Pär Segerdahl

Researcher and blog editor at the Centre for Research Ethics and Bioethics, Uppsala University

I received my PhD in theoretical philosophy in 1993 at Uppsala University. I became associate professor (docent) at Åbo Akademi in 1998; at Uppsala University in 2001. My research can be described as a philosophical dialogue with other disciplines. In a series of externally funded research projects I collaborated not only with philosophers, but also with linguists, primatologists, animal welfare scientists, bioethicists and gender researchers.

Since 2000 I collaborated with ape language researchers and wrote with them the book Kanzi’s Primal Language (Palgrave, 2005). I led a research project on animal behavior 2004-2007, which involved collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and was financed by Formas. One of my publications in that project was the book, Djuren i kulturen (Daidalos, 2009). I spent the years 2007-2009 as guest researcher at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University, where I was one of the founding members of the Humananimal group and edited the book Undisciplined Animals (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011). I will return to the Centre for Gender Research to do research in the project, Becoming “Human,” financed by the Swedish Research Council. I currently work as a researcher at the Centre for Research Ethics and Bioethics, where I also am the editor of two blogs: Etikbloggen (in Swedish) and The Ethics Blog (in English).

I am a member of Nordic Network for Philosophical Anthropology and The Nordic Wittgenstein Society.

Publications

International peer-reviewed articles

Segerdahl, P. 1994. Critique of Pure Capacity. Searle and the Background. Philosophical Investigations 17: 507-535.

Segerdahl, P. 1995. Linguistic Theory and Actual Language. Language & Communication 15: 31-42.

Segerdahl, P. 1998. Scientific Studies of Aspects of Everyday Life. The Example of Conversation Analysis. Language & Communication 18: 275-323.

Segerdahl, P. 2001. Is Language Something that We Learn? Current Anthropology 42: 503-504.

Savage-Rumbaugh, S., Fields, W. Segerdahl, P. and Rumbaugh, D. 2005. Culture Prefigures Cognition in Pan/Homo Bonobos. Theoria: An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science 54: 311-328.

Eriksson, S, Helgesson, G. and Segerdahl, P. 2006. Provide Expertise or Facilitate Ethical Reflection? On the Proper Role for Bioethics. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 9: 389-392.

Segerdahl, P. 2007. Can Natural Behaviour be Cultivated? The Farm as Local Human/Animal Culture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 20: 167-193.

International peer-reviewed monographs

Segerdahl, P. 1996. Language Use. A Philosophical Investigation into the Basic Notions of Pragmatics. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Macmillan / New York: St Martins.

Segerdahl, P., Fields, W. and Savage-Rumbaugh, S. 2005. Kanzi’s Primal Language. The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapters in books, in English

Segerdahl, P. 1999. Does Our Use of Indexicals Require Explanation? Philosophical Crumbs. R. Sliwinski (Ed.). Uppsala Philosophical Studies 49: 209-218.

Segerdahl, P. 2002. Wittgenstein, Meursault and the Difficulty of Philosophy. The Practice of Language. M. Gustafsson & L. Hertzberg(Eds). Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 201-212.

Segerdahl, P. 2003. Conversation Analysis as Rigorous Science. Discussing Conversation Analysis. The Work of Emanuel A. Schegloff. P. J. Thibault & C. Prevignano (Eds.). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 91-108.

Savage-Rumbaugh, E. S., Segerdahl, P. and Fields, W. M. 2005. Individual Differences in Language-Competencies in Apes Resulting From Unique Rearing Conditions Imposed by Different First Epistemplogies. Symbolic Use and Symbolic Representation: Developmental and Comparative Perspectives. L. L. Namy (Ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum.

Fields, W., Segerdahl, P, and Savage-Rumbaugh, S. 2007. The Material Practices of Ape Language Research. Cambridge Handbook of Socio-Cultural Psychology. J. Valsiner, Rosa, A. (Eds.). Cambridge University Press.

Segerdahl, P. 2009. The Difficulty of Acknowledging Our Primary Culture. Acknowledging Stanley Cavell. Forsberg, N. & Jansson, S. (Eds). Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies.

Segerdahl, P. 2009. Can Non-Human Animals have Cultural Notions of Sex? Investigating Human/Animal Relations in Science, Culture and Work. Holmberg, T. (Ed.). Skrifter från Centrum för genusvetenskap, Uppsala universitet.

Pedersen, J., Segerdahl P., and Fields, W. M. 2011. “Why Apes Point: Indexical Pointing in Spontaneous Conversation of Language-Competent Pan/Homo Bonobos.” In Potocki, E. and Krasiñski, J. (Eds.), Primatology: Theories, Methods and Research, Nova Science Publishers.

Segerdahl, P. 2011. Does Learning Language from Humans Make Apes less Animal? Undisciplined Animals: Invitations to Animal Studies. Segerdahl, P. (Ed.). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Segerdahl, P. (in press). Human-Enculturated Apes: Towards a New Synthesis of Philosophy and Comparative Psychology. Crossing Boundaries: Creating Knowledge about Ourselves with Other Animals. Birke, L. and Hockenhull, J. (Eds.). Brill.

Segerdahl, P. (in press). Gender, Language and Philosophical Reconciliation: what Does Judith Butler Destabilize? Wittgensteinian Approaches to Ethics and the Philosophy of Culture. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Segerdahl, P. (in press). Humanizing Nonhumans: Ape Language Research as Critique of Metaphysics. Language, Ethics and Animal Life. Burley, M. Forsberg, N. & Hämäläinen, N. (Eds.). Continuum.

Edited volumes

Forsberg, N., Rider, S., and Segerdahl, P. (Eds.). 2008. Tankar tillägnade Sören Stenlund. Uppsala Philosophical Studies 54.

Segerdahl, P. (Ed.). 2011. Undisciplined Animals: Invitations to Animal Studies. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Monographs and articles in Swedish

Segerdahl, P. 1988. Kritik av den logiska ordningen inom pragmatiken. (Våra begrepp om språk, VBOS 3). Institutionen för lingvistik, Uppsala universitet. (Monograph.)

Segerdahl, P. 1989. Kritik av den rena förmågan: Searle och ”The Background". (Våra begrepp om språk, VBOS 4). Institutionen för lingvistik, Uppsala universitet. (Monograph.)

Segerdahl, P. 1993. Filosofi, vetenskap och språk. Filosofisk tidskrift 1/93: 3-17.

Segerdahl, P. 1994. Filosofins klarhet i ljuset av Wittgensteins dunkelhet. Filosofisk tidskrift 2/94: 16-36.

Segerdahl, P. 1994. Skenbar förståelse av filosofins skenbara mening. Finsk tidskrift 1/94.

Segerdahl, P. 1995. Metafysik och språkkritik. Filosofisk tidskrift 2/95: 9-21.

Segerdahl, P. 1995. Om svårigheten att kritiskt betrakta sina egna övertygelser. Filosofisk tidskrift 2/95: 30-32.

Segerdahl, P. 1998. William James och vårt vanliga språk. Vidgade perspektiv. Meditationer över diverse filosofihistoriska ämnen. Svensson, H. (Redaktör). Uppsala Philosophical Studies 47: 153-162.

Segerdahl, P. 1999. Angående ”språkfilosofins elände”. Filosofisk tidskrift 4/99: 8-10.

Segerdahl, P. 1999. Varför exempel är intressanta i filosofin. Filosofisk tidskrift 4/99: 5-16.

Segerdahl, P. 2001. Har filosofin fortfarande någon roll att spela? Filosofisk tidskrift 2/01: 72-86.

Segerdahl, P. 2008. Förlåtelsens anda. Tankar tillägnade Sören Stenlund. Forsberg, N., Rider, S., and Segerdahl, P. (Eds.). Uppsala Philosophical Studies 54.

Segerdahl, P. 2009. Djuren i kulturen: Hur naturligt kan våra husdjur leva? Göteborg: Daidalos. (Monograph.)

Segerdahl, P. 2011. Varför filosoferar man? Filosofisk tidskrift 1/11.

Textbooks for students and chapters in textbooks

Segerdahl, P. 1998. Språkteorier och språkspel. Lund: Studentlitteratur. (Textbook.)

Segerdahl, P. 2002. Kan ett djur tala så att vi förstår? In: Franck, O. (Ed.). Unga filosofer. Antologi för gymnasiet. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.

Popular science

Segerdahl, P. 2001. Kan ett djur tala så att vi förstår det? Språkets gränser och gränslöshet. Humanistdagarna 2001. Uppsala universitet.

Segerdahl, P. 2001. Miljön som lär apor tala och skriva. Streckare i SvD 30 september.

Segerdahl, P. 2001. Kulturen är evolutionens turbomotor. Streckare i SvD 16 december.

Segerdahl, P. 2003. Evolutionsläran som fostrare av tanken. Streckare i SvD 29 augusti.

Segerdahl, P. 2005. Djuren vantrivs i naturen. Streckare i SvD 10 januari.

Segerdahl, P. 2006. Ädelmodiga djur och människans bestialiska natur. Streckare i SvD 16 december.

Segerdahl, P. 2007. Är djuren bara djur? Djurens rätt 3/2007: 18-19.

Segerdahl, P. 2007. Har den vetenskapliga specialiseringen nått vägs ände? Ikaros