#4,5

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 600 words written in the process of composing an extended abstract for the article now titled "Climate economics imaginaries and the contested future of economic growth", which I have submitted to a special issue on the history of climate economics of the journal Œconomia – History / Methodology / Philosophy. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 4,5, including 3,5 article writing days.

Næss and economics paper scheduled for presentation July 25th at ISQOLS 2025 (Luxembourg)

The paper "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics", submitted on behalf of Jan Karlstrøm, Thomas Hylland Eriksen and myself, has been scheduled for presentation (by me) at the 2025 conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies  (ISQOLS 2025), which is held in Luxembourg July 22-25th. The paper will be presented on Friday July 25th at 14.14-14.36 as part of the session 21A, "Special Session on Legitimate Public Policies: Promoting Well-being and Ecological Sustainability".

"What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" accepted for presentation at ISQOLS 2025

I have been notified by the organizers of the 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), “Redefining Progress: Achieving Sustainable Well-being for All”, to be held in Luxembourg July 22-25th, that my paper submission "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" has been accepted for oral presentation. My paper will be based on a Norwegian-language article co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and was submitted tied to the topic "Disciplinary Approaches to Well-Being, Happiness and Quality-of-life".

Abstract for ISQOLS 2025: "What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics"

I have just composed and submitted the abstract below to the organizers of The 23rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS 2025), which is to be held 22-25 July, 2025, in Luxembourg.

***

What deep ecologist Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics

By Morten Tønnessen (presenter), Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen (deceased 2024)

The Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss (1912-2009) criticized modern economics for its lack of philosophical awareness and interdisciplinarity, suggesting that economists should draw inspiration from the field’s origins in philosophy. Næss’ views on how the economy should be organized and studied are significant for a proper understanding of his overall philosophy, particularly in light of his differentiation between a deep and shallow understanding of environmental issues. In this paper we review Næss’ critique of economics as an academic discipline and discuss his proposals for transforming our approach to economics, considering both its historical development and the ongoing environmental crisis. Specifically, we emphasize the importance of philosophy, ecology, and social anthropology as foundational elements for economics. Our primary reference is the Norwegian-language chapter “New tasks for political economy” from Næss’ major work in environmental philosophy, "Ecology, Community and Lifestyle". We deal with Næss’ view on the use of models and the relationship between theory and reality, the fundamental connection between ecology and the economy, what role normative systems thinking can play for economics, and how economics can be informed by economic anthropology. Our treatment of Næss´ philosophy of economics includes an investigation of his views on relations between people´s quality of life and GDP growth, and his conception of progress and welfare. In conclusion we reflect on the implications of our analysis of Arne Næss’ economic viewpoints for the future of economics. We see a need for a reorientation within economics with an increased focus on environmental issues as understood by ecologists, a reframed focus on values and goods as understood by philosophers, and a renewed emphasis on promotion of welfare as the primary goal of economics. In practice, the latter reorientation will imply adopting John Stuart Mill's categorization of economics as a branch of social philosophy.

Topic: Disciplinary Approaches to Well-Being, Happiness and Quality-of-life

Keywords: Arne Næss, Deep ecology, Ecological economics, Environmental philosophy, GDP growth, Interdisciplinarity, John Stuart Mill, Normative systems thinking, Philosophy of economics, Political economy, Quality of life, Social anthropology, Welfare

Kåkånomics panel on economics attended

Yesterday I took part in the Kåkånomics festival panel event "Har økonomer for stor makt over økonomifeltet?" (Do economists have too much power over the field of economics?) which took place at the ship M/S Sandnes at bay in Vågen, Stavanger. The panel was hosted by Karl-Fredrik Tangen and also featured Celine Brøndmo, Eirik Magnus Fuglestad and UIS colleague Torfinn Harding. The event was well attended, and I really enjoyed the discussion.

Updated event info for Kåkonomics 2024 panel event "Har økonomer for stor makt over økonomifeltet?"

There are now five people involved in the panel discussion I will take part in on Wednesday October 23rd as part of the economics festival Kåkånomics 2024. More info about the event here. 

To take part in panel on economics during Kåkånomics 2024

I have been scheduled to take part in a panel discussion on the topic "Har økonomer for stor makt over økonomifeltet?" (Do economists have too much power in the area of economics?) during the festival Kåkånomics 2024, which is held October 23-26th 2024 in Stavanger, Norway. The panel is scheduled for Wednesday October 23rd at 9.30-10.30 p.m., and also involves Karl-Fredrik Tangen, social geographer at Høyskolen i Kristiania.

Article "What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" published; mention in editorial

The article Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, was published in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift today. 

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten, Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen 2024. Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics). Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift 59(1-2), 21–36.

The article is in Norwegian but has an English abstract:

Arne Næss criticized modern economics for its lack of philosophical awareness and interdisciplinarity, suggesting that economists should draw inspiration from the field’s origins in philosophy. Næss’ views on how the economy should be organized and studied are significant, particularly in light of his differentiation between a deep and shallow understanding of environmental issues. In this article, we will review Næss’ critique of economics as an academic discipline and discuss his proposals for transforming our approach to economics, considering both its historical development and the ongoing environmental crisis. Specifically, we will emphasize the importance of philosophy, ecology, and social anthropology as foundational elements for economics. Our primary reference is the Norwegian-language chapter “New tasks for political economy” from Næss’ major work in environmental philosophy, Ecology, Community and Lifestyle. In the article, we deal with Næss’ view on the use of models and the relationship between theory and reality, the fundamental connection between ecology and the economy, what role normative systems thinking can play for economics, and how economics can be informed by economic anthropology. In conclusion, we will reflect on the implications of our analysis of Arne Næss’ economic viewpoints for the future of economics.

Our article is mentioned in the editorial of the same issue, written by Cathrine Victoria Felix and Heine Alexander Holmen.

Excerpts:

Å bedrive akademisk filosofi innebærer å utforske og analysere grunnleggende spørsmål på en systematisk og metodisk måte. Dette inkluderer alt fra å undersøke ulike filosofiske tradisjoner, argumenter og perspektiver, til å utvikle egne teorier og konsepter. Med andre ord: akademisk filosofi er et mangfoldig felt med et bredt spekter av metoder. Vi håper dette nummeret av Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift presenterer dette mangfoldet på en god måte. Nummeret inneholder tre fagartikler som tar for seg så ulike temaer som examen philosophicum, prostitusjon og økonomifaget.

...

Arne Næss kan beskrives som en titan innen norsk filosofi. I artikkelen «Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet» skriver Morten Tønnessen, Jan Karlstrøm og Thomas Hylland Eriksen om Næss’ kritikk av det moderne økonomifaget. I lys av Næss’ kritikk argumenterer forfatterne for viktigheten av å inkludere filosofi, økologi og sosialantropologi som grunnlag for studiet av økonomi. De diskuterer fremtidens økonomifag og reiser spørsmål om modellbruk, forholdet mellom teori og virkelighet og normativ systemtenkning.

#41

Today I have had an article writing day, with work done on three writing projects, namely a journal article on democracy issues I will co-write with Svein Tuastad, my contributions to the forthcoming book Mars and the Earthlings, and the forthcoming journal article «Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet» (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), which I proof-read. The article is co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and will soon appear in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift.

Næss article proof-read

Today I have responded to language washing / proofs of the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and which will appear in issue 1/2, 2024, of Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift.

Article on Arne Næss´ philosophy of economics accepted for publication in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift

We have just been notified that our article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics) has been accepted for publication in Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift. I have co-written the article along with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen.

"What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics" resubmitted

Yesterday I submitted a revised version of the article on Arne Næss´ views on the philosophy of economics which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics), to Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift. 

#30,5

Today I have had what ended up as half an article writing day, #30,5 so far this Spring. I have made some minor edits in the article on Arne Næss´ views on the philosophy of economics, which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen, and obtained a figure permission for and done a little writing on the chapter "Ecological Semiotics" which is to be published as part of Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology (third edition).

#30

Today I have finished the revised version of our article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen and which will be resubmitted to Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift soon. In the process I added some 400 words net to the article concerning my text contributions, and also made substantial deletions. So far this Spring I have had 30 writing days.

#29

Today I have had a writing day devoted to revision of our article on Arne Næss´ view on the philosophy of economics, with some 250 words written net in the process, and portions of text deleted. So far I have had 29 writing days this Spring.

#28

Today I have had what ended up as (only) half a writing day, with some 150 words added to, and bits deleted from, the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" ("What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary nature of economics"), which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. So far this Spring I have had 28 writing days.

#27,5

Today I have had half a writing day with work done on the revision of the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet", which I am co-writing with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. So far this Autumn I have had 27,5 writing days.

#14,5; Næss article submitted to Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift

Today I have had an article writing day with work done on the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinarity of economics), which I have co-written with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen. Today´s work included reworking in-text and bibliography references and writing a summary in Norwegian and English. In the process I added some 500 words to the article, which has now been submitted to Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift. 

Marginally, I also did some work related to my book project Captured and my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology".

So far this Spring I have had 14,5 writing days.

#11

Today I have had an article writing day, #11 this Spring. I have assessed and done minor editing in the article "Hva Arne Næss kan lære oss om økonomifagets tverrfaglighet" (direct translation: What Arne Næss can teach us about the interdisciplinary of economics), and submitted it to Agora on behalf of Jan Karlstrøm, Thomas Hylland Eriksen and myself. I further revised my letter to the editor of Biosemiotics titled "Understanding subjecthood and experience" by adding a paragraph on request, and resubmitted it. Finally, I did some editing of and commenting on text for Mars and the Earthlings. Altogether I wrote some 250 words.

#10

Today I have had half a writing day with work done on Mars and the Earthlings and the article on Arne Næss and his philosophy of economics which I co-write with Jan Karlstrøm and Thomas Hylland Eriksen.