Dr. Jan Slaby

Philosophical Outlook

I mainly work on three related themes: On the philosophy of emotion and feeling; on a non-standard perspective in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of personhood (enactivism, extended mind, phenomenology); and on a critical science studies approach that goes by the name "critical neuroscience" [link]. My main goal in the coming years is to develop an account of the interfacing between individual emotional capacities and social and cultural superstructures, and I will try to avoid narrowing this perspective to exclusively theoretical or abstract metaphysical considerations. Instead, I try to link theoretical work with political and social concerns, proposing, in effect, a ‘political philosophy of mind’.

Collaborations

I'm a big fan of academic cooperation. So far, I was quite fortunate to be able to extend my mind in various directions by connecting with a great bunch of colleagues from different fields, and I am looking forward to expand my network of partners, particularly in the exciting research environment at FU Berlin. Below, I have listed some of the people I work and/or interact with regularly with links to their websites.

If you would like to collaborate, or plan to pursue PhD or other philosophical research work related to my themes of interest in Berlin, please contact me by e-mail.

Philosophy of Emotions

Philosophy of Mind - Cognitive Science

Research Cluster "Languages of Emotion"

Animal Emotionale

Critical Neuroscience

Colleagues in Marburg

Teaching

One area I focus on in the classroom is the philosophy of emotion and the interdisciplinary study of affectivity, another is the philosophy of mind with an emphasis on less conventional approaches such as new phenomenological conceptions, enactivism, extended mind and related themes. Besides, I plan to continue teaching in the philosophy of the neurosciences and psychiatry and interdisciplinary science studies, continuing the initiative and themes of “critical neuroscience”. If I have the chance I also like to teach Kant and the early Heidegger.

Other activities

I used to work part-time as a TV commentator specialized on basketball for the sports network Eurosport, but I stopped that in 2009 to focus on my academic work. I covered the last three Olympic basketball tournaments and did EuroCup and EuroLeague games, as well as the Spanish, Greek and German Leagues. Sports broadcasting is great fun particularly if you love to talk a lot without thinking much – people that say the same of my philosophizing are ... probably right.

If I had more time, I would do more of the following: Spend more time with my girlfriend Laura, read more good novels, go fishing from time to time, learn how to cook better and practice it often, actually play some basketball myself, see my friends more, travel leisurely to the south and to big cities, and, not least, spend more time with my mom Clara.

Publications

  • Slaby, J. (forthcoming 2012), Affective Self-Construal and the Sense of Ability, in: Emotions Review 4.
  • Slaby, J./Haueis, Ph./Choudhury, S. (forthcoming 2012), Neuroscience as Applied Hermeneutics: Towards a Critical Neuroscience of Political Theory, In: F. VanderValk, Neuroscience and Political Theory, New York: Routledge. Late Draft [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (forthcoming 2012), Emotional Rationality and Feelings of Being. In: J. Fingerhut/S. Marienberg, Feelings of Being Alive, Schriftenreihe Humanprojekt, Berlin: de Gruyter. Late Draft [pdf]
  • Choudhury, S./Slaby, J. (eds. 2011), Critical Neuroscience: A Handbook of the Social and Cultural Contexts of Neuroscience. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Link
  • Slaby, J./Stephan, A./Walter, H./Walter, S. (eds. 2011), Affektive Intentionalität. Beiträge zur welterschließenden Funktion der menschlichen Gefühle. Paderborn: mentis. Link
  • Slaby, J. (2011), Affektive Intentionalität – Hintergrundgefühle, Möglichkeitsräume, Handlungsorientierung, In: J. Slaby/A. Stephan/H. Walter/S. Walter, Affektive Intentionalität. Beiträge zur welterschließenden Funktion der menschlichen Gefühle. Paderborn: mentis 2011, 23-48. [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2011), Perspektiven einer kritischen Philosophie der Neurowissenschaften, in: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie, 59(3), 2011, 375-390. Late Draft [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2011), Lost in Phenospace. Questioning the Claims of Popular Neurophilosophy, in: Ch. Lumer/U. Meyer, Geist und Moral. Analytische Reflexionen für Wolfgang Lenzen, Paderborn: mentis 2011, 35-53 [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2011), "Möglichkeitsraum und Möglichkeitssinn. Bausteine einer phänomenologischen Gefühlstheorie", in: K. Andermann & U. Eberlein (eds.), Gefühle als Atmosphären, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, pp.125-138. Late Draft [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2010), "The other side of existence: Heidegger on boredom", in: Habitus in Habitat II – Other Sides of Cognition, edited by Sabine Flach, Daniel Margulies & Jan Söffner, pp. 101-120. Late Draft [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2010), "Eine Strukturskizze der menschlichen Affektivität" in: Rostocker Phänomenologische Manuskripte, ed. M.Großheim, Late Draft [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2010), "The Brain is what we do with it. Review of C. Malabou 'What should we do with our brian?'", Journal of Consciousness Studies 17, 235-240. [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2010), "Steps towards a critical neuroscience" in: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 9, 397–416 [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2010) "Zur Idee einer Kritischen Neurowissenschaft", in M. Gerhard & C. Zunke (eds.), "Wir müssen die Wissenschaft wieder menschlich machen“ – Aspekte und Perspektiven der Naturphilosophie", Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 15-43
  • Choudhury, S., Nagel, S. K., Slaby, J. (2009), "Critical Neuroscience: Linking Neuroscience and Society through Critical Practice", in: BioSocieties. [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2009), "Gefühle im Neo-Existentialismus", in: B. Merker (ed.), Leben mit Gefühlen, Paderborn: mentis.
  • Slaby, J. (2008), „William James: Von der Physiologie zur Phänomenologie“, in: H. Landweer/U. Renz, Klassische Emotionstheorien, Berlin: Akademie Verlag. Late draft[pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2008), „How Emotional Feelings are Bodily and Intentional at the Same Time“, in: GAP-06-Proceedings, Paderborn: mentis.
  • Esken, F./Slaby, J. (2008), „Nicht-Begriffliches Selbstbewusstsein – ein sinnvoller Begriff?“, in: GAP-06-Proceedings, Paderborn: mentis.
  • Slaby, J. (2008), Gefühl und Weltbezug. Die menschliche Affektivität im Kontext einer neo-existentialistischen Konzeption von Personalität, Paderborn: mentis. Introduction[pdf]
  • Slaby, J./Stephan, A. (2008), "Affective Intentionality and Self- Consciousness", in: Consciousness and Cognition 17, 506-513. Full article [pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2007), "Affective Intentionality and the Feeling Body", in: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, OnlineFirst. Full Article[pdf]
  • Slaby, J. (2007), "Empfindungen. Skizze eines nicht-reduktiven, holistischen Verständnisses", in: Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 32.3, 207-225.
  • Slaby, J. (2007), "Emotionaler Weltbezug. Ein Strukturschema im Anschluss an Heidegger", in: H. Landweer (ed.), Struktur und Funktion der Gefühle, Stuttgart: Metzler, 93-112. Full Article[pdf]
  • Slaby, J./Katz, G./Kühnberger K.-U./Stephan A. (2006), "Embodied Targets, or the Origin of Mind Tools", in: Philosophical Psychology 19 (1), 103-118.
  • Slaby, J. (2004), „Emotionaler Inhalt“, in: Ausgewählte Beiträge zu den Sektionen der GAP 5, 5. internationaler Kongreß der Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie, Bielefeld, 22.-26. September 2003, Paderborn: mentis, 460-469.
  • Slaby, J. (2004), "Nicht-reduktiver Kognitivismus als Theorie der Emotionen", in: Handlung, Interpretation, Kultur. Zeitschrift für Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften 13, 50-85.
  • Slaby, J. (2003), „Sklaven der Leidenschaft? Überlegungen zu den Affektlehren von Kant und Hume“, in: A. Stephan & H. Walter (eds.) Natur und Theorie der Emotion. Paderborn: mentis, S. 287-308.