3 appointments

Today I have had 3 scheduled appointments, including my weekly meeting with the office manager and preparation for live radio tomorrow.

#8,5

Today I have had an article writing day with work done on my "Nosology and semiotics" chapter and, marginally, my book Captured, and some 700 words written. Altogether I logged 8,5 writing days and 3.354 words written in January.

Google Scholar: 642 citations, 132 in 2021; i10-index 26

According to Google scholar (cf. my profile) my research has by now attracted 642 citations (+12 since January 8th), including record-high 132 citations in 2021 (+8 since January 8th). My i10-index is now 26 (+1 since January 8th). My h-index remains 14.

So far 3 citations have been registered in 2022 publications (+3).

My biosemiotic approach to phenomenology criticized in article by Zixuan Liu

The article "Sign-free Biosemantics and Transcendental Phenomenology: a Better Non-Metaphysical Approach to Close the Mind-body Gap" by Zixuan Liu (Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) has just been published in Biosemiotics. It includes criticism of my approach to phenomenology in the context of biosemiotics, and more specifically "Uexküllian phenomenology". Excerpts (in selection):

Tønnessen et al. (2018: 326-327) have argued that “it does likewise not make sense, from a biosemiotic point of view, to say that there are non-semiotic phenomena”, and argue that “a strictly Husserlian concept of mind is much too narrow to capture all biosemiotic phenomena”. ... On an initial reading, the objection is that Husserl’s theory of meaning is based on phenomenal consciousness, yet we lack robust evidence that this form of consciousness is to be found in primitive forms of life. This argument is implicit in Tønnessen (2015) and Tønnessen et al. (2018), where we find the claim that “a bacterium” has only “non-phenomenal Umwelt experience” because it is not “endowed with mind” (2018: 326). If this is right, it is unjustifiably anthropomorphic to apply Husserlian concepts to biosemiotics. I do not intend to provide strong evidence for the existence of phenomenal consciousness in primitive forms of life, but at least a weak form of quasi-mind thinking can be found in our conception of microbiology. (p. 6)

Husserl would have strongly repudiated subsequent work in biosemiotics that identifies his views with anthropocentrism: “Umwelt theory challenges central dogmas in current phenomenology, starting with the misguided idea that all phenomena are human phenomena” (Tønnessen et al., 2018: p. 328). The difficulties discussed so far merely indicate that phenomenology should reform itself while at the same time reforming biosemiotics. In doing so, it will become possible to tackle primitive forms of life in a scientific manner. p. (7)

Registrations in CRISTIN for 2021 completed; 19 posts vs. 293 all-time

I have now completed registration in the Current Research Information System in Norway (CRISTIN) for 2021, with 19 posts. All-time, since I started registering in CRISTIN in 2012, I have registered altogether 293 posts, or 29,3 posts per year on average.

The 2021 registrations includes a co-written book, 4 journal texts, 3 newspaper chronicles and a letter to the editor, 4 interviews (3 of which on UIS online platforms and related to UIS activities), 4 conference talks and 2 seminar/workshop talks.

My annual number of CRISTIN posts have been significantly lower the last couple of years than in 2019 when number of posts peaked at 44 following 13 national media appearances (link below).

See my profile

See also:

Registrations in CRISTIN for 2020 completed; 20 posts vs. 274 all-time

Update on 2020 CRISTIN registrations

2019 registrations in Cristin; record number of activities reported

1 meeting

Today I have attended a meeting between Universities Norway and the Norwegian Directory of Health with regard to plans for establishing work placement offices in the municipalities of Norway.

#7,5

Today I have had an article writing day with some 500 words written altogether on my second wasted growth article, for which I also made a part figure, and in terms of disposition for a new, GDP-related article (literature overview) to be co-written with my research assistant and intended for submission to the Norwegian journal Samfunnsøkonomen. 

Number of writing days this Spring is up to 7,5.