Ethics event chaired at Wonderful World festival; attended by 100+

Today, during the first day of Wonderful World – den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, held for the fourth year in Stavanger, Norway, I chaired the event «Når butikken trumfer etikken», with Mathea Slåttholm Sagdahl (University of Oslo), Peder Skjelbred (University of Oslo) og Espen Gamlund (University of Bergen) in the panel on stage. Some 113 people attended.

Participating in two events during Wonderful World 2026

I have agreed to take part in two events during this year´s Wonderful World – den nordiske festivalen for filosofi og vitenskap, which is to take place in Stavanger May 27-30th.

Wednesday May 27th: Chairing the event "Når butikken trumfer etikken" at Scene 2, 17:00–18:00. Features Mathea Slåttholm Sagdahl, Espen Gamlund and Peder Skjelbred.

Thursday May 27th: Taking part in the event «Returning to  animal – the true human condition» at Scene 2, 15.30-16.30, featuring Melanie Challenger (I am not mentioned online yet).

News story on animal ethics episode published on UIS intranet

A news story titled "UiS forsker på skjermen: Tar opp etiske dilemmaer om dyr" (available only to UIS employees), featuring an interview with me and excerpts from the video series Etiske dilemmaer (published on Viten-TV), has been published on the intranet of University of Stavanger. The news story is written by Ida Tiberg.

Interviewed on animal ethics in UIB video production "Etiske dilemmaer"; launched on Viten-TV

About a week ago, philosopher Espen Gamlund and the University of Bergen launched the video series "Etiske dilemmaer" (Ethical dilemmas) on Viten-TV, a Norwegian online platform for academic video content. The first episode, "Dyr" (Animals), features interviews with me, Stefan Riedener and Aksel Braanen Sterri, while Gamlund acts as presenter and interviewer.

Panel discussion chaired at Animal Ethics Conference 2025 on animals´ death

Today I have attended Norway´s Animal Ethics Conference (Dyreetikkonferansen) 2025, which had the theme "Når dyr dør. Perspektiver på livets slutt" (When animals die. Perspectives on the end of life) and was held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo. I chaired the panel discussion which took place at the end of the day. The panel included all the presenters, namely Espen Gamlund (UIB), Elisiv Tolo (Animalia), Helen Øvregaard (Vet-Talk), Steffen Tretvoll (Norsk Vegansamfunn), Jon M. Arnemo (Universitetet i Innlandet), Åsa Maria O. Espmark. More than 150 people were registered for the conference, which is organised by Norway´s Council for animal ethics.

Consultative statement on Norway´s oil fund´s investments in food production; working group headed by me

In October last Autumn, Norway´s Council for animal ethics, of which I am a member, published the consultative statement "Uttalelse vedrørende oljefondets investeringer i internasjonal matproduksjon" (Statement regarding the Norwegian Petroleum Fund's investments in international food production), a 27 pp. document written by me, Espen Gamlund, Eli Berge Ness and Rudi Ripman Seim, and discussed and approved by the council. I led the working group that was tasked with drafting the statement. The formal name of the Norwegian "oil fund" is Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG). The fund is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.

Chronicle on pension fund GPFG and animal welfare published in Nationen

The chronicle "Støtter pensjonspengene våre dårlig dyrevelferd?" (Do our pension funds support poor animal welfare?), which I co-wrote with Knut Egil Bøe, Cecilie Mejdell, Espen Gamlund, Eli Berge Ness and Rudi Ripman Seim, was published in the Norwegian daily newspaper Nationen online January 2nd and in print January 3rd. We are all involved in Norway´s Council for animal ethics, and the chronicle disseminates main observations from the council´s consultative statement on the Norwegian "oil fund", formally called Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), and its investments in food production internationally.

Videos from 4th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference online

On its YouTube channel, Minding Animals Norway (MAN) has released videos from the 4th Norwegian Animal Ethics Conference. MAN´s webmaster Iselin Linstad Hauge prepared the videos.

Links:

Part 1 (introduction by yours truly + presentation by Bjarne Braastad)

Part 2 (presentation by Guri Larsen)

Part 3 (presentation by Espen Gamlund)

Reassessment of three exam papers

Today I have participated in reassessment of three exam papers in Examen Philosophicum at University of Stavanger´s Department of social studies, with Espen Gamlund.

Two master theses defended and discussed

Today I have taken part in the oral exams of Dan Eggen and Fabian Tytingvåg Fischer at the University of Oslo's Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas (IFIKK), along with Espen Gamlund, the other examiner. The oral exams took place in a meeting room at Blindern campus' Georg Morgenstiernes hus.

Both theses deal with ecofeminism and other positions in environmental ethics and philosophy.

See also:

Examiner for two master degree exams at UiO

Reference to Norwegian HAS anthology in Gamlund article

The recently published Norwegian Human-Animal Studies anthology Hvem er villest i landet her? Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen,menneskets tidsalder [Who is wildest in this country here? Brutality towards animals and nature in the Anthropocene, the age of Man], edited by Ragnhild Sollund, myself, and Guri Larsen, is referred to via a reference to Gamlund's chapter in that book in the following article by Gamlund, published in a Norwegian philosophy journal:

Gamlund, Espen 2012. Hva er galt med dypøkologien? Noen kommentarer til Arne Næss’ Økosofi T [What’s wrong with deep ecology? Some comments to Arne Næss’ ecosophy T]. Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift 47 (4): 229-244.

See also:

Biosemiotics vs. Singer: Reference to "Steps to a semiotics of being" in ethics chapter by Gamlund

Interview in Norwegian daily on deep ecology

Biosemiotics vs. Singer: Reference to "Steps to a semiotics of being" in ethics chapter by Gamlund

My article "Steps to a semiotics of being" (Biosemiotics 3 (2010): 375-392) is referred to in the following book chapter:

Gamlund, Espen 2013. Etiske perspektiver på dyr og natur [Ethical perspectives on animals and nature]. In: Ragnhild Sollund, Morten Tønnessen and Guri Larsen (eds), Hvem er villest i landet her: Råskap mot dyr og natur i antropocen, menneskets tidsalder [Who is wildest in this country here? Brutality towards animals and nature in the Anthropocene, the age of Man]. Oslo: Spartacus Forlag/Scandinavian Academic Press, 329-352.

The reference, found on p. 350, in footnote 14, concerns the role of sentience in animal ethics. On p. 344 Gamlund writes that (my translation) "Singer and his followers will say that the capability to feel lust and pain is necessary in order to have interests at all. Their justification is that without sentience there is nothing morally speaking to consider, since nothing can matter to an organism which cannot feel lust and pain." The footnote then reads: "But this is disputed by some biosemioticians. See for example Tønnessen 2010."

Kulturverk article commenting on deep ecology debate

In the article "Et dypøkologisk forsvar" [A deep ecological defence], published by the Norwegian online magazine KULTURVERK.COM, Magne Stolpnessæter states the following, in a comment to Espen Gamlund's chronicle (and journal article) "Hva er galt med dypøkologien?" [What is wrong with deep ecology?] - my translation: 

Therefore, deep ecology is just as much about theoretical preparations as it is about relevant practice among a creative minority, for as long as current states of affairs go on. And it is absolutely right as Morten Tønnes[s]en says, that deep ecology needs a solid update. Discussions about tactics versus strategy is a natural place to start.

See also: Interview in Norwegian daily about deep ecology

Interview in Norwegian daily on deep ecology

Wednesday January 9th an interview with me was published in the Norwegian daily newspaper Klassekampen. The context of the interview was philosopher Espen Gamlund's chronicle "Hva er galt med dypøkologien?" ["What's wrong with deep ecology?"], which was published in the same newspaper the day before, along with an interview with Gamlund. His chronicle was a summary of an academic journal article with the same title, published in late 2012 in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift.

The approximate interview text can be read in my Norwegian language blog Utopisk Realisme.