Shaun Gallagher

Shaun Gallagher (born 1948) is an American philosopher recognized for his significant contributions to the philosophy of mind, particularly in the areas of embodied cognition, social cognition, agency, and psychopathology. He is currently the Lillian and Morrie Moss Chair of Excellence in Philosophy at the University of Memphis, a position he has held since 2011. Additionally, he has been a Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong in Australia since 2014. Gallagher's academic career includes extensive international experience with visiting positions at prestigious institutions such as Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre University, Keble College, Oxford, Humboldt University, Berlin, and the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University. His notable ideas include coining the term '4E cognition,' and developing concepts related to the phenomenological distinction between body image and body schema, the sense of ownership versus agency, the pattern theory of self, and the socially extended mind. He has authored several influential books, including "How the Body Shapes the Mind" (2005), "Phenomenology" (2012), and "The Phenomenological Mind" (co-authored with Dan Zahavi). Gallagher is also a founding editor and co-editor-in-chief of the journal "Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences." His work has significantly influenced contemporary discussions in cognitive science and philosophy of mind.