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.

IAEP 2024 paper rescheduled for May 24th

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

See also (now outdated):

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

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

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

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

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

See also:

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

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.

Abstract for 24th Gathering in biosemiotics: "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizers of the 24th Gathering in Biosemiotics, which will be held in Bloemfontein, South Africa, June 17-21st. 

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Applied Umwelt theory in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation  

Author: Morten Tønnessen 

Affiliation: Professor of philosophy, Department of social studies, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway  

In earlier work, I have argued that a genuine ´Uexküllian phenomenology´ can be derived from the Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll and that such a phenomenology is capable of accounting for the subjective experience of both humans and animals. With its foundation in contemporary biosemiotics, such a modern, empirically informed phenomenology is particularly relevant for the study of human-animal relations and interaction in societal and ecological settings. In a recent chapter (Tønnessen 2023) I have outlined a scientific method for conducting qualitative studies of human and animal lifeworlds by introducing a semiotically informed descriptive phenomenology. While descriptive phenomenology in its current forms is typically only applicable to the study of human lifeworlds (Giorgi 2009), a reiteration of descriptive phenomenology that draws on Umwelt theory can be designed to be non-anthropocentric and pluralistic. In this paper I elaborate on a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology and explain how it can be applied within the humanities and social sciences as well as in a natural science context. Furthermore, I will discuss how Umwelt theory can be made use of as part of a methodology of phenomenological triangulation, in which 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspectives are combined in studies of one and the same study object. This methodology draws on ideas developed in cognitive semiotics by Jordan Zlatev, Göran Sonesson, and others (e.g. Zlatev 2012). Overall, this paper aims to contribute to integrating biosemiotics and phenomenology and demonstrating the relevance of Umwelt theory for phenomenology, and vice versa.  

REFERENCES 

Giorgi, Amedeo (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology. Duquesne University Press. 

Tønnessen, Morten (2023). Umwelt theory for practitioners: Semiotic guidelines for application in a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology. Pp. 303–314 in Open Semiotics (4 volumes, ed. Amir Biglari), volume 4: Life and its extensions. Paris: L’Harmattan. 

Zlatev, Jordan (2012). Cognitive Semiotics: An emerging field for the transdisciplinary study of meaning. The Public Journal of Semiotics IV(1) (2012): 2–24. 

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See also:

#27,5; abstract for special issue of Sign Systems Studies on Umwelt theory

"If looks could kill" paper presented in Cognitive Semiotics Seminar at Lund University

Yesterday I presented my paper «If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology» digitally at the Cognitive Semiotics Seminar, with some listening in a room in Lund, Sweden, and more online, and altogether some 18 people attending.

Plenary “If looks could kill" given at IAVS13 in Bogotá; oddly undermined by parallel session

Today I gave my plenary speech “If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology” at the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS), held at Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogotá, Colombia. Only 10-16 people attended (beginning-end). Oddly, the organizers, which included the IAVS, had scheduled a session in parallel with my plenary, which defies the notion and purpose of a plenary, which is defined as "a meeting to be attended by all participants at a conference or assembly, who otherwise meet in smaller groups."

Abstract for IAVS13: "If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology"

I have just submitted the abstract below to the organizer of the 13th conference of the International Association for Visual Semiotics (IAVS13), to be held in Bogotá, Colombia, this autumn, where I will give a keynote speech.

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If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology   

ABSTRACT  

Morten Tønnessen 

Professor of philosophy, University of Stavanger (Norway)  

As I have argued, an updated version of the classical Umwelt theory developed by Jakob von Uexküll (1864–1944) can serve as the basis for a more comprehensive iteration of phenomenology that goes beyond human phenomena to encompass the phenomena of all sentient organisms. The importance of the visual sense compared to other senses varies from animal to animal. In humans, the visual sense tends to be predominant, and crucial for our spatial orientation. By way of our current ecological dominance in the epoch of the Anthropocene, human ecology comes to the fore as a critical field of study. The number of animal species featuring individuals that are capable of getting eye contact with humans is quite limited. Such species are nevertheless important in that they constitute a notable, biodiverse category in our visual ecology. Many animals are endangered simply by being seen by us, whether they are capable of eye contact with humans or not. When animals hide from view, it is often because their history of co-evolution with humans has taught them that being seen by a human can be a sign of danger and possibly imminent death. In the context of visual semiotics, this raises questions such as: How does the human species´ predominantly visual orientation affect the ways in which we treat non-humans? What animal worlds are visible to us, and which ones do we overlook? Are we guilty of visual-based discrimination of other species? To what extent are we capable of engaging with the visual cultures of other species? Is achieving a comprehensive vista of the visual worlds of other species attainable at all, for us as humans? I will look into such questions using a notion of semiotic agency that applies to both humans and animals and is compatible with Umwelt phenomenology.