Fichte's philosophy of embodiment

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.

Programm: 

Thursday, November 27, 2025

9:30: Introduction (Esther Neuhann, Jelscha Schmid)

9:45-11.00: Michelle Kosch (New York University): The Body and Behavior 

Chair: Tobias Rosefeldt (Humboldt-Universität Berlin)

Coffee break 1

11.30-12.45: Jelscha Schmid (Potsdam/Heidelberg): How minds can meet: Fichte’s embodiment thesis

Chair: Yady Oren (Universität Potsdam)

Lunch break 1

14:00-15.15: Esther Neuhann (FU Berlin): The universal body in free reciprocal efficacy and the gendered body in moral education

Chair: Markus Wild (Universität Basel)

Coffee break 2

15.45-17.00: Gabriel Gottlieb (Xavier University): Fichte on Rape 

Chair: Dina Emundts (Freie Universität Berlin)

17.00-18.00: Joint discussion

Dinner 1

Friday, November 28, 2025

10.00-11.15: Maria Jimena Solé (Universidad de Buenos Aires): The spirit and the letter: the challenging task of transmitting philosophy

Chair: Susanne Lettow (Freie Universität Berlin)

Coffee break 3

11.45-13.00 Arash Abazari (Bilkent University): Fichte and Adorno on the Moral Significance of Bodily Impulses

Chair: Thomas Khurana (Universität Potsdam)

Lunch break 2

14.15-15.30 Simon Schüz (RPTU Landau): Fichte and Plessner on embodiment as a condition for social interaction

Chair: Jacob Blumenfeld (Humbolt-Universität Berlin)

Coffee Break 4

16:00-17:15 Anthony Bruno (Royal Holloway University of London): Fanon and Fichte

Chair: Johannes Haag (Universität Potsdam) 

17:15-18:00: Joint discussion