Thomas Metzinger
Thomas Metzinger (lang; 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.
Thomas Metzinger

Thomas Metzinger · Public domain
- Name
- Thomas Metzinger
- Born
- 12 March 1958
- Birthplace
- Frankfurt, West Germany
- Education
- Goethe University Frankfurt
- Nationality
- Germany
- Occupation
- writer · philosopher · university teacher
- Movements
- atheism
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Thomas Metzinger. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q67007 · wikipedia · Thomas Metzinger
In this article
Biography
Biography
His 2024 book The Elephant and the Blind compiled extensive research on meditation.

Thomas Metzinger am Forum Alpbach
Michael Thurm

Thomas Metzinger 2023
Jumpilo
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Thomas Metzinger • Born — 12 March 1958 • Birthplace — Frankfurt, West Germany • Era — Contemporary philosophy • Region — Western philosophy • School Tradition — Analytic • Education — Goethe University Frankfurt • 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)
Academic career
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. Metzinger cofounded in 1994 of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, of which he has been a board and committee member, and was the 2010 president. From 2005 to 2007 he was president of the German Cognitive Science Society. Metzinger is an Adjunct Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, a co-founder of the German Effective Altruism Foundation, president of the Barbara Wengeler Foundation, and on the advisory board of the Giordano Bruno Foundation and the MIND Foundation. From 2008 to 2009, he served as a Fellow at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study; 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. In 2019 he founded the MPE project. From 2018 to 2020, Metzinger worked as a member of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence. In 2022 he was elected into the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Personal life
Personal life
Metzinger has practiced meditation twice a day for over forty years. He has recommended vipassana practice.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1958
Thomas Metzinger born at Frankfurt.
2024
The Elephant And The Blind, Thomas Metzinger, 2024 (2024) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Thomas Metzinger, revision 1355941643 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rothman, Joshua. Are We Already Living in Virtual Reality?. The New Yorker. 2018-03-26. 0028-792X.
- 2.Prof. Dr. Thomas Metzinger (März 2014). University of Mainz.
- 3.Prof. Thomas Metzinger. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
- 4.About Us. theASSC.org.
- 5.Past Leadership. Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness.
- 6.Alte Vorstände. Gesellschaft für Kognitionswissenschaft ev.
- 7.Fellows. Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies.
- 8.deutschlandfunkkultur.de. Philosophiemagazin - Nächstenliebe – möglichst kosteneffizient. Deutschlandfunk Kultur. 2016-04-17.
- 9.Der Vorstand. Barbara-Wengeler-Stiftung.
- 10.Advisory board. Giordano Bruno Foundation.
- 11.Scientific advisory board. MIND foundation.
- 12.Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Thomas Metzinger, Dr. phil.
- 13.Archiv von Mitteilungen des Philosophischen Seminars Philosophisches Seminar. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
- 14.The MPE project. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
- 15.AI HLEG - steering group of the European AI Alliance. European Commission. 2018-06-12.
- 16.List of Members Thomas Metzinger. National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
- 17.(2024) The Elephant and the Blind. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
- 18.Geleta, Matthew. Thomas Metzinger: Neuroethics, Psychedelics, and Conscious AI. Paradigm.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 19
- (1985) Neuere Beiträge zur Diskussion des Leib-Seele-Problems. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, .
- (1993) Subjekt und Selbstmodell. Die Perspektivität phänomenalen Bewußtseins vor dem Hintergrund einer naturalistischen Theorie mentaler Repräsentation. mentis, Paderborn, .
- (2003) Being No One. The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (hardcover)/ (paperback).
- (2009) The Ego Tunnel – The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self Basic Books, New York, .
- (2009) Der Ego-Tunnel – Eine neue Philosophie des Selbst: Von der Hirnforschung zur Bewusstseinsethik Berlin Verlag, Berlin, .
- (2010) Der Ego Tunnel. Eine neue Philosophie des Selbst: Von der Hirnforschung zur Bewusstseinsethik. Berlin: Berlin Verlag. .
- (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. .
- (2023) Der Elefant und die Blinden. Berlin Verlag, Berlin, .
- (2024) The Elephant and the Blind. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press .
- (1995) Bewußtsein – Beiträge aus der Gegenwartsphilosophie., Paderborn, mentis, Paderborn, .
- (1995) Conscious Experience. Imprint Academic, Thorverton und mentis, Paderborn, (Hardcover)
- (2000) Neural Correlates of Consciousness – Empirical and Conceptual Questions. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (Hardcover).
- (2006) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 1: Phänomenales Bewusstsein mentis, Paderborn, .
- (2007) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 2: Das Leib-Seele-Problem mentis, Paderborn, .
- (2010) Grundkurs Philosophie des Geistes – Band 3: Intentionalität und mentale Repräsentation mentis Paderborn, . All three volumes can be purchased for 78 Euros, .
- (2015, with Jennifer M. Windt). Open MIND-collection, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. .
- (2017, with Wanja Wiese). Philosophy and Predictive Processing-collection, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. .
- (2020, with Raphaël Millière). Radical Disruptions of Self-Consciousness, Frankfurt am Main: MIND Group. .
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Thomas McEvilleyAuthor
- Thomas McGrathAuthor
- Thomas MedwinAuthor
- Thomas MertonAuthor
- Thomas MiddletonAuthor
- Thomas MillerAuthor
- Thomas Mokopu MofoloAuthor
- Thomas MooreAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Thomas Metzinger?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.