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2026
Mind Matters Talk with Dr Hanne De Jaegher
“Loving and Knowing: The relational heart of professional practice”
We are pleased to share that our next Mind Matters Talk will be taking place on Wednesday 17th June with philosopher and cognitive scientist, Dr Hanne De Jaegher.
In relational professions, such as healthcare and teaching, a lot of the work happens in interpersonal interactions. Yet we tend to focus on the individual — the student, client, patient — and how they (should) learn or change. The professional’s well-being, on the other hand, is often either ignored, or also treated as a matter of personal responsibility, apart from the relation. Any change or transformation inherent in these professions is thought of at an individual level. What would happen if we took an engaging epistemology to these professions? What would change, if we thought of them in terms of “loving and knowing” — in terms of a human, humane knowing that is aware of, and yet open to the uncertainties within what happens between us? Practitioners often feel an affinity with this idea, e.g. in the reasons that brought them to these professions in the first place. What can we learn about relational change and transformation, by taking an enactive look into the dynamics at work, specifically in relational professions? The concepts of loving and knowing and participatory sense-making here offer a rich approach that is both experiential and conceptual, existential and dialogical. This is what we will explore in this presentation.
Everyone is encouraged to attend, as this talk is sure to be of benefit to any and all, not just those working within relational fields.
Hanne De Jaegher is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. She notably developed the theory of participatory sense-making, together with Ezequiel Di Paolo. Participatory sense making theory is being used across academic and practical disciplines, from neuroscience to the arts and beyond. De Jaegher also researches and writes about autism and dementia, in close connection with people with lived experience, and innovates interactive methodologies. She thinks a lot about loving and knowing as both existential, tension-full relations, and how they can illuminate each other in philosophy, cognitive science, and our (intersubjective) lives. With Ezequiel Di Paolo and Elena Cuffari, she co-authored Linguistic Bodies: The Continuity between Life and Language (MIT Press, 2027). Currently, she is working as an in(ter)dependent scientific advisor and teacher, among other roles, for Mind & Life Europe.
17-06-2026 07:30 PM