Nihilism, Body and Subjectivity

Cotard’s Syndrome is a mental disorder characterised by the presence of Nihilistic delusions, most prominently the patient’s belief that they are dead or have ceased to exist. In Being No One, Thomas Metzinger makes an analysis of the syndrome both in terms of a Husserlian distinction between two ways of viewing the body and in terms of his own theoretical framework. In this book it is shown that neither analysis manages to provide a convincing exposition of the Cotard’s syndrome patient’s experience or symptoms.