Early human Umwelt article proof-read

Today I have finished proof-reading my article "The ontogeny of the embryonic, foetal and infant human umwelt" (see previous posts), which is to appear in Sign Systems Studies by the end of this year.

Early human Umwelt article revised

Early in April I finished revising my article "The ontogeny of the embryonic, foetal and infant human Umwelt", which I have submitted to Sign Systems Studies in relation to their planned special issue on the theme of the 8th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies.

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Early human Umwelt article to be revised

Early human Umwelt article accepted for publication

Early human Umwelt article accepted for publication

Yesterday I was notified that my article "The ontogeny of the embryonic, foetal and infant human Umwelt" has been accepted for publication in Sign Systems Studies. It will appear this autumn in a special issue on the theme of the 8th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies.

Early human Umwelt article to be revised

I have been notified about the editors' decision on my article "The ontogeny of the embryonic, foetal and infant human Umwelt”, submitted to a forthcoming Special Issue of Sign Systems Studies, entitled "Sign evolution on multiple time scales" and edited by Luis Emilio Bruni and Kristian Tylén. A revision of my article, based on two peer reviews, is due March 28th.

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Ontogeny of early human Umwelt article finished

Ontogeny of early human Umwelt article finished

This night (sic) I finished my article "The ontogeny of the embryonic, foetal and infant human Umwelt" - about 7.500 words, with 8 figures. The article has been submitted to Sign Systems Studies, which will publish a special issue on the theme of the 8th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, "Sign evolution on multiple time scales".

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Research questions

3. Conceptual framework

4. The embryonic Umwelt

5. The foetal Umwelt

6. The infant Umwelt

Abstract 

This article, which envelops a case study and theoretical development of Umwelt theory, addresses four research questions: At what point does the human Umwelt emerge? What Umwelt transitions can be identified in the ontogenesis of the early human Umwelt? What else is characteristic of the Umwelt trajectory of human embryos/foetuses/infants? And how are Umwelt objects established/crystallized/fixated in the human Umwelt?

The early human Umwelt is characterised by rapid change, radical transformations, and gradual establishment of the first and most basic Umwelt objects by way of exploration and learning. While the human Umwelt arguably emerges already at the embryonic stage, the sense-saturated Umwelt emerges at the foetal stage. Unlike an adult’s Umwelt, the Umwelt of the foetus and the infant is not fully functional from the perspective of the organism itself. In other words, their functioning directly depends on others. Our human sociality is further stimulated by shared undertakings early on in our terrestrial lives which effectively make us part of some specific social system.

Abstract for Lund guest lecture: "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt"

This, below, is my abstract for the forthcoming guest lecture (October 24th) in the research seminar of Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University. The abstract also appears on their webpage.

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The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt

Morten Tønnessen, Associate professor in philosophy at University of Stavanger

In this lecture I will outline the three first stages – namely the embryonic, fetal and infant stage – of the lifespan of our subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens in Umwelt terms. Umwelt transitions, defined as lasting, systematic changes within the life cycle of a being from one typical appearance of its Umwelt to another (Tønnessen 2009), will be identified. Comparison will be made with the general, shared Umwelt of mammals (Mammalia). This enables us to pinpoint some uniquely human developmental traits.

In terms of the tripartite Umwelt model (Tønnessen 2011), the lecture will cover the early development of the core Umwelt and the mediated Umwelt, and the initial emergence of a conceptual Umwelt. The designated phase(s) of human development envelops the gradual emergence of various senses, the emergence and fine-tuning of Umwelt objects, early phases of human individuation, and early sociality.

Birth, the individuation event per se, arguably represents the most significant of all Umwelt transitions at the organismic level. But by that point the more-than-human Umwelt gradually becoming human has already developed for some nine months. What – if anything – is it like to be an embryo? And what is it like to be a fetus? And an infant? When and how does subjectivity first make its appearance in the life of a human being?

In the womb, the Umwelt of the embryo and later the fetus is intimately tied to that of the mother. Which, then, is the most useful term in this analysis – communication (between the two), or auto-communication (within the whole that is the pregnant woman)? To a large extent the same can be said about the infant Umwelt – the mother-and-child (and perhaps the mother-and-father-and-child) Umwelt assemblage is an ecosystem of sorts. The mother is the progeny’s first landscape, and the mother’s body (or rather body-landscape) represents Earth, nature, as first perceived. Human sociality, on its side, emerges gradually, starting in the fetal stage, perhaps when the voices from beyond our first landscape are first heard and engaged with. We start interacting with others long before we become aware of who we are.

References

Tønnessen, Morten 2009. Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change. Biosemiotics 2 (1): 47-64.

Tønnessen, Morten 2011. Umwelt Transition and Uexküllian Phenomenology – An Ecosemiotic Analysis of Norwegian Wolf Management (= Dissertationes Semioticae Universitatis Tartuensis 16). Doctoral dissertation. Tartu: Tartu University Press. 232 pp. Extensive introduction available online (http://dspace.utlib.ee/dspace/bitstream/handle/10062/19250/tonnessen_morten.pdf?sequence=1).

Guest lecture at Centre for Cognitive Semitics, Lund, scheduled for October 24th

I have been invited, and accepted, to give a lecture in the research seminar of Centre for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund, Sweden. On Thursday October 24th at 1-3 pm I will present (and have discussed) my paper "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt".

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Abstract for NASS VIII: "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt" 

Ontogeny of early human Umwelt paper presented

Ontogeny of early human Umwelt paper presented

My paper "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt" was presented on the Eight Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS) Thursday May 30th, at Aarhus university. It was eventually rescheduled (see program) to 15.15-15.45 (from 14.45-15.15). Some 30 people attended the biosemiotic sessions.

Link to NASS 8 abstract book

Here's a link to the abstract book of the Eight Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, "Sign evolution on multiple time scales". The abstract to my paper, "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt", is to be found on page 43. 

NASS VIII paper scheduled for May 30th

My paper "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt", to be presented at The Eighth Conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies (NASS): “Sign evolution on multiple time scales” (Center for Semiotics, Aarhus University, Denmark, May 29th – 31st) has been scheduled for oral presentation Thursday May 30th at 14.45-15.15, in the theme session "Biosemiotics", to be chaired by Kalevi Kull (aud. 1483-244). The preliminary program of the conference is available in the latest newsletter of NASS (pp. 8-14). 

Riin Magnus ("The development of sign usage in the cooperation of the blind person and guide dog team") and Barend van Heusden ("Semiotic cognition and lateralization") will present in the same session.

NASS VIII abstract on early human Umwelt accepted

Some two weeks ago I was informed that my abstract "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt" has been accepted for presentation at the 8th conference of the Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies, Sign Evolution on Multiple Time Scales (Aalborg, Denmark, May 29-31).