communal being and distinctive being

§39. On the forms of existence

§40. The notion of swarm Umwelten

§41. Development of a typology of Umwelt transitions

§42. Modern Umwelten

§43. The search image in social life

§44. Further theoretical developments

§45. Playful Umwelten

Chapter 3 The Semiotics of the Ecological Crisis

§46. Introduction: The trajectory of a crisis

§47. Fragment of a metalogue: On the transition from naïve animal to semiotic animal

§48. Semiosis and crisis

§49. On matters of diversity and extinction

§50. The semiotics of domestication and related phenomena

§51. Anthropocene studies: The global species

§52. Favoured vs. unfavoured species – a hypothesis

§53. On matters of ethics and economy

§54. Ecological alienation

§55. Developing the perspective of Umwelt alignment

§56. Simplified management models for human-animal relations: Integration, segregation (assimilation)

§57. The long-term goal for wildlife management: Independent viability?

§58. Characteristic developments in the modern era

§59. Current developments

Chapter 4 Umwelt Mapping

§60. Introduction: On mapping semiosis at the level of the organism, and higher levels

§61. On matters of quality and quantity

§62. The notion of semiotic causation

§63. Mapping human Umwelten

§64. Mapping human impact

§65. Distinguishing between formal and informal human impact

§66. Mapping status as (un)favoured

§67. First examples of ontological maps

§68. Introducing a tripartite model of the human Umwelt

§69. Methodological challenges

§70. Developing the notion of relational Umwelt maps

§71. Developing the notion of phenomenal fields

§72. Further models and visual representations

Chapter 5 Case study: Norwegian Wolf Management

§73. Introduction: Prelude to the Norwegian wolf wars

§74. Field trips

§75. Preliminary remarks on wolf hunting

§76. Remarks on Arne Næss’ philosophy of wolf management

§77. The cultural semiotic of wolves and sheep

§78. Contextual encircling of the topic matter of the case study

§79. Geographical treatment

§80. The situation for Norwegian sheep farmers and agriculture

§81. The symbolic construction of the Big Bad Wolf in contemporary Scandinavia

§82. Conflict areas in current wolf management

§83. Controversial questions in the current debate

§84. Conspiracy theories

§85. On matters of democracy, empowerment and knowledge regimes

§86. Management strategies

§87. Management methods

§88. On matters of legality

§89. Historical exposition – the era of extermination campaigns

§90. Historical exposition – the era of conservation efforts

§91. Contemporary exposition (2006-2011)

§92. Field trip interviews

§93. Summary of findings: The Umwelt of captive wolves in general and socialised wolves in particular

§94. Summary of findings: The nature view and worldview of people in Rendalen

§95. Mapping of the Umwelt of wolves in Norway

§96. Mapping of the Umwelt of sheep and other relevant animals in Norway

§97. Mapping of the Umwelt of selected groups of Norwegians

§98. Analysis: The wolf and other symbols

§99. Analysis of Norwegian wolf ecology in terms of the semiotic niche and ontological niche concepts

§100. Analysis: Matters of management philosophy, and further analysis

§101. To what extent are wolves a favoured species in contemporary Norway?

§102. To what extent are sheep a favoured species in contemporary Norway?

§103. Analysis: Umwelt transitions

§104. Future perspectives: Deep and shallow solutions

§105. Umwelt futurology: Three Umwelt scenarios

Chapter 6 Umwelt Transition

§106. Introduction: Theoretical findings

§107. To what extent can the case study findings be generalized?

§108. In search of the wolf’s perspective

§109. Evaluation of theoretical assumptions

§110. Evaluation of the methodology of Umwelt mapping

§111. On further methodological development

§112. Umwelt transition and animal migration

§113. On Umwelt transitions as habitual

§114. On recolonization as a habitual Umwelt transition

§115. On further theoretical development

§116. Towards an ethics of semiotics of being

§117. On the prospects of Umwelt futurology

Update on the Oslo Minding Animals seminar "Shared Worlds"

2011-09-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Update on the Oslo Minding Animals seminar "Shared Worlds":

1) Confirmed participants in the roundtable on wolf/human relations: Runar Næss, Antonio Poleo, Ketil Skogen. Lynda Birke is among the confirmed participants in the roundtable on horse/human relations.

2) This weekend we sent our application to register Minding Animals Norway as an NGO, with me, Rune Ellefsen and Rhys Evans as (founding members and) board members. In the process we have agreed on a founding document with initial regulations (regulations are up for revision on the concluding open meeting at the end of the Shared Worlds seminar).

3) We have agreed to have books/flyers on display from Brill Academic Publishers, which publishes the journal Society and Animals and the book series ‘Human - Animals Studies’, and from Elli Radinger, editor of the German Wolf Magazin and author of several books on wolves.

4) The number of registered participants is increasing - to register, simply send your details to shared.worlds.oslo@gmail.com.

Two performances at Christianssand Protestfestival

2011-09-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

This past week I have made two performances at Christianssand Protestfestival.

First, Monday September 5th I hosted/chaired a debate on civil disobedience (and Henry David Thoreau's book on that and other matters) between social anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen and activist etc. Pål Steigan. A podcast is available here (sound only).

Second, Friday September 9th I gave a monologue on the sin of sloth ("latskap" in Norwegian) as part of the event "The seven cardinal sins", along with philosophers Nina Karin Monsen and Jackie Bergman and others. Eddi Eidsvåg hosted the event, The Vollenares offered a mini concert. Podcast (sound plus image) will be available soon.

Talk at predator conference scheduled

2011-09-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in June I am scheduled for giving a talk at this year's Den nasjonale konferansen om rovvilt, beitedyr og samfunn [The national conference on predators, grazing livestock and society] (Hamar, Norway, Oct. 31 - Nov. 1).

By now the organizer has released a full program. My talk "Offisiell og 'uoffisiell' rovviltforvaltning i Norge sett med et humanøkologisk blikk - Hva er motivene og handlingene?" [Official and "unofficial" predator management in Norway, as seen in a human ecology perspective - What are the motives and actions?] has been scheduled for November 1st at 13.55-14.35.

Two peer-reviews

2011-09-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

The last month or so I have conducted two peer-reviews, one for Semiotica and one for Sign Systems Studies.

Promo video for event on the 7 cardinal sins

2011-08-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Christianssands Protestfestival 2011 is getting close, and by now they've made a promo video for the last point in the program this year, seven talks on "The 7 cardinal sins" (including on the sin of sloth, by me), which can be watched on Youtube or on the web site of Protestfestivalen. (Complete program here).

Spør Filosofen: First newsletter

2011-08-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

My philosophy company "Spør Filosofen" (Ask the philosopher), which offers my services on the event market, for one thing, has issued its first newsletter - in Norwegian.

Available for reading and download at Scribd.

6pp.

"Arne i 100" founded as NGO

2011-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, August 25th, "Arne i 100" [Arne, 100...] was founded in Oslo, Norway, as an association/society aiming to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of deep ecologist Arne Næss' (1912-2009) birth January 27th 2012 (in the University Aula, Oslo), and to help arrange "the Arne Næss year" 2012-2013. I took part via Skype. I was thus one of the seven co-founders of the NGO, along with Kit-Fai Næss and others. I was also included as a member of the board, along with 8 others (Kit-Fai Næss (head), Martin Lee Mueller, Reidar Goffeng, Inger Marie Mørner, Arne Johan Furseth, Carl Fredrik Normann, Ola Tellesbø and Anders Krosshavn Vik).

I had proposals/questions concerning up to 6 of the paragraphs of the regulations (vedtekter). At least half of these were followed up by making amendments to the original draft.

Stavanger exam, Ex. Phil.

2011-08-25T05:11:00.000-07:00

Today I received the official appointment letter from the University of Stavanger, concerning my role as an examiner, for the third year in a row, at Examen Philosophicum for nursing students.

The deadline for the one-week home exam this year is November 25th. Unlike last years, there's no alternative school exam. My deadline for reporting grades is December 14th, and the grades will be communicated to the c200 students December 16th at the latest.

Poster series for the Shared Worlds seminar

2011-08-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

This is the poster series of our upcoming Shared Worlds seminar, to be held in Oslo in mid-October. High resolution posters in PDF and JPEG format (in two versions) are available for download at our event webpage. Feel free to distribute liberally. To register for the event, send an email (including name, nationality, affiliation/position) to shared.worlds.oslo@gmail.com.

Norwegian HAS anthology: Revised book project description

2011-08-19T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Norwegian HAS anthology I an involved with, with co-editors Ragnhild Sollund and Guri Larsen and in contact with the publisher Spartacus, has gotten a new work title: Hvem er villest i landet her? Dyr som objekter i en menneskedominert tidsepoke [Who's the wildest one in the country here? Animals as objects in an era dominated by humans].

We have further written an all new book project description - concise one, 1 page only, with an Anthropocene theme. Currently awaiting feedback from the publisher.

MA defence conducted, on Uexküll and Damasio

2011-08-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, two days ago, I took part as opponent in Mara Woods' defence of her MA thesis "Modelling affective habit into Jakob von Uexküll's functional cycle".

Beforehand I had sent her, the chair of the committee and her supervisor a three-page written evaluation, commenting on positive and negative aspects of the thesis and posing some questions. The defence lasted for half an hour.

Zapffe; tick attack on Larry David: Links to excerpts from "Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology"

2011-08-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have published excerpts from "Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology" in two Norwegian blogs of mine: Utopisk Realisme, my political blog (on Norwegian existentialist Peter Wessel Zappfe's use of Uexküll), and Kardemomme Tidende, my comical blog (on the distinction between semiosis and phenomena, illustrated by a tick attack on Larry David).

See also:
"Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology" published: Reference; abstract

"Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology" published: Reference; abstract

2011-08-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Some days back I already received an email from Springer with links to the 110th volume of Analecta Husserliana, where my article "Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology" appears. The reference is:

Morten Tønnessen 2011. Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology. P. 327-340 in Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (ed.) 2011: Phenomenology/Ontopoiesis Retrieving Geo-cosmic Horizons of Antiquity (= Analecta Husserliana 110).

Abstract:

German-Baltic biologist Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) did not regard himself as a phenomenologist. Neither did he conceive of himself as a semiotician. Nevertheless, his Umwelt terminology has of late been utilized and further developed within the framework of semiotics and various other disciplines – and, as I will argue, essential points in his work can fruitfully be taken to represent a distinctive Uexküllian phenomenology, characterized not least by an assumption of the (in the realm of life) universal existence of a genuine first person perspective, i.e., of experienced worlds. Uexküllian phenomenology is an example of – a special case of – a semiotics of being, taken to be a study of signs designed so as to emphasize the reality of the phenomena of the living. In the course of this paper, I will relate Uexküllian phenomenology to the eco-existentialism of Peter Wessel Zapffe (1899–1990), ecophenomenology (including David Abram and Ted Toadvine), and semiotics of nature (biosemiotics, ecosemiotics, zoosemiotics). I will further make a few remarks on the partial resemblance between Uexküllian phenomenology and Tymieniecka’s “phenomenology of life”, and its difference from the “phaneroscopy” of Peirce.

Where is Utopian Realism being read?

2011-08-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is the top ten list of countries where this blog is being read the most (number of page views since May 2009). The total number of page views in this period was 12.902. Note that the French number includes a measure of suspicious robotic activity the last few months.

1. USA: 3.087 (24 %)
2. France: 1.478 (11 %)
3. Norway: 1.179 (9 %)
4. Russia: 936 (7 %)
5. Germany: 767 (6 %)
6. The Netherlands: 409 (3 %)
7. UK: 382 (3 %)
8. Canada: 286 (2 %)
9. Ukrain: 246 (2 %)
10. Iran: 233 (2 %)

Greetings to all - including to those 30 % of my readers that are from yet other parts of the world!

Ten most popular blog posts

2011-08-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

These are the ten most read blog posts in Utopian Realism since May 2009. Are there any patterns? I see two, at the top 5: An interest in the local, Norwegian theme of Filosofisk Forum/UiA Philosophy Forum, and a coincidential general interest for the keywords "Play, love etc." Apart from the no. 2, the most read semiotic themes are all in the second half of the top 10 list.

Play, love etc. - UiA Philosophy Forum in preparat...

17. des. 2009:

196 Sidevisninger

Joining the editorial board of Biosemiotics

19. jan. 2010

:169 Sidevisninger

Filosofisk Forum - looking back, and ahead

29. apr. 2010

:140 Sidevisninger

Silent in Filosofisk forum

6. okt. 2010:

132 Sidevisninger

Committee for UiA Philosophy Forum

11. nov. 2009:

126 Sidevisninger

Zoosemiotics email list - how to register

10. apr. 2011:

108 Sidevisninger

A not very flattering invitation

24. okt. 2010, 2 kommentarer:

105 Sidevisninger

The base variants of semiotic causation

28. mai 2011:

98 Sidevisninger

Nordic semiotics conference - program (where are t...

9. apr. 2011:

93 Sidevisninger

Course description: Semiotics and phenomenology

1. mars 2011:

84 Sidevisninger

To be appointed as examiner at University of Stavanger (for the third time)

2011-08-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was asked, and agreed, to be an examiner at this year's Examen Philosophicum (the Norwegian course in introductory philosophy) for nursing students etc. at the University of Stavanger.

This will be the third time (and year) I do this job.

Minding Animals International: Bulletin no. 6

2011-08-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

Minding Animals International has just issued its sixth bulletin.

In the accompanying email, convenor and CEO of MAI Rod Bennison writes that "we now have groups established in Norway, Italy, Germany, India and Australia, with discussions having commenced for Belgium, France and Laos." Further: "We would especially like to hear from anyone interested in setting up Minding Animals 'national' groups."

In the bulletin, I am mentioned as one of the organizers of the October 14-15 Oslo "Shared Worlds" event - now presented in the bulletin under the title "Shared Worlds (Horse-human relations; Wolf-human relations)" - plus as a speaker at the October 17-18 Uppsala event "Zoo-Ethnographies".

Letter to the editor addressing alleged islamisation of Europe, democracy, and freedom of speech

2011-08-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

In this week's edition of the Norwegian daily newspaper Dag og Tid there is a letter to the editor written by me, entitled "Sanninga om framtida" [The truth about the future] (p. 26). The text is written in response to the terror acts in Oslo and at Utøya July 22nd, and addresses matters of democracy, freedom of speech, critical use of sources, and relating to future scenarios made by scholars from various professions (notably demographers and historians; in this exact case with regard to the alleged 'islamisation' of Europe, a claim which does not have solid scholarly support or foundation).

In the signature of the letter, I am presented as "philosopher and semiotician [plus blogger of the blog Utopisk Realisme]".

The unedited Norwegian text can be read in my Norwegian blog Utopisk Realisme.

Minding Animals Norway to be established

2011-08-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

We the organizing team of the October 14-15 Oslo event "Shared Worlds" had a meeting last Thursday, where we confirmed and agreed that we will establish Minding Animals Norge (Minding Animals Norway) as an NGO associated with Minding Animals International.

Rune Ellefsen, Rhys Evans and I will from the outset be the three board members of the NGO. The primary task of MAN is to arrange the Shared Worlds event in October. Rounding of that one and a half day event on human-animal relations, the participants will, if there is any interest, discuss possible future activities of Minding Animals Norge, and consider whether its regulations should be altered, for instance opening up for membership and/or local groups.

Minding Animals is an organization - first and foremost a network of scholars and activists - devoted to promoting an ethical perspective in (human-)animal studies, and to make the connection between scholarship and activism related to animals.

See also:
Joining the Board of Directors of Minding Animals International (as alternative representative)

Joining the Board of Directors of Minding Animals International (as alternative representative)

2011-08-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

As of today it has been confirmed that I have become Minding Animals Norway Alternative Representative in Minding Animals International's Board of Directors. Rhys Evans is our regular National Representative. Norway is thus the fourth country to become represented in Minding Animals International's Board of Directors, after Australia, Germany and India.

I will further be one out of three board members for the soon-to-be-established Minding Animals Norway (Minding Animals Norge), along with Rhys and Rune Ellefsen - cf. our Oslo event in October.

Fourth Oslo Minding Animals speaker confirmed: Liv Emma Thorsen

2011-08-03T06:05:00.000-07:00

All four plenary speakers for the October 14-15 Oslo Minding Animals event "Shared worlds" are now in place. The fourth speaker to be confirmed is professor Liv Emma Thorsen of University of Oslo (Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages). Her talk will be entitled "Shared worlds? Animals in natural history museums".

Already confirmed:
* Rod Bennison: "Considering the exploitation of animals in sport, and understanding the 'Sport of Queens'"
* Tora Holmberg: "Sharing the lives of many: Urban controversies over animal hoarding and animal rescue"
* Nelly Mäekivi: "Misunderstandings in shared environments: The case of zoos"

See our event page, and Facebook page, for further info (registration is free for anyone interested).

Song and video: "Semioteque"

2011-07-31T08:12:00.001-07:00

The Schopenhauer Experience, my musical alter ago, has over the last three weeks or so composed and produced a song entitled "Semioteque". The song can be heard on Picosong, and a video (made by my wife Helena da Silva-Tønnessen) can be watched on YouTube.

The song and video has been made at the occasion of my mother, Elise Seip Tønnessen's, 60 year anniversary, which was celebrated yesterday. "Semioteque" does not feature ordinary vocals, but instead samples from Umberto Eco's lecture in Tartu, Estonia on May 6th 2009, 'On the Ontology of Fictional Characters: a Semiotic Study' (more specifically samples of rector Alar Karis, me, and Umberto Eco). That whole session can be watched on video on the webpages of University of Tartu.

The full transcript of my question and Umberto Eco's answers has been posted in Utopian Realism, with a comment written in hindsight, in 2009. The edited excerpts made use of in the song "Semioteque" reads like this:

[not transcribed: Alar Karis, speaking in Estonian. ...]

MT: And I would like you to say something about what role fiction can be said to play within natural science...

Eco: No... No, I missed ... the real question.

MT: Let me finish. Um…

(MT: And I would like you to say something about what role fiction can be said to play within natural science... )

(Eco: No... No, I missed ... the real question.)

MT: And often in applied science, we start out with imagining something that does not exist – it’s totally mind-dependent; and then we carry it into life. … Isn’t that the work of fiction?

Eco: No! I... Take, for instance the cold fusion. Typical example of a scientific hoax.

Eco: I don’t say that it’s a fiction – it’s a mistake, which is different.

Eco: I say that there is fiction when the author pretends to say the truth, and asks you to pretend that you are believing it.

Eco: If not, it’s a lie. If I tell you there is an elephant outside… and you naively go out to see whether it is there or not, that is not a case of fiction, I am only a *** liar... And you are too naive, hehe.

Eco: Except, you are not Thomas Aquinas! His comrades told him… 'Thomas, there is an ass flying on the skies', and he went out … (to) look. Hehe…

MT: Isn’t that the work of fiction?

This edited transcript has been added to The Schopenhauer Experience's lyrics section, along with previous material (which includes original song lyrics, original poems, and cover songs).

Biosemiotics achieves ISI acceptance and indexing

2011-07-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was informed by Editor-in-chief Marcello Barbieri and Managing Editor Catherine Cotton that the academic journal Biosemiotics, where I am a member of the editorial board, has been accepted by ISI, the Institute for Scientific Information (a part of Thomson Reuters), the top rating organization in the publishing world. Starting with volume 1, issue 1, Biosemiotics will be indexed in:

* Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch®)
* Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition
* Arts and Humanities Citation Index®
* Current Contents®/Arts & Humanities
* Social Sciences Citation Index®
* Journal Citation Reports/ Social Sciences Edition
* Current Contents®/Social and Behavioral Sciences

I have written three articles that have been published in Biosemiotics, and co-written one, and further co-edited a special issue:

— 2009. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change. Biosemiotics 2 (1): 47-64.

— 2010a. Guest aditor, along with Kati Lindström, of a special issue of Biosemiotics (Springer), vol. 3, no. 3 (December 2010); entitled Semiotics of Perception. 136 pp.

— 2010b. Being in the World of the Living – Semiotic Perspectives: Introduction to the special issue Semiotics of Perception. Co-written with Kati Lindström. Biosemiotics 3.3: 257-261 (online version, published April 20, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9073-1).

— 2010c. Steps to a Semiotics of Being. Biosemiotics 3.3: 375-392 (online version, published April 30, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9074-0).

— 2010d. Wolf Land. Biosemiotics 3.3: 289-297 (online version, published April 23, 2010: DOI: 10.1007/s12304-010-9077-x).

Update: The Language and life research cluster

2011-07-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

In March I joined the Language and Life research cluster, which is part of the Distributed Language Group, under the direction of Stephen Cowley. In June, at the Gathering in Biosemiotics in New York, some of us met and talked about the next step. We agreed that arranging a one-day Language and Life event adjoined to a bigger academic event - perhaps the Gathering in biosemiotics to take place in Tartu, Estonia, next summer, makes sense. A discussion about this and some topical issues is now taking place in the cluster via email.

Pre-defense of MA thesis on Uexküll and Damasio taken place

2011-07-28T08:57:00.001-07:00

As mentioned earlier I will not only be opponent at Mara Woods' defense of her MA thesis "Modelling affect into Jakob von Uexküll's functional cycle", but would be an opponent at her pre-defense as well. And so I was, concluding that phase of the evaluation/input work Monday July 18th.

Woods' draft of MA thesis was accepted by the pre-defense committe for the next step: Finalization and then defense. My co-opponent was Davide Weible.

"Shared worlds" funded; third plenary speaker confirmed; NGO to be registered

2011-07-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

The October 14-15 Oslo workshop/seminar "Shared worlds" (see also our Facebook page), arranged under the umbrella of Minding Animals, will receive funding (1.000 Euro) from the research grant "Dynamical zoosemiotics and animal representations", where I am involved as a researcher.

A third plenary speaker, Nelly Mäekivi from Estonia, who is also involved in that research grant, has been confirmed. Her talk is entitled "Misunderstandings in shared environments: The case of zoos".
We the organizers held a meeting Monday 18th. A little later we decided that we will register MAO as a NGO - though it remains to be seen whether we will arrange further activities under that name.

The semiotics (and philosophy) of terror

2011-07-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

The last few days I have been blogging and tweeting on the terror in Norway. All in Norwegian.

My writings on this topic includes a 9-page blogpost entitled "Terrorens retorikk: Analyse av Anders Behring Breiviks tenkning, og de siste dagers hendelser" [The rhetorics of terror: Analysis of Anders Behring Breivik's thought, and the last days' incidents], and today's "Fjordman: Jeg utfordrer deg til å møte i åpen debatt" [Fjordman [pseudonym for a right-wing extremist anti-islamist who inspired the terrorist]: I challenge you to face me in an open debate].
Today I was interviewed by the regional daily newspaper Fædrelandsvennen. The title of the story is "- Nå begynner krigen" [ - Now the war begins]. Excerpts:

Tønnessen has background in philosophy, and is a doctoral student in semiotics. Which means the theory of symbols and signs.

- And I think Behring Breivik chose the government block as a bomb target exactly because the destruction here is a strong symbol, says Tønnessen.

I further address the culture of online political debates, among other things.

***

Update: My challenge to the anynomous blogger Fjordman is referred to in "Massemorderen hyller anonym norsk blogger" ("The mass murderer praises anynomous Norwegian blogger", written by Gunnar Stavrum), a news story which is at the moment the lead story of Nettavisen, a national Norwegian daily. In the news story I am referred to as "samfunnsdebattant og filosof" (/societal debater/ and philosopher).

Christianssand Protestfestival: Two appearances scheduled; program released

2011-07-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, July 15th, the 2011 program of the annual Christianssand Protestfestival was released.

I have been given two roles.

Moderator of discussion on Thoreau's writings on civil disobedience

Where: Christianssand Protestfestival (Kristiansand, Norway)

When: 5th September 2011, 1 am - 2 am

Discussants: Thomas Hylland Eriksen and Pål Steigan

Plus this one:

Causerie: On the sin of sloth

When: 9th September 2011, 11 pm - 11.15 pm

For more comprehensive presentation of the latter event, see my Norwegian language blog Utopisk Realisme. Here's a link to St. Augustine's discussion of sloth as a sin.

Oslo lecture on the global species: Title announced

2011-07-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

As mentioned earlier I will give a lecture in Oslo October 19th, on the topic of the global species. The title has now been announced as "Det menneskeskapte økologiske hierarki" [The human-made ecological hierarchy - in Norwegian]. The lecture is part of the Master-level seminar "Økologisk kriminalitet, miljøskade og spesiesisme" [Ecological crime, environmental harm and speciesism] at Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo.

For more info, see my Academia.edu page or the seminar website.

Readings, spring 2011

2011-07-16T01:39:00.000-07:00

The first 6 months of 2011 I read (according to my log) 4.530 pages of academic literature. This compares to 25,0 pages a day, or 175,2 pages a week.

These were the thinkers I read most about:

And these were the authors I read the most by:

Nomination as Scientific Reviewer - GEO-5

2011-07-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I nominated myself as a possible Scientific Reviewer for GEO-5, the 5th edition of Global Environmental Outlook, which is published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The scientific review process is coordinated by the Earth System Science partnership (ESSP).

I am interested in reviewing some or all of the following chapters:
I/1 Drivers and Pressures of the Global Environment
I/5 Biodiversity
I/8 Overview of progress towards meeting internationally agreed goals
II/11 Options for Europe
II/12 Options for Latin America and the Caribbean
III/16 Scenarios & Transformative Change
III/17 Global Responses

The review of the second draft of GEO-5 will take place September 26 - October 17.

Where:	Christianssand Protestfestival (Kristiansand, Norway)
When:	5th September 2011, 1 am - 2 am