The Umwelten of plants, an agentive perspective

Abstract

This article reconsiders the concept of Umwelt in relation to plant life, exploring whether and how plants may possess their own world of meaning and subjective agency. Drawing on Jakob von Uexküll’s biosemiotic theory, the author distinguishes between active and passive forms of agency to redefine what counts as meaningful action in plants. While traditional interpretations of Umwelt rely on intentionality and mobility, often excluding sessile organisms like plants, this study argues for a broader understanding of agency rooted in processes such as growth, synthesis, and morphological imagination. The notion of “magic Umwelten” is extended to plants, proposing that their subjectivity is revealed not through instrumental behavior, but through an inward-facing imagination capable of forming non-objective realities. The article introduces the concepts of marginal and radical Umwelten to differentiate between animal-like adaptive strategies and the more pervasive, holistic expressions of “plantness”. Ultimately, this agentive perspective opens the path toward a non-anthropocentric ethics that recognizes vegetal subjectivity and its epistemological and ecological implications.