Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng (20 September 1934 – 27 May 2014) was a Norwegian philosopher, illustrator, mountain climber, environmental activist and politician. He was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. Among his publications are ''Musikk-kritikk og kommunikasjon'' from 1966, ''Økokrise, natur og menneske'' from 1976, and ''Mangfold og tid. Pyramide-mennesket ved skillevegen: System, frihet eller kaos?'' from 2001.

Personal life

Setreng was born in

to schoolteachers Anders Kvaløy and Kirsti Sætereng, and grew up in Lom. He married nurse Kirsten Rogndokken in 1962. In 1981 he changed his name from Sigmund Kvaløy to Sigmund Sætereng, and further to Setreng in 1983.

Career

Having passed

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

in 1955, Setreng underwent technical training at Kjevik with the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...

, and subsequently worked with maintenance of aircraft at

Gardermoen Air Station Station Group Gardermoen (Norwegian: Gardermoen flystasjon) is located about 50 km north of Oslo, Norway. It is colocated with Norway's main airport, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. 335 Squadron and 717 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force a ...

. Through reading of

Laozi Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

and

Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of real ...

, he developed an interest in philosophy, and from 1958 he started studying at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

. Interested in nature and

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

, and influenced by

Arne Næss Arne Dekke Eide Næss ( ; ; 27 January 1912 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term "deep ecology", an important intellectual and inspirational figure within the environmental movement of the late twentieth cent ...

, Peter Wessel Zapffe and

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

, he eventually developed his own original variant of ecophilosophy. He graduated as cand.mag. in 1966, with the thesis, ''Musikk-kritikk og kommunikasjon''. In 1970 he took actively part in protests against development of the waterfall of

Mardalsfossen Mardalsfossen is a waterfall in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is sometimes referred to as one of the tallest waterfalls in Europe. The falls are on the Mardøla river which flows out of a hanging valley into the lake ...

. An able mountain climber, he travelled to

Rolwaling Himal Rolwāling Valley (), known as a ( Gaurishankar) rural municipality, is a section of the Himalayas in east-central Nepal along the Tibet border. Rolwaling Himal includes Melungtse 7181m and Melungtse II 7023m inside Tibet and Gaurishankar 7134m ...

to study the

Sherpa people The Sherpa people () are one of the Nepalese ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, India, and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. The majority of Sherpas live in the eastern regions of Nepal, namely the Solukhum ...

native to

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, and fascinated by their way of thinking, he converted to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. In the late 1970s he was engaged in the

Alta controversy The Alta conflict or Alta controversy was a series of protests in Norway in the late 1970s and early 1980s against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant on the Alta River in Finnmark, Northern Norway. Timeline *Inhabitants of the vil ...

and in protests against construction of the Innerdalsvatnet dam in the

Orkla River Orkla is a river in Trøndelag and Innlandet counties in Norway. At in length, it is the longest river in Trøndelag county. The river follows the Orkdalen valley, discharging into the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the large Trondheimsfjorden, at th ...

Selected works

*, thesis * * * * *

References

External links

OpenAirPhilosophy
presents a rich and representative selection of the environmental thinking of Sigmund Kvaløy Setreng and of two Norwegian philosophers: Arne Naess and Peter Wessel Zapffe. Also interviews and articles on Setreng are available for download at this website. Its aim is to engage readers and provoke additional scholarship. {{DEFAULTSORT:Setreng, Sigmund Kvaloy 1934 births 2014 deaths People from Trondheim 20th-century Norwegian philosophers 20th-century Norwegian illustrators 21st-century Norwegian illustrators Academic staff of the University of Oslo 21st-century Norwegian philosophers