We are glad to give notice of the International Conference Fichte’s Philosophy of Embodiment, which will take place on November 27th-28th, 2025, at the Freie Universität Berlin (Seminarzentrum L 115).
The event is organized by Jelscha Schmid and Esther Neuhann.
For further information, please visit the website of the event.
To register, please email jelscha.schmid@uni-heidelberg.de.
Below you can find the presentation and the program of the event.
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This international workshop will explore Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s innovative conception of the body (Leib) – one of the most original yet underexamined aspects of his philosophy. Fichte develops a systematic account of the lived body not as a merely mechanical or organic entity, but as the very medium, by virtue of which freedom, cognition, and intersubjective life become possible and the site where they take shape. His distinction between Körper (physical body) and Leib (lived body) anticipates many of the concerns that have shaped twentieth- and twenty-first-century philosophies of embodiment.
By conceiving of the Leib as both material and shaped by reason, Fichte shows how the body functions simultaneously as an instrument of perception and action, and as a public expression of our intellectual and moral capacities. This account links embodiment directly to questions of knowledge, freedom, recognition, and moral life. Despite its philosophical richness, Fichte’s theory of embodiment has remained marginalized in both Fichte studies and broader debates on the lived body.
The workshop aims to bring this neglected dimension of Fichte’s thought into conversation with phenomenology, feminist theory, critical race studies, and contemporary philosophy of mind to (re)discover Fichte as a key figure for understanding embodiment and its social, ethical, and political dimensions as well as opening new dialogues across philosophical traditions.
Thursday, 27 November 2025
9.30 – Esther Neuhann, Jelscha Schmid: Introduction
9.45-11.00 – Michelle Kosch (New York University, USA): What is subtle matter
Chair: Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt-Universität Berlin)
11.30-12.45 – Jelscha Schmid (University of Heidelberg, DE): How minds can meet: Fichte’s embodiment thesis
Chair: Yady Oren (Universität Potsdam)
14.00-15.15 – Esther Neuhann (FU Berlin, DE): The universal body in free reciprocal efficacy and the gendered body in moral education
Chair: Markus Wild (Universität Basel)
15.45-17.00 – Gabriel Gottlieb (Xavier University, USA): Fichte on Rape
Chair: Dina Emundts (Freie Universität Berlin)
17.00-18.00 – Joint discussion
Friday, 28 November 2025
10.00-11.15 – Maria Jimena Solé (Universidad de Buenos Aires, ARG): The spirit and the letter: the challenging task of transmitting philosophy
Chair: Susanne Lettow (Freie Universität Berlin)
11.45-13.00 – Arash Abazari (Bilkent University, Turkey): Fichte and Marx
Chair: Thomas Khurana (Universität Potsdam)
14.15-15.30 – Simon Schüz (RPTU Landau, DE): Fichte and Plessner on embodiment as a condition for social interaction
Chair: Jacob Blumenfeld (Humbolt-Universität Berlin)
16.00-17.15 – Anthony Bruno (Royal Holloway University of London, UK): Fanon and Fichte
Chair: Johannes Haag (Universität Potsdam)
17.15-18.00 – Joint discussion
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