[PHILOS-L] Final CfA (March 20): International Conference: "The Self in the Social World", 24-26 September 2026, Heidelberg

[Vespermann, Daniel]

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Call for Abstracts

 

The Self in the Social World

24-26 September 2026

 

University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany

Section for Phenomenological Psychopathology and Psychotherapy

 

 

Confirmed speakers:

 

Thiemo Breyer, Hanne de Jaegher, Sanneke de Haan, Thomas Fuchs, Peter Henningsen, Sabine Koch, Stefano Micali, Matthew Ratcliffe, Sonja Rinofner-Kreidl, Louis Sass, Giovanni Stanghellini, Michela Summa, Christian Tewes, Dan Zahavi

 

 

This conference explores how the self is shaped, experienced, and transformed within the social worlds we inhabit. Human selfhood does not arise in isolation; it unfolds within networks of interpersonal relations, cultural and institutional settings, technological infrastructures, and shifting ecological and political conditions. As these worlds evolve, so too do the experiential dynamics through which individuals make sense of themselves, others, and their place in a shared reality.

 

 

A more specific yet central form of social sense-making consists in individuals’ striving to find a place in the social world that bestows a sense of belonging, meaning, and fulfilment. However, finding such a place is not something we can simply take for granted. Social environments must have certain features for individuals to be able to make them their home, just as bodily, affective, and cognitive aspects of individuals precondition  whether they may benefit from the interactions within the communities they navigate. The fit between various features of environments and individuals is notoriously precarious.

 

 

A central aim of the conference is to investigate the lived experience of the self in its dynamic embeddedness in the social world. We invite contributions that examine how subjectivity is informed through concrete interactions, practices, and environments, as well as how changing societal and technological developments influence affective, cognitive, embodied, and existential dimensions of experience. A particular focus lies on how the study of psychopathology can help elucidate the central importance of interpersonal encounters and structural determinants of the lifeworld for the self. 

We welcome submissions from various disciplines and theoretical angles: 

 

e.g., phenomenology, psychiatry, philosophy of mind, social philosophy, philosophy of psychiatry, cognitive sciences, 4E cognition, clinical and social psychology, social sciences,

 

and which employ different methodological approaches:

 

e.g., conceptual analysis, phenomenological analysis, qualitative and experiential research, clinical observation, interdisciplinary case studies.

 

 

We encourage contributions addressing questions such as: 

 

·      How do individuals and groups participate in shaping the multiple social realities they inhabit? 

·      How are identities established, negotiated, or destabilized within a broad array of social contexts? 

·      In what ways is our sense of self mediated through shared practices, cultural norms, and material or digital environments?

·      What do experiences of resistance, alienation, belonging, or fragmentation reveal about the social constitution of selfhood?

·      How do specific changes to social, institutional, or technological environments affect the development, maintenance, or recovery from challenging mental health conditions?

·      How are opportunities for participation and self-realization distributed, restricted, or contested in contemporary societies? 

·      What forms of meaningfulness and connection or experiences of fulfillment become possible—or impossible under current social conditions?

·      What are the different levels and types of normativity that underpin and shape our possibilities for self-realization and collective sense-making?

 

 

Please send anonymized abstracts of no more than 300 words and suitable for a 30 minutes presentation (20 minutes for the talk, 10 minutes for the Q&A) to abstract.for....@gmail.com by 20 March 2026. We will announce the selected presentations by 30 April 2026.

For further information, please see also the conference homepage.

 

 

Conference fees:

PhD students: 80€ (early bird) / 120€ (regular)

Postdoctoral researchers and faculty: 150€ (early bird) / 200€ (regular)
 

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