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Thomas Metzinger
Metzinger in 2022
Born	(1958-03-12) 12 March 1958 (age 68) Frankfurt, West Germany
Education
Education	Goethe University Frankfurt
Philosophical work
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Analytic
Institutions	University of Giessen University of Osnabrück University of Mainz
Main interests	Philosophy of mind Cognitive science Neurophilosophy Applied ethics
Notable ideas	Phenomenal self-model (PSM)

Thomas Metzinger (German: [ˈmɛtsɪŋɐ]Category:Pages with German IPA; born 12 March 1958) is a German philosopher and Professor Emeritus of theoretical philosophy at the University of Mainz. His primary research areas include philosophy of mind, philosophy of neuroscience, and applied ethics, particularly focusing on neurotechnology, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. He has argued in his book Being No One that the phenomenal self is a mental construct created by the brain.^[1] His 2024 book The Elephant and the Blind compiled extensive research on meditation.

Academic career

Metzinger studied philosophy, ethnology, and theology at Goethe University Frankfurt. He received his doctorate there in 1985, with a thesis on the mind-body problem. In 1992, he completed his habilitation at the University of Giessen. In 2000, Metzinger was appointed professor of philosophy of cognitive science at Osnabrück University, but moved to the University of Mainz in the same year.^[2]

Metzinger cofounded in 1994 of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness,^[3][4] of which he has been a board and committee member, and was the 2010 president.^[5] From 2005 to 2007 he was president of the German Cognitive Science Society.^[6] Metzinger is an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies,^[7] a co-founder of the German Effective Altruism Foundation,^[8] president of the Barbara Wengeler Foundation,^[9] and on the advisory board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation^[10] and the MIND Foundation.^[11] From 2008 to 2009, he served as a Fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study;^[12] from 2014 to 2019, he was a Fellow at the Gutenberg Research College; from 2019 to 2022, he was awarded a Senior-Forschungsprofessur by the Ministry of Science, Education and Culture.^[13] In 2019 he founded the MPE project.^[14] From 2018 to 2020, Metzinger worked as a member of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence.^[15] In 2022 he was elected into the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.^[16]

Personal life

Metzinger has practiced meditation twice a day for over forty years.^[17] He has recommended vipassana practice.^[18]

Bibliography

Monographs

• (1985) Neuere Beiträge zur Diskussion des Leib-Seele-Problems. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, ISBN 3-8204-8927-4.
• (1993) Subjekt und Selbstmodell. Die Perspektivität phänomenalen Bewußtseins vor dem Hintergrund einer naturalistischen Theorie mentaler Repräsentation. mentis, Paderborn, ISBN 3-89785-081-8.
• (2003) Being No One. The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ISBN 0-262-13417-9 (hardcover)/ISBN 0262633086 (paperback).
• (2009) The Ego Tunnel – The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self Basic Books, New York, ISBN 0-465-04567-7.
• (2009) Der Ego-Tunnel – Eine neue Philosophie des Selbst: Von der Hirnforschung zur Bewusstseinsethik Berlin Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3-8270-0630-9.
• (2010) Der Ego Tunnel. Eine neue Philosophie des Selbst: Von der Hirnforschung zur Bewusstseinsethik. Berlin: Berlin Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8270-7037-1.
• (2011) Being No One. The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
• (2023) Bewusstseinskultur – Spiritualität, intellektuelle Redlichkeit und die planetare Krise. Berlin, Berlin Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8270-1488-7.
• (2023) Der Elefant und die Blinden. Berlin Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-8270-1487-0.
• (2024) The Elephant and the Blind. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press ISBN 978-0-2625-4710-9.

Editorship

• (1995) Bewußtsein – Beiträge aus der Gegenwartsphilosophie., Paderborn, mentis, Paderborn, ISBN 3-89785-012-5.
• (1995) Conscious Experience. Imprint Academic, Thorverton und mentis, Paderborn, ISBN 0-907845-10-X (Hardcover)
• (2000) Neural Correlates of Consciousness – Empirical and Conceptual Questions. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, ISBN 0-262-13370-9 (Hardcover).
• (2006) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 1: Phänomenales Bewusstsein mentis, Paderborn, ISBN 3-89785-551-8.
• (2007) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 2: Das Leib-Seele-Problem mentis, Paderborn, ISBN 3-89785-552-6.
• (2010) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 3: Intentionalität und mentale Repräsentation mentis Paderborn, ISBN 978-3-89785-553-3. All three volumes can be purchased for 78 Euros, ISBN 978-3-89785-554-0.
• (2015, with Jennifer M. Windt). Open MIND-collection, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. ISBN 978-3-95857-102-0.
• (2017, with Wanja Wiese). Philosophy and Predictive Processing-collection, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. ISBN 978-3-95857-138-9.
• (2020, with Raphaël Millière). Radical Disruptions of Self-Consciousness, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. ISSN 2699-0369.

References

External links

• English Homepage
• Conversation with Karl Friston 2023