In May, an interview with me appeared in the festival magazine of the Wonderful World festival, in the column «Fem filosofer på festival» (Five philosophers at the festival). The interview was done by Kristoffer Hatteland Endresen, who raised the question (in Norwegian): What is the most important idea that we should be familiar with to understand the world in 2026?
Last week I was informed that my chapter "Ecological semiotics" has been published. First published as a stand-alone chapter as of now, it is part of the 3rd edition of Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, which will appear with organized volumes in January 2026.
Reference:
Tønnessen, Morten 2024. Ecological semiotics. Chapter. Encyclopedia of Ecology (3rd edition) (Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences). Elsevier. 9 pp. Planned publication for encyclopedia volumes January 16th, 2026. Abstract online October 19th 2024; chapter published November 21st 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-21964-1.00018-5.
The chapter can also be requested via my ResearchGate profile page if you are registered there.
Today I gave a first lecture in the master course "Philosophy of science and research methods" (MEE125), which is offered to students in three master programmes at the University of Stavanger´s Department of media and social sciences. The topics were human ecology and animals, specifically building on the Anthropocene concept, a chapter in our book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism, and Gibson´s affordance theory.
On Thursday November 16th, at 3-5 p.m. I will give another presentation in Lund university´s Cognitive Semiotics Seminar: "If looks could kill: The human ecology of visible and overlooked worlds in the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology". Attendance is possible physically and digitally (I will take part remotely).
See abstract, description and Zoom link here.
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.
Steffens´ ideas about organic meteorology: From the Totalorganismus to planetary health?Morten Tønnessen Professor of philosophy, Department of social studies, University of StavangerAs Linda Richter (2019) has recently investigated, in a report to the Prussian state in 1811, Henrik Steffens made the argument that the atmosphere is a living being, and that adopting this perspective could lead to advances in medicine and our understanding of diseases in humans and animals. The context of the commissioned report was the idea – which was widely held at the time – that many diseases were caused or affected by the climate or weather. In another recent article based on her Ph.D., Richter (2020) distinguishes between Semiotics, Physics, and Organics of the weather as three distinct forms of meteorological knowledge in the period 1750–1850 in German-speaking countries, and presents Steffens as a prominent representative of the Organics perspective.I will approach Richter´s two articles and Steffens 1811 report from four different angles. First, I will look into in what ways Steffens´ proposal for an organic perspective on meteorology highlights key aspects of his nature view more broadly. This will include reflecting on possible interpretations of his notion of a “grand organism” (Totalorganismus) in the context of ecology. Second, I will discuss how Steffens´ perspective on organic meteorology fares in comparison with the Gaia theory of James Lovelock. Third, I will discuss whether Steffens´ idea that human and animal health and the weather mirror each other has any resemblance with how we think about human ecology and anthropogenic climate change today. Lastly, I will discuss how Steffens´ perspective connects with contemporary (w)holistic notions such as `One health´, `One Welfare´, and `Planetary health´.
