#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.

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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.