Paper presented at "Phenomenology in research" seminar featuring Scott Churchill

Today I have presented my paper "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" in the research seminar "Phenomenology in research», held by and at the University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies. The research seminar featured three lectures by Scott Churchill, along with my presentation, a presentation on reflexivity by Olga Lehmann, and a concluding panel/discussion session. The seminar was opened by head of department Liv Sand. Some 20 people attended.

Programme for Churchill seminar; scheduled to give talk "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation"

The program for the research seminar «Phenomenology and Research», featuring Scott Churchill (mainly) along with Olga Lehmann, Liv Sand and myself, has now been finalized. The research seminar will take place on University of Stavanger November 19th. I am scheduled to give the talk "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" at 12:45-13:30.

Programme

09:00- 09:10  - Welcome by Head of Department Liv Sand and Introduction  

09:10 – 10:00  Basics of phenomenology and its relation to qualitative research methods - prof. Churchill

10:00- 10:10  Break  

10:10 – 11:00  Intro: Existential Phenomenology and psychology - prof. Churchill  

11:00- 11:20  Q&A  

11:20-12:00  - Existential phenomenology in practice – Examples from prof. Churchill’s work.  

12:00-12:45 LUNCH (Attendants cover their own lunches)  

12:45-13:30 More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation - prof. Tønnessen 

13:30-13:45 Break  

13:45-14:30  - Phenomenology and reflexivity statements in research - A.Proff. Lehmann  

14:30-14:45 Break  

14:45-15:30  Dialogue and questions – Prof. Churchill, prof. Tønnessen, A.proff. Lehmann 

See also:

Scheduled to contribute at "Phenomenology in Research" research seminar with Scott Churchill Nov. 19th

Applied Umwelt theory article published

My article "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology" has now been published, as part of the special issue "Umwelt theory". 

Reference:

— Tønnessen, Morten 2024. Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology. Sign Systems Studies 52 (3/4) (special issue “Umwelt theory”, eds. Riin Magnus and Nelly Mäekivi): 315–343. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2024.52.3-4.02 

#12,5; reference for forthcoming Sign Systems Studies article

Today I have half an article writing day, with proof-reading done on an article that will soon appear in Sign Systems Studies.

Reference:

— Tønnessen, Morten 2024, in production. Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology. Sign Systems Studies 52 (3/4): 315–343. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2024.52.3-4.02 

See also an earlier post, from mid-December, where I wrote that I conducted proof-reading of the same article, though that was proof-reading of a different kind - what I did today was the typeset proofs. 

So far in Spring 2025 I have had 12,5 writing days including 3 article writing days.

Applied Umwelt theory article revision finished

Today I have made the last few edits in my revision of the article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", with some 100 words added to the text. I have now resubmitted the manuscript to Sign Systems Studies.

#7

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 450 words added during the revision of my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology". So far this Autumn I have had 7 writing days including 3,5 article writing days and 3,5 book writing days.

Paper accepted for presentation at 24th gathering in biosemiotics; will attend digitally

I have been notified by the organizers of the 24th Gathering in biosemiotics, to take place in South Africa, that my paper "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" has been accepted for oral presentation. Due to a lack of funding, however, I will not be able to attend physically, but luckily there is a chance to attend digitally. 

See also:

(Skimpy) conference plans for 2024 due to UIS budget cuts

#26; applied Umwelt theory article finished and submitted

Today I have had half an article writing day, devoted to finishing my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology". I added some 400 words to the manuscript, finished, and submitted to the guest editors of the Sign Systems Studies special issue "Contemporary applications of Umwelt theory" where it will appear this summer or so.

So far this Spring I have had 26 writing days.

#22,5

Today I have had an article writing day with some 1100 words added to my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology". So far this Spring I have had some 22,5 writing days.

#20,5

Today I have had an article writing day with some 1000 words added to my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", and a little work done also on my book manuscript Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. With altogether some 1200 words written this has been my second-most productive writing day so far this Spring in terms of words written. So far this Spring I have logged 20,5 writing days.

#16

Today I have had half a writing day, with some 400 words added to my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology". So far this Spring I have had 16 writing days.

#15,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", with some 700 words added to the manuscript. So far this Spring I have conducted 15,5 writing days.

#13,5; article renamed "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology "

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 400 words added to my article now titled Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology" (previously: Applied Umwelt theory - in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation), and a table of contents for the article drafted. So far this Spring I have had 13,5 writing days.

#12

Today I have had half an article writing day with work done on my article "Applied Umwelt theory – in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation", and some 200 words added to the text. So far this Spring I have had 12 writing days.

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. 

***

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. 

***

See also:

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

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

Today I have had what ended up as half a writing day, bringing the Autumn´s total so far up to 27,5, with an abstract written for my prospective contribution to a special issue of Sign Systems Studies titled “Contemporary applications of umwelt theory”, and a little work done on my book project Captured, and some 300 words composed in total.

***

Work title: Applied Umwelt theory – in the context of descriptive phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation  

Author: Morten Tønnessen  

Abstract for the special issue “Contemporary applications of umwelt theory”, Sign Systems Studies  

In earlier work, I have argued that a genuine ´Uexküllian phenomenology´ can be derived from the Umwelt theory of Jacob 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, 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, a reiteration of descriptive phenomenology that draws on umwelt theory can be designed to be non-anthropocentric and pluralistic. In this article, I will 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. Overall, the aim of this article is to contribute to integrating biosemiotics and phenomenology and demonstrating the relevance of umwelt theory for phenomenology, and vice versa.

Talk on phenomenological triangulation given in Cognitive Semiotics research seminar

On Thursday June 1st I gave a talk on phenomenological triangulation in the Cognitive Semiotics research seminar at Lund University, Sweden (online, via Zoom). The title of the talk was "Phenomenological triangulation in the study of animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics" (see event info and abstract here). Some 13 people attended the event, which lasted almost 2 hours including a 1-hour talk.

To present on phenomenological triangulation at Cognitive Semiotics Seminar (Lund university) June 1st - possible to follow via Zoom

I have been scheduled to give the presentation "Phenomenological triangulation in the study of humans and animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics" in the Cognitive Semiotics Seminar at Lund university & in Zoom, on June 1st at 3-5 p.m. See this link for abstract and the Zoom link.

I also reiterate the abstract here:

ABSTRACT

In earlier work I have argued that a genuine ´Uexküllian phenomenology´ can be derived from the Umwelt theory of Jacob von Uexküll, and that such a phenomenology is capable of accounting for the subjective experience of both human and animal subjects of the phenomenal world at large. 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.  

Cognitive semiotics professor Jordan Zlatev has proposed some interesting methodological principles for the transdisciplinary science of cognitive semiotics. This includes a “conceptual-empirical loop” with a research process involving a combination of theoretical and empirical work, and “phenomenological triangulation” involving combined use of 1st person perspective, 2nd person perspective and 3rd person perspective studies of one and the same topic of study. I will provide some comments and reflections on Zlatev´s methodological principles, and also discuss to what extent something similar could be applied within the context of biosemiotics, with the aim of integrating biosemiotics and phenomenology further.

"Phenomenological triangulation" paper presented at "After Nagel" colloquium in Nijmegen

Today I have presented my paper "Phenomenological Triangulation in the Study of Animals as Subjects of Phenomenology – Perspectives from Cognitive semiotics and Biosemiotics" at the colloquium «After Nagel: Science and the phenomenology of animals subjects”, held at Radboud university, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, March 6-7th. Some 25 people attended altogether (physically or digitally).

Abstract for "After Nagel" conference: “Phenomenological triangulation in the study of animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics”

I have submitted the abstract below as an invited speaker at the conference «After Nagel: Science and the phenomenology of animals subjects”, which is to be held at Radhoud university, the Netherlands, March 6-7th 2023:

Phenomenological triangulation in the study of animals as subjects of phenomenology – perspectives from cognitive semiotics and biosemiotics

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 human and animal subjects of the phenomenal world at large. 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.

Cognitive semiotician Jordan Zlatev has proposed some interesting methodological principles for what he conceives of as the transdisciplinary science of cognitive semiotics. This includes a “conceptual-empirical loop” with a research process involving a combination of theoretical and empirical work, and “phenomenological triangulation” involving combined use of 1st person perspective, 2nd person perspective and 3rd person perspective studies of one and the same topic of study. I will discuss to what extent something similar could be applied within the context of biosemiotics, with the aim of integrating biosemiotics and phenomenology further.