Paper "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis" presented at IAEP 2024

Today I have presented the paper “Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis” at the Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting of The International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP 2024, held virtually May 22-24th 2024). Some 15 people attended.

Chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" published

My book chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" has now been published, as part of the book Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (eds. Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir).

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2024. A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis. Pp. 99–117 in Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (eds.), Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures 42). Springer. Published May 4th 2024.

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

I have composed and submitted the proposal and abstract below to the organizers of IAEP 2024, the 28th conference of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy, which will be held online May 22-24th.

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Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis  

PROPOSAL 

Edmund Husserl famously thematized science´ forgetting of the lifeworld in what was after his death published as Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die Tranzendentale Phänomenologie, published in English translation as The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. In a somewhat similar way, the biologist Jakob von Uexküll, who contributed originally to theoretical biology and our understanding of science, decried the ´meaning-blind´ biology of his time. Drawing on the fact that the experience of animals is constrained by the sensory and behavioral repertoire of each organism and takes place within the context of species-specific configurations of time and space, the Umwelt theory von Uexküll developed was programmatically presented as subjective biology. This makes his Umwelt theory relevant for phenomenology, so that his work warrants the designation Umwelt phenomenology. This is also supported by the fact that central phenomenologists, including Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, have related to and made use of von Uexküll´s work. While he applied the Umwelt perspective not only to animals, but to humans as well, particularly in Streifzüge durch die Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen, published in English translation as A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans, unfortunately, human Umwelten remained undertheorized in his work. Hannah Arendt, however, in her book The Human Condition, discussed the human condition and observed a crisis within the natural sciences play out as an inability to be relatable to normal speech and thought. Although she saw the significance of our evolving global perspective and power, which is today often conceptualized in terms of the Anthropocene, Arendt failed to acknowledge the decisive difference our anthropocentric bias makes in matters of ontology and epistemology alike. From the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology, I have argued that today´s environmental crisis can be conceived of as an ontological crisis involving the extinction and marginalization of myriads of lifeworlds. As is well established, the environmental crisis is characterized by extensive anthropogenic environmental change. This can be conceptualized in terms of Umwelt transitions. The ongoing nature crisis is most blatantly observable in rapidly escalating climate change, and the well-documented marginalization of wild terrestrial mammals, which now account for only 4% of terrestrial mammalian biomass, as documented by Bar-On and colleagues in their inventive work on “The biomass distribution on Earth”. Arguably, the last decades´ scientific neglect, theoretically and methodologically, of the agency, subjectivity, and worth of living beings has contributed to this intensifying and deepening nature crisis. With its objectivistic, mechanistic perspective on the natural world, the scientific enterprise has in practice facilitated and helped justify a real-life objectification, de-souling, exploitation, and commodification of living beings as mere means and resources. It is high time to replace this outdated and harmful outlook with a philosophically based scientific framework more fit for the 21st century. One way forward entails acknowledging the semiotic agency of all that lives, and start planning for the socio-ecological and economic transformations that will be required to solve the environmental crisis in the next few decades. This will have to involve a serious rethinking of the human condition and how we think about our place in nature.  

ABSTRACT 

Edmund Husserl famously thematized science´ forgetting of the lifeworld. In a somewhat similar way, the theoretical biologist Jakob von Uexküll decried the ´meaning-blind´ biology of his time, developing what I call “Umwelt phenomenology”. In her book The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt observed a crisis within the natural sciences play out as an inability to be relatable to normal speech and thought. I discuss the ongoing nature crisis in light of these perspectives, and make some observations on how we can rethink matters related to the human condition, our place in nature, and science´s role in justifying exploitation of living beings.

Publication date announced for book "Elemental-embodied thinking for a new era"

The book Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era, edited by Lenart Skof, Sashinungla, and Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, where I contribute with the chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis", now has a new planned publication date, May 30th, according to Springer´s website for the book.

"A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition & the environmental crisis" presented in Copenhagen

Today I have presented my paper «A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition & the environmental crisis» at the 23rd Gathering in biosemiotics, which is held in Copenhagen, Denmark (July 31st - August 4th). Some 50-60 people attended.

Photo: Katarzyna Machtyl

Abstract for "(Un)Common Worlds III – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes": "A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis"

I have submitted the abstract below to the organizers of the conference "(Un)Common Worlds III – Navigating and Inhabiting Biodiverse Anthropocenes" (University of Oulu and digitally, October 4-6th 2023).

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A biosemiotic perspective on the environmental crisis 

Abstract 

Online presentation  

Morten Tønnessen 

***@uis.no  

Professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger, Norway   

ABSTRACT 

In this presentation I will present excerpts of the book chapter “A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis” (Tønnessen, forthcoming). The chapter presents a biosemiotic perspective on the basic situation for human beings and that of other organisms, with an emphasis on the subjective experience of sentient animals, and the sign use of all lifeforms. The human condition is portrayed as traditionally conceived, and then revisited in the new context of the current environmental crisis. In the political philosopher Hannah Arendt´s (1906–1975) book The Human Condition (Arendt 1958), she stresses that “[t]he earth is the very quintessence of the human condition”, and yet argues that “the “human artifice of the world separates human existence from all mere animal environment”. In her view, human reality is distinguished from the reality of any other living being on Earth, despite our shared ecological circumstances. A cornerstone of the chapter is an analysis of the materiality of the environmental crisis, and how the massive changes humans have caused in the physical environment can be understood in light of the semiotic agency of humans and animals. Experiential aspects of the environmental crisis are highlighted.   

REFERENCES 

Arendt, Hannah (1958). The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 

Tønnessen, Morten, forthcoming. A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis. In Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (eds.), Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures). Springer.

Abstract for 23rd Gathering in Biosemiotics: "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis"

I have submitted the abstract below to the organizers of the 23rd gathering in Biosemiotics, which is to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 31st - August 4th. 

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A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis   

Morten Tønnessen

Professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger, Norway   

ABSTRACT 

In this presentation I will present the book chapter “A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis” (Tønnessen, forthcoming). The chapter presents a biosemiotic perspective on the basic situation for human beings and that of other organisms, with an emphasis on the subjective experience of sentient animals, and the sign use of all lifeforms. The human condition is portrayed as traditionally conceived, and then revisited in the new context of the current environmental crisis. In recent decades, the expression ‘The Human Condition’ has been strongly associated with the political philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906–1975). In her book with the same name (Arendt 1958), she stresses that “[t]he earth is the very quintessence of the human condition”, and yet argues that “the “human artifice of the world separates human existence from all mere animal environment”. In this sense, in her view, human reality is distinguished from the reality of any other living being on Earth, despite our shared ecological circumstances. A cornerstone of the chapter is an analysis of the materiality of the environmental crisis, and how the massive changes humans have caused in the physical environment can be understood in light of the semiotic agency of humans and other living beings. Experiential aspects of the environmental crisis are highlighted. The aim of the chapter is to improve our understanding of our species´ place in the natural world, our historical role in causing a global crisis for life, and how we can move forward towards a more sustainable future. As Masatake Shinohara (2020) has proposed, “what conditions human beings in the most fundamental sense includes not only the world of the human artifact but also the world of earthly things”, and in light of this, “the consideration of the human condition should be fundamentally reformulated” by making the human world “open to the earthly things that vastly expand outside of the human artifice”.

REFERENCES 

Arendt, Hannah (1958). The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 

Shinohara, Masatake (2020). “Rethinking the Human Condition in the Ecological Collapse”. The New Centennial Review 20(2): 177–203. 

Tønnessen, Morten, forthcoming. A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis. In Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (eds.), Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures). Springer.

#26,5 - chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" finished

Today I have had a writing day, with some 2.300 words added to my chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis", which I have now finished, and submitted to the anthology editors. 

This is the most productive writing day so far this Spring by words written. Number of writing days this Spring is up to 26,5.

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Abstract:

This chapter presents a biosemiotic perspective on the basic situation for human beings and that of other organisms, with an emphasis on the subjective experience of sentient animals, and the sign use of all lifeforms. The human condition is portrayed as traditionally conceived, and then revisited in the new context of the current environmental crisis. A cornerstone of the text is an analysis of the materiality of the environmental crisis, and how the massive changes humans have caused in the physical environment can be understood in light of the semiotic agency of humans and other living beings. Experiential aspects of the environmental crisis are highlighted. The aim of the text is to improve our understanding of our species´ place in the natural world, our historical role in causing a global crisis for life, and how we can move forward towards a more sustainable future.