Dr. Jan Slaby

I am a professor in philosophy of mind and philosophy of emotion at Free University Berlin, Germany.

I work in the Institute of Philosophy and in the Collaborative Research Center Affective Societies. My areas of expertise are philosophy of mind (construed broadly), philosophy of emotion, phenomenology, social philosophy, affect theory, philosophical methodology.

I have compiled several of my key publications here (see below), for more of my work, check out my academia.edu and researchgate.net sites.

You can reach me by mail at slaby(at)zedat(dot)fu-berlin(dot)de.

Publications

Slaby, J. (2024). Habits of Affluence: Unfeeling, Enactivism, and the Ecological Crisis of Capitalism. Mind & Society, Online. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-024-00309-6 Download Link
Slaby, J. (2023). Structural Apathy, Affective Injustice, and the Ecological Crisis. Philosophical Topics 51(1), 63-83. Download
Slaby, J. (2023). Don't Look Up: Affektive Entwirklichung und das gesellschaftlich Ungefühlte. In: von Maur, I., Meyer, U., & Walter, S. (Hg.). Wozu Gefühle? Philosophische Reflexionen für Achim Stephan (pp. 67-92). Leiden: Brill/mentis. Download
Slaby, J. (2023). Im Kraftfeld der Wahrheit. Rezension zu Frieder Vogelmann, 'Die Wirksamkeit des Wissens' (Berlin: Suhrkamp 2022). Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 71(4), 620-628. Download
Slaby, J. (2023). Umfühlen: Gefühlswandel in Zeiten der Klimakrise. In: Stodulka, T., A. von Poser, G. Scheidecker, & J. Bens (Hg.). Anthropologie der Emotionen. Affektive Dynamiken in Kultur und Gesellschaft (pp. 275-290). Berlin: Reimer. Download
Slaby, J. (2023). Das Ungefühlte - Affektivität und Wirklichkeit in Zeiten der ökologischen Katastrophe. Publikation in Vorbereitung. Download
Churcher, M., Calkins, S., Böttger, J. & Slaby, J., eds. (2023). Affect, Power and Institutions. London & New York: Routledge.
Landweer, H., & Slaby, J., eds., (2022). Schwerpunkt: Emotionale Fähigkeiten und die Fühlbarkeit des Sozialen. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 70(6), 904-971. Download
Slaby, J. (2022). Intentionality’s Breaking Point: A Lesson from Grief. Journal of Consciousness Studies 29(9-10), 105-127. Download
Bernhardt, F., & Slaby, J. (2022). On Being Stuck: The Pandemic Crisis as Affective Stasis. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-022-09855-1 Download
Haueis, P., & Slaby, J. (2022). Humanities as Conceptual Practices: The Formation and Development of High-Impact Concepts in Philosophy and Beyond. Metaphilosophy 53(4), 385-403. Download
Schütze, P., Jörg, K., von Maur, I., & Slaby, J. (2022). Affect as Disruption: Affective Experimentation, Automobility and the Ecological Crisis. In: Timm Knudsen, B., Krogh, M., & Stage, C., eds., Methodologies of Affective Experimentation (pp. 27-45). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Download
Slaby, J. (2022) Stichwort: Postphänomenologie. Information Philosophie 2/2022, 34-39. Download
Von Scheve, C., & Slaby, J. (2022). Im Schattenreich der Institution: Eine affekttheoretische Perspektive. Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Kollektivwissenschaft, 8(1), 137-164. doi: 10.14361/zkkw-2022-080107 Download
Slaby, J. (2022) Philosophy of Mind for Dystopic Times. Syndicate network website. Download Link
Slaby, J. (2021). Expanding the Active Mind. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, doi/full/10.1080/00071773.2021.1905487 Download
Ceesay, S., & Slaby, J. (2021). Musterschüler. Elemente einer kritischen Genealogie der deutschen Schule. In: Dilger, H., & Warstat, M. (eds.). Umkämpfte Vielfalt. Affektive Dynamiken institutioneller Diversifizierung. Frankfurt am Main: Campus. Download
Slaby, J. (2021). A Challenge to Perceptual Theories of Emotion. In: Demmerling, C. & Schröder, D. (eds.). Concepts in Thought, Action and Emotion: New Essays (pp. 277-293). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. (2020). Atmospheres – Schmitz, Massumi, and Beyond. In Riedel, F., & Torvinen, J. (eds.). Music as Atmosphere: Collective Feelings and Affective Sounds (pp. 274-285). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. (2020). Disposedness (Befindlichkeit). In: M. Wrathall (ed.). The Heidegger Lexicon (pp. 242-249). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Download
Slaby, J. (2020). The Weight of History: From Heidegger to Afro-Pessimism. In: L. Guidi, & T. Rentsch (eds.). Phenomenology as Performative Exercise (pp. 173-195). New York & Leiden: Brill. Download
Szanto, T., & Slaby, J. (2020). Political Emotions. In: Szanto, T., & Landweer, H. (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Phenomenology of Emotions (pp. 478-494). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. (2020). Existenzielle Gefühle und In-der-Welt-sein. In: H. Kappelhoff, J.-H. Bakels, C. Schmitt, H. Lehmann (eds.). Emotionen. Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch. Stuttgart: Metzler. Download
Slaby, J. & von Scheve, C., eds., (2019). Affective Societies: Key Concepts. New York: Routledge. Download
Von Scheve, C., & Slaby, J. (2019). Emotion, Emotion Concept. In: Slaby, J. & C. von Scheve (eds.). Affective Societies: Key Concepts (pp. 42-51). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. & von Scheve, C. (2019). Introduction: Affective Societies - Key Concepts. In: Slaby, J. & C. von Scheve (eds.). Affective Societies: Key Concepts (pp. 1-27). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J., Mühlhoff, R., & Wüschner, P. (2019). Concepts as Methodology. In: Kahl, A. (ed.). Analyzing Affective Societies (pp. 27-42). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J., & Bens, J. (2019). Political Affect. In: Slaby, J. & C. von Scheve (eds.). Affective Societies: Key Concepts (pp. 340-351). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J., & Mühlhoff, R. (2019). Affect. In: Slaby, J. & C. von Scheve (eds.). Affective Societies: Key Concepts (pp. 27-41). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. (2019). Affective Arrangement. In: Slaby, J. & C. von Scheve (eds.). Affective Societies: Key Concepts (pp. 109-118). New York: Routledge. Download
Mühlhoff, R., Breljak, A., & Slaby, J., eds., (2019). Affekt Macht Netz: Auf dem Weg zu einer Sozialtheorie der digitalen Gesellschaft. Bielefeld: transcript. OPEN ACCESS Link
Slaby, J. (2019). Negri und Wir. Affekt, Subjektivität und Kritik in der Gegenwart. Ein Nachwort. In: Mühlhoff, R., Breljak, A., Slaby, J. (eds.). Affekt Macht Netz. Auf dem Weg zu einer Sozialtheorie der Digitalen Gesellschaft (pp. 337-351). Bielefeld: transcript. Download
Slaby, J., & Thonhauser, G. (2019). Heidegger and the Affective (Un)grounding of Politics. In: C. Hadjioannou (ed.). Philosophers in Depth: Heidegger on Affect. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Download
Slaby, J. (2019). Relational Affect: Perspectives from Philosophy and Cultural Studies. In: T. Jirsa, E. van Alphen (eds.). How to Do Things with Affects: Affective Operations in Art, Literature, and New Media (pp. 59-81). New York & Leiden: Brill. Download
Slaby, J., & Bernhardt, F. (2019). Der verblassende Glanz des Cogito. Zum frühen Subjektdenken Paul Ricœurs. In: D. Creutz & Th. Breyer (eds.). Phänomenologie des praktischen Sinns. Die Willensphilosophie Paul Ricœurs im Kontext (pp. 251-281). Paderborn: Fink. Download
Slaby, J., Mühlhoff, R., & Wüschner, P. (2019). Affective Arrangements. Emotion Review 11(1), 3-12, DOI: 10.1177/1754073917722214. Download
Slaby, J., & Choudhury, S. (2018). Proposal for a Critical Neuroscience. In: Meloni, M, Crombie, J, D. Fitzgerald, & Lloyd, S. (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Biology and Society (pp. 341-370). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. Download
Mühlhoff, R., & Slaby, J. (2018). Immersion at Work: Affect and Power in Post-Fordist Work Cultures. In: Röttger-Rössler, B. & Slaby, J. (eds.). Affect in Relation – Families, Places, Technologies (pp. 155-174). New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J., & Röttger-Rössler, B. (2018). Introduction: Affect in Relation. In: Röttger-Rössler, B. & Slaby, J. (eds.). Affect in Relation – Families, Places, Technologies (pp. 1-28). New York: Routledge. Download
Röttger-Rössler, B. & Slaby, J., eds., (2018). Affect in Relation – Families, Places, Technologies. New York: Routledge. Download
Slaby, J. (2018). Drei Haltungen der Affect Studies. In: L. Pfaller & B. Wiesse (eds.). Stimmungen und Atmosphären. Zur Affektivität des Sozialen (pp. 53-81). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Download
Slaby, J. (2018). Disclosive Postures and Affective Arrangements: Towards a Post-Phenomenology of Situated Affectivity. Phänomenologische Forschungen 2018(2). Download
Slaby, J. (2017). More than a Feeling: Affect as Radical Situatedness. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 41(1), 7-26. Download
Slaby, J. (2017). Affekt und Politik. Philosophische Rundschau 64(2), 134-162. Download
Haueis, P., & Slaby, J. (2017). Connectomes as Constitutively Epistemic Objects. Critical Perspectives on Modeling in Current Neuroanatomy. Progress in Brain Research 233, 149-177. Download
Slaby, J. (2017). Living in the Moment: Boredom and the Meaning of Existence in Heidegger and Pessoa. In H. Feger, X. Dikun & W. Ge (eds.). Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy, vol. 2 (pp. 235-256), Berlin/New York: de Gruyter 2017 Download
Slaby, J. (2016). Die Kraft des Zorns – Sara Ahmeds aktivistische Post-Phänomenologie. In: I. Marcinski & H. Landweer (eds.). Dem Erleben auf der Spur. Feminismus und Phänomenologie. (pp. 279-303). Bielefeld: Transcript. Download
Slaby, J. (2016). Kritik der Resilienz. In P. Wüschner & F. A. Kurbacher (eds.). Was ist Haltung? (pp. 273-298). Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann. Download
Slaby, J. (2016). Mind Invasion: Situated Affectivity and the Corporate Life Hack. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 2016. Download Link
Slaby, J., & Gallagher, S. (2015). Critical Neuroscience and Socially Extended Minds. Theory, Culture & Society 32, 2015, 33-59. Download
Slaby, J. (2015). Critical Neuroscience Meets Medical Humanities. Medical Humanities 41, 16-22. Download
Slaby, J. (2015). Affectivity and Temporality in Heidegger. In: M. Ubiali & M. Wehrle (eds.). Feeling and Value, Willing and Action. Phaenomenologica 216 (pp. 183-206). Dordrecht: Springer. Download
Slaby, J., & Wüschner, P. (2014). Emotion and Agency. In S. Roeser & C. Todd (eds.). Emotion and Value (pp. 212-228). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Download
Slaby, J. (2014). Empathy’s Blind Spot. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 17(2), 249-258. Download
Slaby, J. (2014). Emotion and the Extended Mind. In: In: Salmela, M., & von Scheve, C., eds., Collective Emotions (pp. 32-46). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Download
Slaby, J. (2014). Sichtbarkeit des Geistes. Die Auflösung des Dualismus von Innerem und Äußerem. In: C. Barth & D. Lauer (eds.). Die Philosophie John McDowells. Paderborn: mentis. Download
Slaby, J. (2014). Review of Nikolas Rose, Joelle M. Abi-Rached, 'Neuro: The New Brain Sciences and the Management of the Mind' (Princeton UP, 2013). Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 87(2), 183-185. Download
Hoyer, A., & Slaby, J. (2014). Jenseits von Ethik. Zur Kritik der neuroethischen Enhancement-Debatte. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 62(5), 823-848. Download
Slaby, J. (2013). Die Objektivitätsmaschine – der MRT-Scanner als magisches Objekt. In: K. Mertens/I. Günzler (Hg.). Wahrnehmen, Fühlen, Handeln. Phänomenologie im Wettstreit der Methoden (pp. 473-497). Münster: mentis. Download
Gallagher, S., Hutto, D., Slaby, J., & Cole, J. (2013). The Brain as Part of an Enactive System. Commentary on Schilbach et al. “Towards a Second-Person Neuroscience”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 36, 421-422. Download
Slaby, J. (2013). The New Science of Morality: A Bibliographical Review, in: The Hedgehog Review 15(1), 46-54. Download
Slaby, J. (2013). Gekommen, um zu bleiben: Emotionen in der Philosophie. In: Berliner Debatte Initial 24(3), 15-30. Download
Slaby, J., & Heilinger, J.-C. (2013). Lost in Phenospace. Questioning the Claims of Popular Neurophilosophy. Metodo – International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy, 1(2), 83-100. Download
Slaby, J., Paskaleva, A., and Stephan A. (2013). Enactive Emotion and Impaired Agency in Depression. Journal of Consciousness Studies 20 (No. 7-8), 33-55. Download
Choudhury, S., & Slaby, J., eds., (2012). Critical Neuroscience. A Handbook of the Social and Cultural Contexts of Neuroscience, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Download
Slaby, J., & Stephan, A. (2012). Depression als Handlungsstörung. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 60(6), 919-935 Download
Slaby, J. (2012). Emotional Rationality and Feelings of Being. In: J. Fingerhut and S. Marienberg (eds.). Feelings of Being Alive. Schriftenreihe Humanprojekt (pp. 55-77). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Slaby, J. (2012). Affective Self-Construal and the Sense of Ability. Emotion Review 4(2), 151-156. Download
Schmitz, H., Müllan, R. O., & Slaby, J. (2011). Emotions Outside the Box – the New Phenomenology of Feeling and Corporeality. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 10, 2011, 241-259. Download
Slaby, J. (2011). Perspektiven einer kritischen Philosophie der Neurowissenschaften. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 59(3), 375-390. Download
Slaby, J. (2011). Affektive Intentionalität – Hintergrundgefühle, Möglichkeitsräume, Handlungsorientierung. In: J. Slaby/A. Stephan/H. Walter/S. Walter (eds.), Affektive Intentionalität. Beiträge zur welterschließenden Funktion der menschlichen Gefühle (pp. 23-48). Paderborn: mentis. Download
Slaby, J. (2010), Steps Towards a Critical Neuroscience. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 9, 397-416. Download
Slaby, J. (2010). The Other Side of Existence: Heidegger on Boredom. In: S. Flach, Margulies, D. S., and Söffner, J. (eds.) Habitus in Habitat II. Other Sides of Cognition (pp. 101-120), Bern: Peter Lang. Download
Slaby, J. (2010). The Brain is what we do with it. Review of C. Malabou 'What should we do with our brain?'" Journal of Consciousness Studies 17, 235-240. Download
Choudhury, S., Nagel, S., & Slaby, J. (2009). Critical Neuroscience: Linking Neuroscience and Society through Critical Practice. BioSocieties 4(1), 61-77. Download
Slaby, J., & Stephan, A. (2008). Affective Intentionality and Self-Consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition 17, 506-513. Download
Slaby, J. (2008). Gefühl und Weltbezug. Die menschliche Affektivität im Kontext einer neo-existentialistischen Konzeption von Personalität. Paderborn: mentis. Download
Slaby, J. (2008). Affective Intentionality and the Feeling Body. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 7(4), 429-444. Download Link
Slaby, J. (2007). Empfindungen. Skizze eines nicht-reduktiven, holistischen Verständnisses. Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 32(3), 207-225. Download
Slaby, J., Katz, G., Kühnberger, K.-U., & Stephan, A. (2006). Embodied Targets, or the Origin of Mind Tools. Philosophical Psychology 19(1), 103-118. Download

Philosophical Outlook

What fascinates about philosophy is that it is a rigorous conceptual endeavor that nevertheless has leeway for playfulness, stylistic variance and aesthetic appeal, while it links individual existential matters with social and political concerns. My approach to philosophy is eclectic and interdisciplinary. Trained analytically (in a broad sense), I have increasingly found myself drawn to a style closer to the continental tradition: to (post)-phenomenology, to critical theory and poststructuralism, but I adhere to neither of these in a strict fashion. My work in the CRC Affective Societies since 2015 has brought me closer to cultural studies, postcolonial theory, Black studies and feminist theory, and I am currently working on an approach to affect that combines these strands of theory in order to think both individual orientations and social formations, especially institutions and collective practices – what I call a ‘political philosophy of mind’. Our new project at the CRC Affective Societies is on "Dynamics of the Unfelt", a critical approach to the insufficient societal responses to the global socio-ecological crisis (2023-2027). I am also interested in the nature and methodological role of concepts in both the humanities and natural sciences, and in philosophical methodology more broadly.

Cooperation

I am a big fan of team work and co-authorship in philosophy, and have been fortunate to having had the chance to cooperate with a wide range of interesting, thoughtful and motivated colleagues and students. The Institute of Philosophy at FU Berlin is a great attractor for diverse minds from all over the globe, as is the Affective Societies research center. In recent years, however, I have had a harder time entering new partnerships due to reasons of time and capacity. If I take a long time to reply to cooperation requests, please do not take it personally - the volume can be overwhelming. I also have almost no time anymore for external thesis supervision, unfortunately, as the number of final theses and examinations at FUB is consistently high. This applies also to PhD supervision requests, especially from external (= non-FU-Berlin-philosophy-trained) and interdisciplinary candidates. My maxim is to work a lot with a few candidates rather than work a little with many candidates, which means I must say 'no' to a good number of requests for supervision, often regardless of topic and talent level. Not happy about it but I see no other way short of self-destructive overwork.

Current and upcoming activities

March 21 & 22, 2024 Talk at Universität Bamberg, Workshop Welten/Räume, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, title "Affekträume"
May 2024, Talk at a Workshop of the Project Group "Intersubjectivity of Affects and Social Change", Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia, title: "The Unfelt in Society"
June 13-14, 2024, Workshop on The Faces of Affective Injustice, Institute of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin, co-organized with Alfred Archer and Jakob Huber
June 17-19, 2024, Keynote Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology, Trondheim, Norway, title: "The Unfelt in Society"

Teaching

Summer term 2024: Capital, Ecology, Critique II (MA course, co-teaching with Sam Nimmrichter, in English); Philosophical Research Colloquium (BA, MA, PhD, PostDoc; mostly in English; invited guests include Rizvana Bradley, Federica Gregoratto, Daniel Loick, Shiloh Whitney) Upcoming in winter term 2024/25: The Self as a Political Problem (MA course); Food for Thought: Eating and Relating in the 21th century (BA course, co-teaching with Gesa Jessen and Jasmine Wanjiru Onstad, in English)