Zahavi writes on
phenomenology (especially the philosophy of
Edmund Husserl) and
philosophy of mind. In his writings, he has dealt extensively with topics such as self, self-consciousness, intersubjectivity and social cognition. In the period 2007-2025 he was co-editor-in-chief of the journal
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Zahavi's work has been translated into more than 30 languages.
Pre-reflective self-consciousness In several books and articles, Zahavi has defended the existence and significance of
pre-reflective self-consciousness, and argued in favor of the idea that our experiential life is characterized by a form of
self-consciousness that is more primitive and more fundamental than the reflective form of self-consciousness that one finds in various kinds of
introspection. More generally speaking, Zahavi has spoken out against different reductionist approaches to consciousness, and insisted on the theoretical significance of subjectivity and the first-person perspective. In working on these issues, Zahavi has collaborated and debated with psychiatrists, developmental psychologists, and Buddhist scholars. Critics have included those who either deny the existence of
self or the existence of pre-reflective self-consciousness.
Empathy and social cognition Another part of Zahavi's work has focused on problems related to
intersubjectivity,
empathy, and
social cognition. His PhD thesis defended a phenomenological approach to intersubjectivity. In various papers and books since then he has in particular focused on the role and structure of empathy. He has argued in favor of the bodily and contextual character of interpersonal understanding, and criticized dominant positions within the so-called ’theory of mind’ debate, including
simulation theory and
theory-theory. on shared emotions, we-experiences, collective
intentionality, and the importance of the I–thou relation.
Phenomenology In parallel with his systematic work on the above-mentioned topics, Zahavi has also written on
phenomenology, especially the work of Edmund Husserl. He has argued that phenomenology is a powerful and systematically convincing voice that contemporary philosophy and empirical science shouldn’t ignore. In addition to offering extensive analyses of Husserl’s analyses of intersubjectivity and self- and time-consciousness, Throughout his work, Zahavi has criticized what he takes to be overly simplistic interpretations of Husserl that depicts the latter as a solipsist and subjective idealist, and instead accentuated the continuity between Husserl’s phenomenology and the work of post-Husserlian phenomenologists, especially that of
Maurice Merleau-Ponty. ==Center for Subjectivity Research==