Special Issue of Biosemiotics.

Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology

Edited by Carlo Brentari & Morten Tønnessen

The English term ‘phenomenon’ relies ultimately on the Greek root phainein, ‘to appear’; starting from here, phenomenology has explored and continues to explore different research fields, many of which related to the domain of living beings. At its core, Jakob von Uexküll’s Umwelt theory pivots on the phenomenological question: ‘How do the things of the world appear to living beings?’ Today, this issue is approached in different ways according to the specific nature of the considered living entities – related to the sign exchange of humans, animals, plants and fungi, and microorganisms. In the variety of its forms, phenomenology also questions the way in which human perception and semiosis approach organic life, relating it to the phenomena of the inorganic matter on the one side, and, on the other, to the cultural, social, psychological, and ethical sphere. Depending on various philosophical, cultural and religious background coordinates, the phenomenology of the living being can accentuate the separation or, on the contrary, the integration of the human form of life with respect to the natural context.

Call for papers here