On October 18, 2025, Dr. Martina Properzi, a PhD candidate in the Doctoral School of
Philosophy, presented a paper at the 63rd conference of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP). The SPEP conference was held online on two weekends (October 17–18 and October 24–25) and featured selected presentations from international scholars, publisher’s panels, and four plenary lectures by world-leading figures in the fields of phenomenological and existential philosophy (for more information, please refer to the
Conference Program at the following link: https://www.spep.org/website/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/SPEP63vOct16.pdf). Dr. Properzi successfully navigated a highly competitive review process with a paper addressing the highly challenging topic “Prosthesis Embodiment and the Normativity of Bodily Boundaries”. Her paper presentation opened the session on “Queer Habits and the Temporality of Embodiment”, which was moderated by Professor William Wilkerson of the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Dr. Properzi’s paper explored the normative aspect of bodily boundaries, that is, the stabilizing and optimal standards that shape the distinction between self and non-self in its basic spatial configuration. The concept of normative bodily boundaries is essential for comprehending the composition of our identity and our place within the natural and social environment. During her presentation, Dr. Properzi centered her discussion on a case study of individuals who receive limb prostheses. Researchers and medical professionals are studying and monitoring this process of reorganizing the relationship with the body’s liminality to include the prosthesis in the body space. This makes it an excellent opportunity to systematically study the phenomenon of body boundaries. The paper presents evidence in support of a “strong” embodiment proposal, which posits that the body itself plays an active role in regulating the perception of body space by prosthesis users. This proposal deviates from the established theoretical frameworks of biological normativism and social constructivism. Dr. Properzi demonstrated that the body’s ability to respond to external forces, or affordances, within the social environment is essential for the stabilization and attunement of body space altered by the adoption of artificial limbs.