New Paper Published: "Aidification of the Self" – Rethinking Machine Consciousness Through Human-Robot 'Between-ness'

I am pleased to share that my latest paper has been published in Neuroscience of Consciousness as part of the Special Issue on "Aware and Alive: Embodied and Phenomenological Perspectives on Consciousness."

Rather than seeking a "self" within the internal mechanisms of an isolated machine, this paper argues that authentic self-consciousness is an emergent quality of the Aida (間)—the relational "in-between" shared among interacting agents. To shift the paradigm from solitary processing to shared reality, I propose the principle of "Aidification."

Here are the key points:

• The Limits of "Spoken Speech": Current humanoid robots merely simulate communication by statistically reproducing ready-made linguistic patterns ("spoken speech") without an underlying physical "felt sense" or subjective center.

• Rethinking Symbol Grounding: True referential grounding cannot be achieved in isolation; it requires finding a semantic position within language and anchoring it through communicative interaction in a shared world.

• The Trajectory from Hand to Face: While hands are visible instruments of action, the face is a phenomenological blind spot that requires the "gaze of the Other" to be fully integrated into the self-image as an object ("Me").

• Language as a "Cane for Thought": Much like a blind man's cane extends the body, language serves as a tool to navigate meaning space, where interactional resistance forces the system to reflexively model its own presence.

• Toward Symbiotic Intelligence: Aidification redefines intelligence as a quality that flourishes between humans and machines, rooted in the real-time co-creation of a shared, dynamic reality.

The full article is open access and can be retrieved here:

https://doi.org/10.1093/nc/niag032

Full Citation: Tanaka, S. (2026). Aidification of the self: a phenomenological approach to machine consciousness through human-robot 'between-ness'. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2026(1), niag032.

Upcoming Book Announcement: "Body of Wisdom: The Embodied Dimensions of Life" (Cambridge University Press)

I am pleased to share that the official pages for my upcoming monograph, Body of Wisdom: The Embodied Dimensions of Life, are now live on the Cambridge University Press (CUP) website. The book is scheduled for official publication on November 3, 2026.

Thanks to the generous support of the JST-CREST grant program, I am very glad to announce that this book will be published as a full Open Access title. Upon its release in November, the digital version will be available to read and download for free worldwide via Cambridge Core (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/body-of-wisdom/7E862C24E0A45EEFE36DB912A5F5E495).

In the meantime, the physical edition (Hardback and Paperback) is now available for pre-order, and you can review the book's full bibliographic details on the CUP Official Website (https://www.cambridge.org/jp/universitypress/subjects/psychology/cognition/body-wisdom-embodied-dimensions-life#description). I would be highly grateful if you could consider recommending it to your institutional library.

Why "Wisdom"?

As the subtitle, The Embodied Dimensions of Life, suggests, this book aims to reach beyond a purely cognitive account of human knowledge. It delves into the deeper, bodily dimensions of our lived existence—our life itself.

Human bodily experience is not merely an instrument for acquiring abstract data or objective information. Rather, our bodies serve as the foundational medium through which we grasp the world, engage with others, and navigate our existence. By exploring this deep connection, the book attempts to articulate not just "knowledge" in the traditional sense, but the tacit, lived "wisdom" that is inherently embedded in our being.

Readership

While offering a rigorous framework for researchers in phenomenology, embodied cognitive science, and the philosophy of mind, this book's scope extends well beyond theoretical philosophy. It is also written for practitioners in clinical fields, therapy, and various bodily practices (such as martial arts or performance arts) who wish to explore the somatic and philosophical foundations of tacit skill.

I look forward to sharing more updates as we approach the publication date this autumn. Thank you all for your continuous support!

New Publication on Narrative Embodiment in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

Following my post last June regarding my appointment to the editorial board of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, I am very pleased to announce that our collaborative research has now been officially published in this journal.

The paper is titled "Embodying the narrative self, narrating the embodied self" and was co-authored with Sotaro Shimada and Katsunori Miyahara. You can access the article here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-026-10156-0

This work is a significant outcome of our ongoing JST-ANR research project, "Narrative Embodiment." In this paper, we explore the intricate intersections between the lived body and narrative identity, further developing the theoretical framework we have been cultivating within the project.

Building on my initial motivation to contribute to this journal as I joined its editorial committee, this publication represents a meaningful milestone for our team. I would like to express my gratitude to my co-authors and the vibrant research community for the stimulating discussions that shaped this work.

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences

As of June 1st, I am joining the editorial committee of Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. Although I have not previously published my own work in this journal, this opportunity has motivated me to begin writing a paper that explores the intersection of embodied experience and narrative structures. I also look forward to engaging with new research as a reviewer and contributing to the vibrant dialogue within this community.

https://link.springer.com/journal/11097/editorial-board

YouTube Release: Intercorporeality mediated by online meeting software

I am pleased to share that the recording of my talk at the OIST Embodied Cognitive Science Unit is now available on YouTube.

In this seminar, I explore how online meeting software mediates — and transforms — our bodily engagement with others. By comparing non-verbal communication in digital spaces versus face-to-face interactions, I argue that "intercorporeality" remains the essential key to understanding the subtle "gaps" we feel in virtual dialogues.

If you are interested in how our sense of presence shifts between the physical and the digital, I invite you to watch the full talk.

Shogo Tanaka: Intercorporeality mediated by online meeting software

My talk compares nonverbal communication in online interactions with that in face-to-face interactions. Intercorporeality is the key to understanding the difference.

Enjoy the session!

Reflections on "Aware & Alive" in Sapporo

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in "Aware & Alive," a symposium held at Hokkaido University as an ASSC satellite event.

Aware & Alive (8-10th July 2024, Hokkaido University, Japan)

The gathering was a wonderful opportunity to discuss the deep connections between life and consciousness with colleagues from various fields. During the session, I gave a talk titled: "From an implicit sense of self to an explicit self-consciousness." 

In this presentation, I explored the transition from our primal, bodily sense of self to the more reflective and narrative levels of self-awareness. 

Enjoy!

New Paper Announcement: Hand to Face

I am pleased to announce that my new paper has been published in Japanese Psychological Research.

Tanaka, S. (2024). Hand to Face: A Phenomenological View of Body Image Development in Infants.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12517

In this paper, I reconsider the development of the "body image" from a phenomenological perspective. My central proposal is that the hands are the first organ, while the face is the final organ, to be fully incorporated into an infant's body image.

Why does the face—the very center of our social identity—take the longest to be "owned" as part of our felt body? And how do the hands pave the way for this process? If you are interested in the "why" and "how" of this developmental journey, I invite you to read the full text via the DOI link above.

I hope you find the argument engaging.

Best regards,

Shogo

Co-authored paper with Dr. Iriki

 A paper co-authored with Dr. Atsushi Iriki has just been published in Global Perspectives. 

Iriki, A., & Tanaka, S. (2024). Potential of the path integral and quantum computing for the study of humanities: An underlying principle of human evolution and the function of consciousness. Global Perspectives, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2024.115651

You can read the full text by clicking the DOI above. This is my first paper that deals with quantum computing and its implications in humanities. As we emphasized in it, we can expect to obtain insights into new humanities based on quantum computation, including the fields such as linguistics, psychopathology, and diverse states of consciousness. Here is the abstract of our paper.

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The “(classical) scientific view of the world” that characterizes the modern history of human civilization has been successful by objectifying nature, humans, and society, for reductive analysis into (approximate) linear causation to allow prediction and control. However, because of its growing maturity and complexity, our modern society now confronts the complexity of multilayered causal structures underlying the real phenomena, which classical science has abstracted through reductive approximation, and consequently, modern scientists are perplexed by the limitations on  comprehension, predictability, and controllability. The “uncertainty principle” of quantum physics, discovered a century ago, has overthrown this classical mechanistic and deterministic worldview, but the “(quantum) scientific worldview” remained confined at the level of microscopic science and has to date never extended onward to the life-size human world. However, as practical applications of the quantum computer are now becoming realistic, it might provide us with an innovative way to manipulate such complex causal structures and open up a new era in the history of civilization. In this paper, we build ideas on our earlier research findings in the context of the evolutionary patterns of human cognition, so as to extrapolate them to advance speculations on the mechanism of the phase transition of worldviews from classical to quantum causal structure-based ones, expecting to obtain insights into practical ways of computation to realize such a transition. The paper begins with a section examining the origin of the linear approximation adopted in classical science, back casting from the evolutionary history of the (linguistic) consciousness of our human ancestors. In the next section, we show how human intelligence and civilization have in fact evolved as analog with quantum laws, and review the limitations of modern science in finding an expression of these laws in Eastern philosophy. This section proceeds to show the potential of quantum computation to not only realize a fusion of Eastern and Western approaches but also integrate the humanities and natural sciences. The final section concludes that this new framework can expand and develop the structure and function of human “consciousness” and build a bridgehead against recent “anti-scientism” that is rooted in skepticism concerning the (classical) scientific view of the world and humanity.

---------------

Enjoy the paper!

Exploring the "Embodied" Roots of Narrative Self

I am pleased to share a recent article published in Philosophical Psychology, co-authored with my colleague, Katsunori Miyahara.

Katsunori Miyahara and Shogo Tanaka (2023) "Narrative self-constitution as embodied practice" Philosophical Psychology.

https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2286281

In this paper, we bridge the gap between "narrative" and "embodied" views of the self. While these two perspectives are often discussed separately, we argue that they are deeply intertwined through the body’s habituality.

Drawing on Merleau-Ponty, we explore how our history of engaging with the world shapes the "narrating I" and the "narrated I." Our conclusion is that narrating oneself is not just a linguistic act, but a practice fundamentally embedded in our bodily existence.

Working with Katsunori was a rewarding experience, as we both share a deep interest in extending phenomenological insights into contemporary cognitive science.

You can find the full abstract below:

Narrative views of the self argue that we constitute our self in self-narratives. Embodied views hold that our self is shaped through embodied experiences. In that case, what is the relation between embodiment and narrativity in the process of self-constitution? The question demands a clear definition of embodiment, but existing studies remains unclear on this point (section 2). We offer a correction to this situation by drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s analysis of the body that highlights its habituality. On this account, the body has an inherent tendency to cultivate an organization of habits through its history of engagement with the world (section 3). Next, we explore its role in narrative self-constitution by distinguishing between two aspects of the narrative self, the narrated I and the narrating I (section 4). We argue on phenomenological grounds that self-narratives are informed by bodily perspectives in both respects. Furthermore, a focus on the habituality of the body allows for a better explanation of self-constitution than those based on implicit self-narratives (section 5). For these phenomenological and theoretical reasons, we conclude that narrative self-constitution is an embodied and embedded practice (section 6).

 

Podcast: Navigating "Aida" and "Ma" through the Lens of Ikigai

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Nick Kemp from IKIGAI TRIBE.

Many of you may already know the Japanese word "Ikigai" (生きがい), which refers to that which makes one's life worth living. This concept has gained international recognition, partly through the English translation of Mieko Kamiya’s seminal book, On Ikigai.

In this interview, I attempted to explain the concepts of "Aida" (Betweenness) and "Ma" (Interval). While both terms are deeply rooted in Japanese language and culture, I believe they possess a universal dimension that resonates with people from diverse backgrounds. To illustrate this, I began my talk by connecting these concepts to the phenomenological idea of intercorporeality.

If you are interested in how our sense of self emerges through these cultural and bodily "in-betweens," you can listen to the full podcast here:

IKIGAI podcast 66: Navigating Aida and Intercorporeality with Prof. Shogo Tanaka

https://ikigaitribe.com/podcasts/podcast66/

Enjoy the conversation!

Website open: IHSRC 2023 in Tokyo

We are happy to announce that the website for IHSRC 2023 is now open!

https://ihsrc2023tokyo.jp/

The 40th International Human Science Research Conference is scheduled for 7 to 11 August 2023 and will be held at Tokai University Takanawa Campus, Tokyo, as an onsite event.

Submission Details

Please send your abstract for paper presentation by April 15th, 2023 to "ihsrc2023@gmail.com". The decision will be sent no later than May 15th.

Post-Conference Reflection (Added in September 2023)

Looking back, the 40th IHSRC was a milestone event that brought together researchers from diverse disciplines to discuss the future of human science. The onsite discussions at Tokai University were particularly vibrant, fostering a renewed sense of community after remote interaction during the pandemic.

We look forward to seeing how these discussions continue to evolve in future conferences.

All the best,

Shogo Tanaka 

IHSRC 2023 Local Organizing Committee

Upcoming Event: "Embodied Spirituality" (September 23rd)

We are going to hold an online symposium on September 23rd, 2022.

Tokai University Online Symposium "Embodied Spirituality: Meditation practices in the contemporary world" Date: September 23rd, 2022 Time: 10:00 - 12:00 CET / 17:00 - 19:00 JST

All those who are interested in embodiment and spirituality are welcome. Please follow the link below and register your name and e-mail address. You will get the webinar link after the registration.

REGISTER HERE

My Talk: "On the spiritual dimension of embodied experiences"

My talk is titled "On the spiritual dimension of embodied experiences." My main idea is simple: Our bodily experiences, such as sports and dance, inherently have spiritual dimensions.

If you are interested in how the physical and the spiritual intersect, please join us!

Best, 

Shogo

Embodiment Conference 2020

I am pleased to announce that I will be participating in The Embodiment Conference 2020 as a speaker. The conference will be held from October 14–25, 2020, via Zoom. It offers a wonderful opportunity to explore diverse perspectives on embodiment through a wide range of lectures and sessions.

If you are interested in the conference, you can obtain free access here:

https://theembodimentconference.org/

My British colleague, Dr. Adrian Harris, has informed me that a crowdfunding campaign was recently launched. These funds will support a stable online platform for the sessions and facilitate the translation of conference materials into several languages.

https://www.teccrowdfund.org/

As a speaker, I will be joining a panel organized by Adrian. I will provide further details as they are finalized.

Best,

Shogo

New Publication: A Phenomenological Account of Depersonalization

I am pleased to share that my paper on depersonalization, published last year, is now available for download. You can access it through the following link:

"What is it Like to Be Disconnected from the Body?: A Phenomenological Account of Disembodiment in Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder" [Journal of特 Consciousness Studies, Vol. 25, No. 5-6] Link to Paper

As outlined in the abstract, this paper examines the experience of disembodiment in depersonalization disorder, with a specific focus on the minimal self.

I believe this work will be of interest to those specialized in the phenomenology of embodiment, phenomenological psychopathology, and the philosophy of psychiatry.

I hope you find the paper insightful.

Best, 

Shogo

New Chapter: Reconnecting the Self to the Divine

I am pleased to announce that a new book edited by Dr. Olga Louchakova-Schwartz is set to be published this November. I am honored to have contributed a chapter to this insightful collection, titled "The Problem of Religious Experience."

My contribution is titled:

"[Chapter 2] Reconnecting the Self to the Divine: The Body’s Role in Religious Experience"

Interestingly, this is the first time I have formally explored religious experiences through the lens of embodiment. While my work often focuses on the phenomenology of the body in more secular or psychological contexts, investigating the "divine" through our physical existence has been a profoundly rewarding challenge. For those interested, here is the abstract of my chapter. I hope it sparks some reflection on how our bodies "know" more than we often realize.

[Abstract]

This chapter explores spontaneous religious experiences—those that occur outside traditional religious beliefs or institutions but remain inherently religious in nature. These can range from a deep feeling of unity with nature to the peak states in sports, or even the sudden ecstatic sensation one might feel when listening to a harmonious chorus. Although these moments are not always labeled as "religious," they are intense enough to awaken spiritual feelings. What is experienced as "something beyond the self" may be the foundational source of divinity underlying all religious activity. My goal is to explore this experience from the perspective of the embodied self and the sense of agency. William James (1902) famously listed "passivity" as a hallmark of mystical experience: the feeling that one's actions are guided by "the Other" even while maintaining a sense of agency. In my view, this state originates in the function of the body schema coordinating actions with the environment. Just as the body schema organizes new actions beyond our conscious intentions in unfamiliar situations, the body in spontaneous religious experiences operates beyond habit, acting as if it were following a divine will.

 

Cheers,

Shogo