Today I have had an article writing day, with some 1.500 words added to my article "Prospective lifeworld-oriented studies of contested climate pasts and futures", which I have now remaned "Prolegomena to lifeworld-oriented studies of contested climate pasts and futures". In terms of words written, this was the most productive writing day so far in 2026.
This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 37,5, including 24,5 article writing days.
This afternoon I attended the annual business meeting of The Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP) / Nordisk Selskab for Fænomenologi here in Tampere . In a minute I´ll be going to the location for the conference dinner.
Today I have presented my paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» at the 22nd annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP). The conference, which has the theme “Phenomenology in the Anthropocene”, takes place at Tampere University, Finland, April 22-24th. My paper was given as part of the session «Uexküll’s Environments and Lifeworlds», which was chaired by Erika Ruonakoski and also featured presentations by Katja Tiisala and Niki Hadikoesoemo. Close to 30 people attended.
I have been notified by the conference organizers of the Annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP 2026), which is to be held at Tampere University, Finland, April 22–24 2026, that my paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» has been scheduled for oral presentation as part of the session «Uexküll’s Environments and Lifeworlds», which will take place in Linna K109 on Thursday April 23rd at 11:30–13:00.
See also the full program and the abstract book of the conference.
I have been informed by the organizers of the 2026 conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP), to be held at Tampere University, in Tampere, Finland April 22–24, 2026 with the theme “Phenomenology in the Anthropocene”, that my paper “What characterizes a more-than-human phenomenology suitable for the Anthropocene?” has been accepted for oral presentation.
In the article "Technological futures in semiotics: The year 2024 in review", published in Sign Systems Studies, Auli Viidalepp and Alin Olteanu have some kind words about my research related to Umwelt theory and its relevance for phenomenology. The article they refer to is "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", which is openly available online.
Excerpt:
Drawing on umwelt theory, Morten Tønnessen (2024) takes new steps towards a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology. The value of his contribution as an integral and transdisciplinary framework cannot be overestimated. Tønnessen also indicates potential further applicability of the applied umwelt theory across 17 fields of research that study the perception and behaviour of humans and/or animals. To name a few less common perspectives, this framework could help in behavioural reframing of human ecology, address Anthropocene discourses in environmental humanities, model potential lifeworlds for astrobiology, or enrich psychological lifeworld studies, especially in “socio-ecological contexts and settings that involve human–animal interaction” (Tønnessen 2024: 334). The theory is also relevant for well-established epistemic communities such as the fields of sociology, political science, anthropology, (behavioural) economics, speculative and futures studies, and many others (Tønnessen 2024). In similar lines, we note Anton Markoš and Jana Švorcová’s (2024) theoretical development of the umwelt theory in regard to symbiosis.
Today I have had a book writing day, with some 100 words written on my scientific monograph in spe Being and Sign, and - more importantly - some readings done. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 5,5, including 2 book writing days.
I have just composed and submitted the abstract below to the organisers of the 22nd annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP), "Phenomenology in the Anthropocene", which is to be held at Tampere University, in Tampere, Finland, April 22–24, 2026.
***
What characterizes a more-than-human phenomenology suitable for the Anthropocene?
To address this question, it is pertinent to start out with the observation that the Anthropocene discourse is at its core a discussion about humanity´s impact on the natural environment that emerged from geology. At the same time, the Anthropocene has also over the last several years been vividly discussed from the perspectives of social sciences and the humanities. There is a disconnect between how the Anthropocene has been discussed in a natural science setting, and how it is being discussed in social science and humanities settings, with third-person objective perspectives predominating in the first and subjective perspectives prevailing in the others.
In my view, to be suitable for the circumstances of the Anthropocene, a more-than-human phenomenology must meet the following criteria:
* It must account for human lifeworlds as well as non-human lifeworlds
* It must account for human phenomena and non-human phenomena within a consistent and comprehensive theoretical framework
* It must be capable of explaining how human agency can lead to material changes in the natural world, and how these material changes affect living conditions
* It must be capable of tackling the problem of human bias which appears e.g. in the form of anthropocentrism and zoocentrism, and which distorts our thinking about nature
I will present a version of more-than-human phenomenology that draws on biosemiotics and Jakob von Uexküll´s Umwelt theory which I will argue meets the abovementioned criteria. The relevance of such a brand of phenomenology is supported by the fact that Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty both engaged with von Uexküll´s work in their discussions about animal lifeworlds. By outlining the main characteristics of a more-than-human phenomenology suitable for the Anthropocene, I simultaneously address key issues related to the nature, scope, and purpose of ecophenomenology.
Today I have had half a book writing day, focussed on my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign, with some 300 words added to the text. This was writing day #45,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 31,5 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.
I also added to my preliminary plans for book writing over the next decade, with prospective titles including Global Species and The Natural History of the Phenomenal World.
Today I have had a book writing day, with some 50 words added to my book manuscript in spe Being and Sign. I did some readings and mostly worked with improving the chapter disposition (with altogether 14 chapters and soon four times as many subchapters). This was writing day #42,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 31 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.
Today I have had half a book writing day, with work done related to my book manuscript Being and Sign, and some 200 words added to the manuscript. This was writing day #39,5 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 29,5 of the writing days devoted to book writing to date.
The program for the research seminar «Phenomenology and Research», featuring Scott Churchill (mainly) along with Olga Lehmann, Liv Sand and myself, has now been finalized. The research seminar will take place on University of Stavanger November 19th. I am scheduled to give the talk "More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation" at 12:45-13:30.
Programme
09:00- 09:10 - Welcome by Head of Department Liv Sand and Introduction
09:10 – 10:00 Basics of phenomenology and its relation to qualitative research methods - prof. Churchill
10:00- 10:10 Break
10:10 – 11:00 Intro: Existential Phenomenology and psychology - prof. Churchill
11:00- 11:20 Q&A
11:20-12:00 - Existential phenomenology in practice – Examples from prof. Churchill’s work.
12:00-12:45 LUNCH (Attendants cover their own lunches)
12:45-13:30 More-than-human phenomenology and phenomenological triangulation - prof. Tønnessen
13:30-13:45 Break
13:45-14:30 - Phenomenology and reflexivity statements in research - A.Proff. Lehmann
14:30-14:45 Break
14:45-15:30 Dialogue and questions – Prof. Churchill, prof. Tønnessen, A.proff. Lehmann
See also:
On Wednesday November 19th I will take part in a research seminar on "Phenomenology in research", which is to be held at University of Stavanger featuring Scott Churchill along with Olga Lehmann and myself. You can register for the seminar (in-person) here.
My article "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology" has now been published, as part of the special issue "Umwelt theory".
Reference:
— Tønnessen, Morten 2024. Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology. Sign Systems Studies 52 (3/4) (special issue “Umwelt theory”, eds. Riin Magnus and Nelly Mäekivi): 315–343. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2024.52.3-4.02
Today I have given the sixth lecture in Ex.phil this autumn, at Department of social studies, and my second and final lecture in the theory and methods of science course MEE125 at Department of media and social sciences. The topcs were ethics of proximity, moral development etc. in the former and phenomenology in the latter.
Today I have made the last few edits in my revision of the article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", with some 100 words added to the text. I have now resubmitted the manuscript to Sign Systems Studies.
The introduction to the special issue of Biosemiotics ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’, written by Carlo Brentari and me, has just been published online.
Reference:
Carlo Brentari and Morten Tønnessen 2024. Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’. Editorial. Biosemiotics. Published online July 19th 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-024-09583-w
Abstract:
This introduction to the special issue “Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology” is composed of a brief theoretical introduction to phenomenology seen as a key attitude of philosophical research, an investigation of the possibilities offered by a combined application of phenomenology and biosemiotics, and an overview of the articles that are included in the special issue. The theoretical introduction stresses the possibility of distinguishing, within phenomenology, between approaches centred on the object (in other terms, the phenomenon), and subject-centred approaches which have emerged in the wake of Kantian transcendental idealism. The connection with biosemiotics is explored for both kinds of approaches, showing how Uexküll, and many other scholars after him, have used phenomenological tools and perspectives in the study of biological meaning and meaning-making processes. For each article in the collection, the overview of the articles indicates one or two points that we believe are of the greatest interest for the reader.
Today I have had a writing day, the final one this Spring, consisting of half an article writing day, with some writing plans made for the autumn and minor work on the editorial for the upcoming special issue of Biosemiotics "Umwelt theory and phenomenology" which I co-edit with Carlo Brentari, as well as on the second article on friluftsliv and child protection that I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland, and half a book writing day, with some work done related to my book manuscript Captured: CCS and the fight for the sould of the environmental movement.
Altogether this Spring I have had 46,5 writing days, with 2,5 of these being logged as book article days (vs. 7,5 planned initially) and 44 as article writing days (vs. 40 planned initially). Altogether I had one less writing day than initially planned (46,5 vs. 47,5).
With 1.709 words written in June, the least any month this semester, in Spring 2024 I have altogether logged 26.073 words written. This is almost 3.000 words more than in Spring 2023, but significantly below the ca. 36.000 words I wrote in the first half year of 2020 or the ca. 45.000 words I wrote in the Spring semester that year with the first half of July included.
Today I have had half an article writing today, with some 500 words added to the editorial "Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’" which I am co-writing with Carlo Brentari in relation to the forthcoming special issue of Biosemiotics we are guest editors for. So far this Spring I have had 44 writing days.
