UTOPISM. *** In the long run, nothing else is realistic. *** Welcome to the English language blog of Morten Tønnessen, Professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger's Department of Social Studies.
I have been notified that my paper submitted to NEEN26, the NEEN & ISEE Conference on Environmental Ethics which is to be held at Umeå University, Sweden, October 14-16th, titled "The ethical case against Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)", has been rejected by the organisers.
This is the second or third time I have had a paper on this theme rejected. For some reason, the ethics of CCS seems to be anathema.
See also:
I have now retrieved information about the scheduled presentation times (see the conference program) for my two accepted papers at the 24th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2026, «Beyond the Bluegrass: Harnessing Research to Enhance Quality of life», which is to be held at University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky (USA) August 11–14th:
— On Thursday August 13th I will present my paper «Climate imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth» as part of Session 4E «Ecological sustainability, agriculture, and wellbeing» (Gatton Ballroom A at 09.00–10.30)
— On Friday August 14th I will present my paper «Alternative HDI thresholds for maximum income demonstrate significance for policy advice» as part of Session 7A «Well-being policy and measurement» (room 330A at 10:30–12:00)
I have been informed by Bloomsbury Academic that the planned publication date for my forthcoming book Carbon Capture and the Future of Environmentalism is February 18th 2027. This is slightly more than 18 months after I submitted the full book manuscript in early August 2025 (I made revisions in May and June this year).
Today I have had an article writing day, with some 2900 words added to the manuscript while finishing (and then submitting) my book chapter "Ecosemiotic questions: Towards a comprehensive description of the complexity and creativity of life". This brings the number of writing days this Spring up to 62 including 35,5 article writing days.
This was the most productive writing day this Spring in terms of words written (not coincidentally, today was also my longest workday this Spring - before my summer vacation which starts tomorrow). Altogether I logged 15.864 words written in June, over 18,5 writing days (the most any month this Spring). This Spring I logged a total of 29.942 words written, which is more than any Spring since 2019 except 2020 and 2025.
According to my Google Scholar profile my research has to date attracted a total of 1.631 citations (+19 since May 28th). This includes 73 citations so far in 2026 (+9 since May 28th). My h-index remains 22 while my my i10-index is now 47 (+1 since May 28th). My i10-index means that 47 of my texts have at least 10 citations each.
My latest articles/chapters to reach 10 citations are:
"Agency in biosemiotics and enactivism" (2016)
"Outline of an Uexküllian bio-ontology" (2001) - my very first scientific article
Today I have had an article writing day, with some 1000 words added to my book chapter "Ecosemiotic questions: Towards a comprehensive description of the complexity and creativity of life". This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 61 including 34,5 article writing days.
Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 600 words added to my book chapter "Ecosemiotic questions: Towards a comprehensive description of the complexity and creativity of life". This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 60 including 33,5 article writing days.
