6 abstracts reviewed for IACS5

This week I have helped review 6 abstract submitted to the organizers of the Fifth Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (IACS-5), which is to be held August 15-17, 2024, in Lund, Sweden,

#20,5

Today I have had an article writing day with some 1000 words added to my article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", and a little work done also on my book manuscript Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement. With altogether some 1200 words written this has been my second-most productive writing day so far this Spring in terms of words written. So far this Spring I have logged 20,5 writing days.

New Khrono follow-up story; two stories still among 5 most-read

Yesterday Khrono published the news story "Store variasjoner i forskningstid landet rundt", another follow-up to the story based on an interview with me published Wednesday last week.

The intitial story was the second-most read story on Khrono as of yesterday, Monday afternoon, after having been the most-read story until Sunday evening (since Wednesday evening, i.e. for 4 consecutive days), while my letter to the editor on "Høyskolevisjonen for UIS" was the 3rd most-read, after having been the 2nd most-read from Friday evening until at some point on Sunday.

See also:

The two most-read stories on Khrono

Council of animal ethics meeting attended; encountering GPFG Council on ethics representatives

Yesterday I attended a meeting of Norway´s Council for animal ethics, the first this year, at Thon Hotel Opera in Oslo. Among other things, we were visited by representatives of the Council on ethics of Norway´s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).

The two most-read stories on Khrono

The news story featuring an interview with me on the University of Stavanger´s suggested new guidelines for work planning is still the most-read story on Khrono. Earlier today, my (related) letter to the editor "Høyskolevisjonen for UIS" entered the top 5 list; now it has climbed to no. 2., so that I´m currently involved in the two most-read stories on Khrono.

See also:

Most-read story on Khrono

Follow-up news story in Khrono

#19,5

Today I have had what ended up as half an article writing day, with some 500 words added to my article on applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenology. So far this Spring I have had 19,5 writing days.

Proposal for IAEP 2024: "Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis"

I have composed and submitted the proposal and abstract below to the organizers of IAEP 2024, the 28th conference of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy, which will be held online May 22-24th.

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Umwelt phenomenology, the human condition, and the nature crisis  

PROPOSAL 

Edmund Husserl famously thematized science´ forgetting of the lifeworld in what was after his death published as Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die Tranzendentale Phänomenologie, published in English translation as The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. In a somewhat similar way, the biologist Jakob von Uexküll, who contributed originally to theoretical biology and our understanding of science, decried the ´meaning-blind´ biology of his time. Drawing on the fact that the experience of animals is constrained by the sensory and behavioral repertoire of each organism and takes place within the context of species-specific configurations of time and space, the Umwelt theory von Uexküll developed was programmatically presented as subjective biology. This makes his Umwelt theory relevant for phenomenology, so that his work warrants the designation Umwelt phenomenology. This is also supported by the fact that central phenomenologists, including Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, have related to and made use of von Uexküll´s work. While he applied the Umwelt perspective not only to animals, but to humans as well, particularly in Streifzüge durch die Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen, published in English translation as A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans, unfortunately, human Umwelten remained undertheorized in his work. Hannah Arendt, however, in her book The Human Condition, discussed the human condition and observed a crisis within the natural sciences play out as an inability to be relatable to normal speech and thought. Although she saw the significance of our evolving global perspective and power, which is today often conceptualized in terms of the Anthropocene, Arendt failed to acknowledge the decisive difference our anthropocentric bias makes in matters of ontology and epistemology alike. From the perspective of Umwelt phenomenology, I have argued that today´s environmental crisis can be conceived of as an ontological crisis involving the extinction and marginalization of myriads of lifeworlds. As is well established, the environmental crisis is characterized by extensive anthropogenic environmental change. This can be conceptualized in terms of Umwelt transitions. The ongoing nature crisis is most blatantly observable in rapidly escalating climate change, and the well-documented marginalization of wild terrestrial mammals, which now account for only 4% of terrestrial mammalian biomass, as documented by Bar-On and colleagues in their inventive work on “The biomass distribution on Earth”. Arguably, the last decades´ scientific neglect, theoretically and methodologically, of the agency, subjectivity, and worth of living beings has contributed to this intensifying and deepening nature crisis. With its objectivistic, mechanistic perspective on the natural world, the scientific enterprise has in practice facilitated and helped justify a real-life objectification, de-souling, exploitation, and commodification of living beings as mere means and resources. It is high time to replace this outdated and harmful outlook with a philosophically based scientific framework more fit for the 21st century. One way forward entails acknowledging the semiotic agency of all that lives, and start planning for the socio-ecological and economic transformations that will be required to solve the environmental crisis in the next few decades. This will have to involve a serious rethinking of the human condition and how we think about our place in nature.  

ABSTRACT 

Edmund Husserl famously thematized science´ forgetting of the lifeworld. In a somewhat similar way, the theoretical biologist Jakob von Uexküll decried the ´meaning-blind´ biology of his time, developing what I call “Umwelt phenomenology”. In her book The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt observed a crisis within the natural sciences play out as an inability to be relatable to normal speech and thought. I discuss the ongoing nature crisis in light of these perspectives, and make some observations on how we can rethink matters related to the human condition, our place in nature, and science´s role in justifying exploitation of living beings.