Philosophy SIG Summer Webinar 2026 | On The Self
Online event
| Timings | 1:30 PM - 5:25 PM |
| Location | Virtual event, Online |
| CPD | 1 CPD point per hour of content, subject to peer approval |
| Non-Member | £95 |
|---|---|
| Consultant | £72 |
| SAS Doctor / Resident (Higher) | £54 |
| Resident (Core) / Medical Student / Foundation Doctor / Subsidised and Retired Member / Non-Clinical Academic | £37 |
Event Information
Overview
The Philosophy SIG has two events on the same day, A Meal with Socrates and an online, half-day conference on the self!
Our online conference “On The Self" features Dan Zahavi on a Pre-reflective Self, with John Cutting as respondent.
Other presenters include:
- Shaun Gallagher on an Embodied, Embedded, Extended and Enactive Self-pattern, with Giuseppe Longo as respondent.
- Livia Kohn on a Daoist Self, with Erik Goodwyn as respondent.
Programme
| Time | Presentation | Speaker(s) | Presentation overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:30 PM | Welcome & Introduction | Temi Metseagharun, SIG Chair George Ikkos, conference chair | |
| 1:35 PM | A Pre-reflective Self | Dan Zahavi Respondent: John Cutting | In recent years, the concept of the self has attracted considerable multidisciplinary attention, sparking debates across philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, cognitive science, and neuroscience. One idea that is being increasingly debated is the idea that experiences, in virtue of their very subjective first-personal givenness, necessarily involve a fundamental for-me-ness, and that this is sufficient to block a no-self account of consciousness. Consciousness is inherently and intrinsically self-involving. In my talk, I will present the notion of an experiential, minimal, self and defend it against some popular objections. |
| 2:30 PM | Break | Stretch break. | |
| 2:35 PM | An Embodied, Embedded, Extended and Enactive Self-pattern | Shaun Gallagher Respondent: Giuseppe Longo | On a pattern-theoretic approach, what we call ‘self’ just is a pattern of dynamically related processes, including embodied, experiential, affective, cognitive, social/intersubjective, narrative, ecological and normative processes. That such processes, characterized by their dynamical relations, constitute a self-pattern can be empirically tested using an interventionist strategy (Woodward) which at the same time indicates relevance to contexts of psychiatric disorders and therapeutic practices. Rather than defining psychiatric disorders in terms of standard psychiatric/nosological categories, viewing them as disordered self-patterns facilitates person-(patient-) centered therapies. |
| 3:30 PM | Break | ||
| 3:55 PM | A Daoist Self | Livia Kohn Respondent: Erik Goodwyn | The “self” is inherently a modern Western concept, a something to be lost or found that requires the dichotomy of subject and object. It is a complex and intricate phenomenon, made up from personal identity, social relations, and specific ways of understanding the cosmos or larger universal connection. In Western thought, it has been the subject of philosophy, psychology, and sociology. In China, it is expressed with two words, ji and zi, which closely match the distinction between the object and observing self made by the psychologist Arthur Deikman. Ji shows the image of a thread going through the weft of a loom, indicating a clearly visible object and structured presence: subject to desires and emotions, restrictions and improvements, it is the self we develop on the basis of cultural norms, the persona we show to society. Zi is the picture of a nose, something that is inherent to ourselves but that we cannot see: it is the self-reflective, spontaneous, flowing self that unfolds naturally and opens us to intuition and cosmic vastness. Daoists strive to reduce the ji in favor of a more pervading zi. Based on Livia Kohn Zhuangzi: Text and Context (2014). |
| 4:50 PM | Break | ||
| 4:55 PM | Panel for general Q&A | All speakers and respondents | |
| 5:25 PM | Closing comments | George Ikkos, Temi Metseagharun |
Non-Clinical Academic
The Philosophy Special Interest Group welcome Philosophy Students and Philosophers to join this event.
To register, please contact sigs@rcpsych.ac.uk
Watch on demand
This event will be recorded and available to all registered delegates to watch on demand. The recording will be available within one week of the live event taking place and will be emailed out to all registered delegates. The recording will be available to watch for three months from the event taking place.
We ask that all delegates ensure that their email address associated with their membership account is correct and up to date as this is where all correspondence will be sent.
Please note this webinar recording will not be available to purchase post-event.