Corporeality in the Virtual World: A Reflection on the Intersubjective Relationship Based on Avatars – a Webinar by Thaís de Sá Oliveira – 30th of May – 6 pm to 9 pm BST – Zoom

Corporeality in the Virtual World:

A Reflection on the Intersubjective Relationship Based on Avatars

In an era where digital interactions shape much of our daily lives, virtual environments have become fundamental spaces for human connection. Avatars – our digital representations – offer new ways to explore and express identity, but they also raise profound questions about embodiment, authenticity, and relationships. How does this shift from physical presence to virtual selfhood affect our experience of being with others? What does it mean to be “seen” in a world of pixels and screens?

This conference explores these questions through the lens of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy, particularly his insights on the image (The Imaginary) and intersubjectivity (Being and Nothingness). By examining avatars as symbolic extensions of the body, we will discuss how digital representations influence self-perception and reshape human relationships. The “gaze of the other” takes on new dimensions in virtual spaces, where identity is both constructed and objectified in real-time interactions. While avatars provide a sense of agency and creative self-expression, they also challenge our understanding of authenticity, alienation, and the continuity of selfhood.

For existential psychotherapists, understanding these dynamics is crucial. The virtual world is not just an escape – it is an extension of lived experience that impacts emotions, identity, and interpersonal relationships. By exploring how individuals navigate intersubjectivity in digital spaces, we can develop therapeutic approaches that address the anxieties, disconnections, and self-explorations emerging from this new existential landscape. This discussion invites us to rethink presence, recognition, and what it means to be fully human in an increasingly digital world.

Thaís de Sá Oliveira is a clinical psychologist and a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at the University of Beira Interior (UBI, Portugal). She holds a master’s degree in Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Mental Health from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB, Spain) and specializations in Phenomenological-Existential Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Phenomenological-Existential Psychology of Rio de Janeiro (IFEN, Brazil) and in Sartrean Existentialist Clinical Psychology from the Núcleo de Clínica Ampliada Fenomenológica Existencial (NUCAFE, Brazil/Portugal). A researcher at PRAXIS – Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Culture (UBI), she is also the director of the Instituto Exsistentialis. Her main areas of interest include Sartrean existential phenomenology, antipsychiatry, the applications of existential philosophy in psychology, and the intersections between literature and phenomenological-existential thought. She serves as a coordinator and a faculty member in the Specialization in Sartrean Existentialist Clinical Psychology, the Specialization in Psychology in Health and Phenomenological Psychopathology, and the Specialization in Kierkegaardian Clinical Psychology at NUCAFE (Brazil/Portugal). Thaís is a member of the Latin American Association of Existential Psychology (ALPE) and the Latin American Sartrean Scholar’s Association. She is the author of A ontologia fenomenológica e a literatura: Reflexões a partir de dois modos de expressão em Jean-Paul Sartre, editor of Volver a Sartre: 80 años de El ser y la nada, and has published several academic articles and book chapters on existential-phenomenological clinical psychology and Sartrean thought.

A Certificate of Attendance will be emailed to participants.

If you think you have a new and interesting topic to share with us and would like to be our next speaker please, don’t hesitate to contact our events organiser on events@existentialanalysis.org.uK.