Center For Subjectivity Research
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The Center for Subjectivity Research (CFS) is an interdisciplinary research center at the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
, directed by
Dan Zahavi Dan Zahavi (born 1967) is a Danish philosopher. He is professor of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. Biography Dan Zahavi was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Israeli father and a Danish mother. He initially studied phenomenology at t ...
. They work on a number of different topics:
subjectivity The distinction between subjectivity and objectivity is a basic idea of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Various understandings of this distinction have evolved through the work of countless philosophers over centuries. One b ...
,
intentionality Intentionality is the mental ability to refer to or represent something. Sometimes regarded as the ''mark of the mental'', it is found in mental states like perceptions, beliefs or desires. For example, the perception of a tree has intentionality ...
,
empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...
,
action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
,
perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...
, embodiment, naturalism,
self-consciousness Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with " self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness th ...
,
self-disorder A self-disorder, also called ipseity disturbance, is a psychological phenomenon of disruption or diminishing of a person's minimal self ''–'' the fundamental sense that one's experiences are truly one's own. People with self-disorder feel tha ...
s,
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
,
autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...
,
cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...
,
norm Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to: In academic disciplines * Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad * Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock * Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...
ativity,
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...
, and
trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...
, and do scholarly work on classical thinkers such as
Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...
,
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...
, Kierkegaard,
Brentano Brentano is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonie Brentano, philanthropist * August Brentano, bookseller * Bernard von Brentano, novelist * Christian Brentano, German writer * Clemens Brentano, poet and novelist ...
,
Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in ...
,
Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art, and language. In April ...
,
Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...
,
Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. ( ; ; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest ...
,
Levinas Levinas is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995), French philosopher * Michaël Lévinas (born 1949), French composer, son of Emmanuel * Danielle Cohen-Levinas (born 1959), French musicologist and phi ...
, and Ricoeur. They put a variety of philosophical and empirical perspectives on subjectivity into play to obtain mutual enlightenment, and methodological and conceptual pluralism. Hence, they have had collaborations within different disciplines such as
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839 ...
,
analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...
,
hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...
,
psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...
,
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
,
philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known Text (literary theo ...
,
Asian philosophy Eastern philosophy (also called Asian philosophy or Oriental philosophy) includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philoso ...
,
developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...
,
clinical psychology Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
, and
cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...
.


Introduction


History

CFS was established in 2002, by
Dan Zahavi Dan Zahavi (born 1967) is a Danish philosopher. He is professor of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. Biography Dan Zahavi was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to an Israeli father and a Danish mother. He initially studied phenomenology at t ...
(Professor of Philosophy),
Josef Parnas Josef Parnas (born 1950) is a Danish psychiatrist. He is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, as well as a co-founder and senior researcher at the Center for Subjectivity Research. He worked on the creation of the ''Examination ...
(Professor of Psychiatry) and Arne Grøn (Professor of Ethics and Philosophy of Religion) to allow a “systematic exploration of subjectivity” through “an ‘interphilosophical’ and ‘interdisciplinary’ approach”.Center for Subjectivity Research 2002-2012
/ref> In the period 2002-2012, it was funded as
"Center of Excellence"
by the Danish National Research Foundation. Since 2012 CFS has been hosting a number of externally funded research projects, and is currently part of the Department of Media, Cognition, and Communication, at the University of Copenhagen. CFS has received funding from, e.g., the
European Science Foundation The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association of 11 member organizations devoted to scientific research in 8 European countries. ESF is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes science in Europe. It was e ...
, The
Danish Council for Independent Research The Independent Research Fund Denmark, until 2017 known as the Danish Council for Independent Research (Danish: ''Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond'', formerly ''Det Frie Forskningsråd''; ''DFF'') of Denmark funds basic research and gives advice to gov ...
, The European Commission (6th and 7th Framework Program), the
Carlsberg Foundation Carlsberg Foundation () is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by J. C. Jacobsen in 1876, by allocating some of his shares in the Carlsberg Brewery to fund and operate the Carlsberg Laboratory and the Museum of National History at ...
, th
VELUX Foundation
and the University of Copenhagen Excellence Program for Interdisciplinary Research.


Theoretical framework: Subjectivity

The notion of Subjectivity (rather than for instance
consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
) was chosen as essential to the center, because it has a long and complex history in Western thought, thus providing a strong connection to tradition. Since Descartes, and in particularly since Kant, subjectivity has been of ongoing concern to many philosophers working within the German and French traditions (
continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...
). In the period from Kant to Hegel, occasionally labeled as the reign of the philosophy of subjectivity, subjectivity was considered to constitute at least one of the most important themes and principles of philosophy. In
20th century philosophy Contemporary philosophy is the present period in the history of Western philosophy beginning at the early 20th century with the increasing professionalization of the discipline and the rise of analytic and continental philosophy. The phrase "cont ...
, this theoretical orientation probably found its most significant continuation in phenomenology.


Honor and awards

In 2006 Dan Zahavi was awarded the Elite Research Prize of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. The prize is given to an outstanding Danish researcher for an excellent contribution to Danish science. In 2009 Claudia Welz, then Post.doc at CFS, received the Templeton Award for Theological Promise. In 2010 Andrea Raballo, then Early Stage Researcher at CFS, won th
European Psychiatric Association's
Research Prize 2010 in the category "Clinical Psychopathology and refinement of psychiatric diagnostic categories." In 2011, Adrian Alsmith (currently postdoc at CFS), first won th

for his PhD-dissertation and then th
Sapere Aude
- DFF Young Elite Researcher award. In 2011, Dan Zahavi received the Carlsberg Foundation's Research Prize from the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. In 2012, Josef Parnas received the Kurt Schneider Scientific Award.


Projects and collaboration


Advisory board

CFS has an advisory board composed of the following scholars: Ingolf U. Dalferth (Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion, Universität Zürich, Switzerland), Günter Figal (Professor of Philosophy, Freiburg Universität, Germany),
Shaun Gallagher Shaun Gallagher (born 1948) is an American philosopher known for his work on embodied cognition, social cognition, agency and the philosophy of psychopathology. Since 2011, he has held the Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philos ...
(Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, USA),
Axel Honneth Axel Honneth (; ; born 18 July 1949) is a German philosopher who is the Professor for Social Philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Jack B. Weinstein Professor of the Humanities in the department of philosophy at Columbia University. ...
(Professor of Philosophy, University of Frankfurt, Germany),
Alva Noë Alva Noë (; born 1964) is an American philosopher. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. The focus of his work is the theory of perception and consciousness. In addition to these problems in cognitive science a ...
(Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, USA),
Philippe Rochat Philippe Rochat (29 November 1953 – 8 July 2015) was a Swiss chef and the owner of the ''Restaurant de L'Hôtel de Ville'' in Crissier, Switzerland. The restaurant, formerly owned by Frédy Girardet, won three Michelin Guide stars, and was vo ...
(Professor of Psychology, Emory University, USA), Yves Rossetti (Professor of Neuropsychology, Lyon Medical School, France), Louis Sass (Professor of Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University, USA),
Galen Strawson Galen John Strawson (; born 1952) is a British analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind, metaphysics (including free will, panpsychism, the mind–body problem, and the self), John Locke, David Hume, Im ...
(Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading, UK),
Evan Thompson Evan Thompson (born 1962) is a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia, specializing in cognitive science, phenomenology, philosophy of mind, and cross-cultural philosophy, particularly Buddhist philosophy in dialogue with We ...
(Professor of Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Canada).


Academic activities

Dan Zahavi, director of CFS is co-editor in chief o
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences
an international journal at the intersections between phenomenology, empirical science, and analytic philosophy of mind. Highlights among different recent research projects * Disorders and Coherence of the Embodied Self (DISCOS) (2007-2010) * Agency, Self and Other: An interdisciplinary investigation (2007-2010) * Normativity, Self and Sociality (2011-2014) * Towards an Embodied Science of InterSubjectivity (TESIS) (2011 - 2015). A collaborative project between researchers from Germany, Spain, Denmark, UK, and Italy that has EU funding for a Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) entitle
TESIS: "Towards an Embodied Science of InterSubjectivity"
The network coordinator is Thomas Fuchs from Department of Psychiatry,
University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...
. The associated partners include
Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
. * Empathy and Interpersonal Understanding (2011-2016). A project to describe what empathy is and what role it plays in interpersonal understanding, and also to what extent interpersonal understanding presupposes a common social and cultural background. The project is funded by VELUX Foundation. * The disrupted "we": Shared intentionality and its psychopathological distortions (2013-2016). A project that investigates
shared intentionality Shared intentionality is a concept in psychology that describes the human capacity to engage with the psychological states of others. According to conventional wisdom in cognitive sciences, shared intentionality supports the development of everyt ...
and the nature of we-perspective, funded under the University of Copenhagen's Excellence Program for Interdisciplinary Research. * Self-understanding and self-alienation: Existential hermeneutics and psychopathology (2014-2016). The project explores what experiences of self-alienation tell us about human self-understanding, and conversely how a more nuanced approach to questions of self-understand might help reach a better understanding of experiences of self-alienation. The project is supported by a grant from the VELUX Foundation.


Practical application

CFS also works in projects extending outside of academic boundaries, e.g., projects with clinical application or art projects. Examples of projects with clinical application: * Through Professor Josef Parnas CFS has a collaboration with the psychiatric ward at
Hvidovre Hospital Hvidovre Hospital is a hospital in Hvidovre near Copenhagen in Denmark. It is administered by the Capital Region of Denmark. The hospital was built from 1968 to 1979 and was officially opened on March 26, 1976. The hospital stands out for not ...
on issues related to research on schizophrenia. Together with other researchers, Parnas and Zahavi develope
EASE
Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience, a semi-structured qualitative and semi-quantitative psychometric instrument that targets anomalies of subjective self-experience, which are characteristic of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, especially in their early phases. * Collaboration with th
Helene Elsass Center
a research and development center for rehabilitation of people with cerebral palsy, CFS worked with applying ideas from phenomenology and neuroscience in
physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
,
occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT), also known as ergotherapy, is a healthcare profession. Ergotherapy is derived from the Greek wiktionary:ergon, ergon which is allied to work, to act and to be active. Occupational therapy is based on the assumption t ...
, and psychology, to develop new rehabilitation strategies and technologies. Examples of collaborations with artists and on art projects: * Organizing a network for Danish researchers and film directors, to developing a closer relation between research and film, CFS worked with the
Danish Film Institute The Danish Film Institute (; DFI) is the national Danish institution, agency responsible for supporting and encouraging film and cinema culture, and for conserving these in the national interest. It is the successor organisation to the Danish Fil ...
, Creative Media Desk Denmark, and
Signe Byrge Sørensen Signe Byrge Sørensen (; born 1970) is a Danish film producer. She is the head of and co-founder of the film production company Final Cut for Real in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sørensen and film director Joshua Oppenheimer were nominated for an Ac ...
from Final Cut for Real. Film directors include
Phie Ambo A Phie () or ''Phi'' is a traditional log drum, an integral part of the cultural heritage of the Khiamniungans in Northeastern state of Nagaland, India. These log drums are massive, hollowed-out wooden carvings large enough to accommodate several ...
,
Joshua Oppenheimer Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer (born September 23, 1974) is an American film director based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is known for his Oscar-nominated films '' The Act of Killing'' (2012) and ''The Look of Silence'' (2014). Oppenheimer was a 1997 ...
, and
Janus Metz Janus Metz Pedersen (born 27 September 1974) is a Danish film director and documentary filmmaker. Work Metz worked as a documentary researcher and moved to South Africa. There he worked on the television drama ''Soul City'' before making his de ...
. * As a scientific advisor Kristian Moltke Martiny, then PhD fellow at CFS, was part of the team behind the documentary fil
''Natural Disorder''
(premiered fall 2015), about living with cerebral palsy, directed by Danish documentarist Christian Sønderby Jepsen and with Jacob Nossell (known from The Red Chapel) as the lead character. Martiny also worked as scientific advisor on an experimental theater play called "Human Afvikling", which premiered on September 21, 2014 at the
Royal Danish Theater Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...
. It was directed by Thomas Corneliussen and also had Jacob Nossell as lead character. The play depicts the social experiences of living with bodily disabilities. * In his PhD project on "expert musicianship" (2012-2015), then PhD student at CFS Simon Høffding, had a long standing collaboration with the Danish string quartet.Radio Program: "Nørderne Kommer – Om musikken og Sindet”, ''Radio DR P2'', 16 December 2013 * Artists such as
Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson (; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience. In 1995, ...
and
Siri Hustvedt Siri Hustvedt (born February 19, 1955) is an American novelist and essayist. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of non-fiction. Her books include ''The Blindfold'' (1992), ''The Encha ...
have engaged in conversation and collaboration with Dan Zahavi.


Education and student relation


Master's in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind

Through the Department of Media, Cognition and Communication CFS is involved in and offers courses on a 2-year master specialization in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind.


Summer school

Since 2010 during August it has hosted the Copenhagen Summer School in Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind. The summer school which is partially funded by the PhD School at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, typically attracts around 80-100 PhD students from all over the world, but is also open to advanced MA students. CFS engages in research training for PhD-students, full-degrees, and visiting students.


Selected bibliography

* Gallagher, S., Zahavi, D.: The Phenomenological Mind. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge, 2012. (288 pp.) * Grøn, A.: The Concept of Anxiety in Søren Kierkegaard. Translated by Jeanette B.L. Knox. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2008 (166 pp.). * Kendler, K. & Parnas, J. (eds.): Philosophical Issues in Psychiatry: Explanation, Phenomenology, and Nosology. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008. (424 p.) * Overgaard, S.: Husserl and Heidegger on Being in the World. Phaenomenologica 173. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2004. (225 pp.) * Overgaard, S.: Wittgenstein and Other Minds: Rethinking Subjectivity and Intersubjectivity with Wittgenstein, Levinas, and Husserl. New York and London: Routledge, 2007. (xiii+201 pp.) * Overgaard, S., Gilbert, P. and Burwood, S.: An Introduction to Metaphilosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013 (vii + 240 pp.). * Parnas, J., Møller, P., Kircher, T., Thalbitzer, J., Jansson, L., Handest, P., Zahavi, D.: "EASE: Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience". Psychopathology 38, 2005, 236-258. * Siderits, M., Thompson, E., Zahavi, D. (eds.): Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, & Indian Traditions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. (337 p.) * Welz, C.: Love’s Transcendence and the Problem of Theodicy. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008. (437 pp.) * Zahavi, D.: Husserl‘s Phenomenology. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2003. (x + 178 pp). * Zahavi, D.: Subjectivity and Selfhood: Investigating the First-Person Perspective. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA., 2005. (viii + 265 pp.) * Zahavi, D. (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Phenomenology. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012. (640 p.). * Zahavi, D.: Self and Other: Exploring Subjectivity, Empathy, and Shame. Oxford University Press 2014 (296 pages)


References


External links

* {{Official website, http://cfs.ku.dk Education in Denmark