Research & Publications

See PhilPapers for abstracts and pdfs.

Books:

My book „Scripts and Social Cognition: How We Interact with Others“ (2025) was published with Routledge in early 2025 (with endorsements by Sally Haslanger, Shannon Spaulding, Tad Zawidzki, and Suilin Lavelle)

Editorial Description: This book argues that our success in navigating the social world depends heavily on scripts. Scripts play a central role in our ability to understand social interactions shaped by different contextual factors. In philosophy of social cognition, scholars have asked what mechanisms we employ when interacting with other people or when cognizing about other people. Recent approaches acknowledge that social cognition and interaction depends heavily on contextual, cultural, and social factors that contribute to the way individuals make sense of the social interactions they take part in. This book offers the first integrative account of scripts in social cognition and interaction. It argues that we need to make contextual factors and social identity central when trying to explain how social interaction works, and that this is possible via scripts. Additionally, scripts can help us understand bias and injustice in social interaction. The author’s approach combines several different areas of philosophy—– philosophy of mind, social epistemology, feminist philosophy—as well as sociology and psychology to show why paying attention to injustice in interaction is much needed in social cognition research, and in philosophy of mind more generally. Scripts and Social Cognition: How we Interact with Others will appeal to scholars and graduate students working in philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, social epistemology, social ontology, sociology, and social psychology.
 

Edited Volumes:

Currently, I am co-editing the first edited volume on trans philosophy in German (with Sigmond Richli): “trans Philosophie – zwischen Marginalisierung und Scheinkontroversen”, Metzler Verlag,
 

Papers:

  • Eickers, G. & Behrensen, M. (forthcoming). “Academic Philosophy, Epistemic Exploitation, and Trans Issues”, in the MAP & Bloomsbury Edited Volume on Structural Injustice in Philosophy, Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Eickers, G. (forthcoming). “Emotions and Philosophy of Disability”, In The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Disability Studies. Ed. David Bolt. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Eickers, G. & Prinz, J. (forthcoming). “Social Construction of Emotions 3.0”, Journal of the APA.
  • Eickers, G. (forthcoming). “Emotions Beyond Perception: A Reply to ‘Emotion and Analogy’ by Kate Pendoley”, in Introducing Philosophy of Mind, Today (Routledge, eds. Louise Daoust & Devin Curry).
  • Eickers, G. (2025). “Perceiving Emotion: The role of scripts and concepts“, Erkenntnis.
  • Eickers, G. (2025). “Trans perspectives in philosophy of mind“, APA Studies on Feminism and Philosophy, 25 (1).
  • Pismenny, A. & Eickers, G. & Prinz, J. (2024). “Emotional Injustice“, Ergo – an Open Access Journal of Philosophy. [equal author] , 11: 6, 150 – 176.
  • Eickers, G., (2024). “Scripts and Social Cognition“, Ergo – an Open Access Journal of Philosophy 10: 54, 1565 – 1587.
  • Eickers, G. (2024). “Are all emotions social? Embracing a pluralistic understanding of social emotions“, Passion: Journal of the European Philosophical Society for the Study of Emotion, , 2(1), 15–29. 
  • Eickers, G. (2024). “Social Media Experiences of LGBTQ+ People -Enabling Feelings of Belonging“, Topoi: An International Review of Philosophy, 43, 617–630.
  • Eickers, G. (2023 / online first 2022). “Coordinating Behaviors: Is social interaction scripted?“, Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 53 (1), 85-99.
  • Eickers, G. (2023). “Pathologizing Disabled and Trans Identities: How Emotions Become Marginalized“. In S. Tremain (Ed.), The Bloomsbury Guide to Philosophy of Disability, 353-371, Bloomsbury.
  • Eickers, G. (2023). “Influencing Corporealities: Social Media and its impact on Gender Transition“, In  In M. Edwards and O. Palermos, Feminist Philosophy and Emerging Technologies, 227-247, Routledge.
  • Eickers, G. (2022). “Soziale Angemessenheit und dehumanisierende Interaktionsstrukturen: Zum Widerspruch zwischen traditionelleren und modernen Normen”. In J. Bellon & B. Gransche & S. Nähr-Wagener (Hrsg.), Soziale Angemessenheit: Forschung zu Kulturtechniken des Verhaltens, 259-278, Springer VS.
  • Eickers, G. (2022). “Approaches to Blushing: Context Matters”. Perspectiva Filosófica – Special Issue: Phenomenology, Action, Cognition and Affectivity, 49(5), 98-121.
  • Eickers, G. (2022). “Being trans, being loved: clashing identities and the limits of love”. In A. Pismenny & B. Borgaard (Eds.), The Moral Psychology of Love (part of the series The Moral Psychology of the Emotions edited by Mark Alfano), 171-190, Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Eickers, G. & Rath, M. (2021). “Digital Change and Marginalized Communities: Changing Attitudes towards Digital Media in the Margins”, ICERI2021 Proceedings, doi: 10.21125/iceri.2021.1197
  • Eickers, G. & Rath, M. (2020). “Digital Change and The “Trust Deficit”: Ethical and Pedagogical Implications – First results of the German research project DigitalDialog21”, INTED2020 Proceedings, doi: 10.21125/inted.2020.0894 
  • Eickers, G. & Prinz, J.J. (2020). “Emotion recognition as a social skill”. In E. Fridland & C. Pavese (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of philosophy of skill and expertise, 347-361, New York: Routledge.   
  • Eickers, G. (2020). “COVID-19 and Trans Healthcare: Yes, global Pandemics are (also) a Trans Rights Issue”. Gender Forum, Special Issue: Gender in Crisis. Covid-19 and Its Impact, 76: 19-34.
  • Eickers, G., Loaiza, J., Prinz, J.J. (2017). “Embodiment, context-sensitivity, and discrete emotion”, Psychological Inquiry, 28 (1), 31-38.

Doctoral Dissertation: Eickers, G. (2019): “Scripted Alignment: A Theory of Social Interaction”, Doctoral Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin.

In Progress:

  • A paper on emotional injustice vs. affective harms (with Jesse Prinz and Arina Pismenny)
  • A paper on gender norms, masculinity, and emotional injustice (draft available upon request)
  • A paper on scripts and social appropriateness
  • A paper on gender scripts and gendered scripts (with Sam Hesni)