Holiday?

I was on holiday last Friday, with my son (in Bergen, until Sunday). But worked all night.

Panel discussion on nature view in Bergen

One week ago, last Wednesday, I participated in a panel discussion on the theme of "Naturforståelse og praksis" [Nature view [or nature understanding] and practice], along with Fern Wickson (UiT), Jon Hélen Pedersen (HiSF) and Sondre Båtstrand (UiB). The panel discussion, which lasted for 2 and a half hour and included extensive introductions by some of us, took place at the academic bookstore Studia in central Bergen. My introduction was called "Jeg, ulv: Eksistensens økologi" [I, wolf, The ecology of existence], and was first of all a presentation of my chapter in the English language anthology Environment, Embodiment and Gender, which was highlighted at the event. Wickson and Hélen Pedersen contribute to the same anthology. The panel discussion was organized by one of the editors of the anthology, Ane Faugstad Aarø (UiB) in practice and formally by UiB's research group on phenomenology and existentialism. There were about 20 people present all included.

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

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.

Phenomenology research group confirmed

One of the looser affiliations I have in my academic work is one as a member of sorts of the research group for phenomenology and existentialism at the University of Bergen (forskningsgruppe for fenomenologi og eksistensfilosofi). The University of Bergen's Department of Philosophy has just evaluated all existing research groups, and confirmed the continued existence of the abovementioned research group - as well as the other four existing research groups. In addition, five new research groups have been established, including one in environmental philosophy. All research groups will be evaluated in a year's time, and will have to meet a number of criteria, including having an (inter)national network, having ongoing activities, and publishing academic work.

It is not clear whether I count as a regular member of the group, or rather as an associated contact.

About the international phenomenology congress in Bergen

On a belated note, I took part in the 60th international congress of phenomenology in Bergen August 10-13, where I presented my paper "Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology" for a limited but qualified audience in a group session.

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This was my first encounter with the World Phenomenology Institute, lead by Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka. Registering for the conference, I became a member (by choice) of International Society of Phenomenology and Sciences of Life, which seems, unfortunately, not to have much activities.

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My paper will be revised by October 1st, and hopefully published in the conference proceedings, which will appear as a volume of Analecta Husserliana.

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In Bergen I further mingled with local phenomenologists, and joined the email list of a University of Bergen phenomenology group.

Paper to Bergen conference/Analecta Husserliana

Yesterday I finished the full-length paper for my forthcoming presentation at the 60th international congress of phenomenology (Bergen, August 10-13), entitled 'Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology' - 20pp. Like the other papers, it will be considered for publication in Analecta Husserliana.

Contents

Uexküllian phenomenology

Eco-existentialism, eco-phenomenology, and semiotics of
nature

• a) The eco-existentialism of Peter Wessel Zapffe
• b) The eco-phenomenology of David Abram and Ted
  Toadvine
• c) Semiotics of nature (biosemiotics, ecosemiotics,
  zoosemiotics)

Contribution to world phenomenology conference accepted

I have been notified that my submission to The 60th International Congress of Phenomenology (to be arranged in Bergen in August), "Semiotics of being and Uexküllian phenomenology", has been accepted by the organisers.

Inclusion in the programme is dependent on the delivery of a full-length paper by May 1st.

All submitted papers are copy-righted for the first option of publication by the Springer journal Analecta Husserliana.

Phenomenology conferences II

I am about to submit a proposal for a paper for the 60th congress of the The World Institute for Advanced Phenomenological Research (The 60th International Congress of Phenomenology), to be arranged in Bergen, Norway, next August.

Title:

Semiotics of Being and Uexküllian Phenomenology