Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond
The theoretical biology of Jakob von Uexküll has had significant conceptual and practical afterlives, in Continental philosophy, biosemiotics and elsewhere. This paper will examine the utilisation of Uexküll in twentieth-century zoo biology and its significance for relating to wildlife in hybrid env...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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SPRINGER
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101531 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79628 |
| _version_ | 1848764086110650368 |
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| author | Chrulew, Matthew |
| author_facet | Chrulew, Matthew |
| author_sort | Chrulew, Matthew |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The theoretical biology of Jakob von Uexküll has had significant conceptual and practical afterlives, in Continental philosophy, biosemiotics and elsewhere. This paper will examine the utilisation of Uexküll in twentieth-century zoo biology and its significance for relating to wildlife in hybrid environments. There is an important though rarely analysed line of inheritance from von Uexküll to Heini Hediger, the Swiss zoo director and animal psychologist. Hediger’s fundamental theoretical position began from the construction of the world from the animal’s point of view, as determined by factors including species specific phylogeny, individual and group biography, and anthropogenic circumstance. He operationalised Uexküll’s approach to animal worlds in order to optimise the design of zoo enclosures, considered as both physical and psychological habitats, in which captive wildlife could flourish. This subjectivist and phenomenological perspective has often been sidelined in zoo biology by more objectivist and mechanising approaches. Nonetheless, Hediger’s work and thought, through its inheritance from Uexküll, has important implications for twenty-first century relations with wildlife. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79628 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:45Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | SPRINGER |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-796282022-10-06T03:50:55Z Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond Chrulew, Matthew Arts & Humanities Humanities, Multidisciplinary History & Philosophy Of Science Arts & Humanities - Other Topics History & Philosophy of Science Uexkull Hediger Umwelt Animal Zoo biology Hybrid environments FIELD PHILOSOPHY The theoretical biology of Jakob von Uexküll has had significant conceptual and practical afterlives, in Continental philosophy, biosemiotics and elsewhere. This paper will examine the utilisation of Uexküll in twentieth-century zoo biology and its significance for relating to wildlife in hybrid environments. There is an important though rarely analysed line of inheritance from von Uexküll to Heini Hediger, the Swiss zoo director and animal psychologist. Hediger’s fundamental theoretical position began from the construction of the world from the animal’s point of view, as determined by factors including species specific phylogeny, individual and group biography, and anthropogenic circumstance. He operationalised Uexküll’s approach to animal worlds in order to optimise the design of zoo enclosures, considered as both physical and psychological habitats, in which captive wildlife could flourish. This subjectivist and phenomenological perspective has often been sidelined in zoo biology by more objectivist and mechanising approaches. Nonetheless, Hediger’s work and thought, through its inheritance from Uexküll, has important implications for twenty-first century relations with wildlife. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79628 10.1007/s12304-020-09376-x English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101531 SPRINGER restricted |
| spellingShingle | Arts & Humanities Humanities, Multidisciplinary History & Philosophy Of Science Arts & Humanities - Other Topics History & Philosophy of Science Uexkull Hediger Umwelt Animal Zoo biology Hybrid environments FIELD PHILOSOPHY Chrulew, Matthew Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title | Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title_full | Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title_fullStr | Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title_short | Reconstructing the Worlds of Wildlife: Uexküll, Hediger, and Beyond |
| title_sort | reconstructing the worlds of wildlife: uexküll, hediger, and beyond |
| topic | Arts & Humanities Humanities, Multidisciplinary History & Philosophy Of Science Arts & Humanities - Other Topics History & Philosophy of Science Uexkull Hediger Umwelt Animal Zoo biology Hybrid environments FIELD PHILOSOPHY |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101531 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79628 |