Umwelt theory for practitioners: Semiotic guidelines for application in a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology

Abstract

This chapter outlines a scientific method for conducting qualitative studies of human and animal lifeworlds by introducing a semiotically informed descriptive phenomenology that goes beyond the human. A depiction of the theoretical basis for a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology is followed by a depiction of its methodological basis. The chapter concludes with a number of semiotic guidelines for practical application of Umwelt theory organized by relevant professions and settings of study.