Publications & Academic Work

Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason

What happens when what we see is already selected for us before we even think about it?

We do not simply think within a world. We think within systems that organise what we perceive, what we attend to, and what we register as relevant.

Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason examines what happens to judgement, identity, and action when the conditions of thinking are themselves pre-structured. Drawing on medical anthropology, philosophical analysis, and field-based observation, it introduces the concept of the Sensorial Nexus and traces its consequences for agency, responsibility, and the possibility of an irreducible self.

The book does not stop at diagnosis. It develops the DIEM Method as a structured response: a framework for reorientation grounded in a recurrent grammar of transformation observed across cultures and contexts.

Body Integrity Dysphoria: Exploring the Ethics of On-Demand Amputation

Are you truly the owner of your own body, or merely its custodian on behalf of society?

Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Demand for On-Demand Amputation is a groundbreaking examination of autonomy, dignity, and bodily self-determination at the limits of modern medicine. Drawing on original fieldwork and medical interviews, the book interrogates the moral implications of BID’s classification in ICD-11, the contested legitimacy of elective amputation, and the unstable boundary between health, impairment, and identity.

By placing BID at the centre of contemporary debates on medical authority and human rights, the book challenges prevailing assumptions about what it means to have a body—and who is ultimately entitled to decide its fate.

Selected publications

Loriga, L. (2026). The ethics of regulation: Social contract insights on the 2024 European Union Artificial Intelligence Act. Ethics & Bioethics. https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2026-0014.

Loriga, L. (2026). Amputations on Demand: Why Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) is Everybody's Problem. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.18659371.

Loriga, L. (2026). Amputations on Demand: Why Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) is Everybody's Problem. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6247438.

Loriga, L. (2026). Beyond Rationalism: Intuition, Habit, and Tacit Orientation. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_4.

Loriga, L. (2026). From Tradition to Doubt. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_1.

Loriga, L. (2026). From Van Gennep to the DIEM Method: A Contemporary Model of Transformation. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_5.

Loriga, L. (2026). Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2.

Loriga, L. (2026). Posthumans, Transhumans, and the Sensorial Nexus. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_3.

Loriga, L. (2026). The Future After Collapse. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_6.

Loriga, L. (2026). The Looping Trolley and Temporal Extension of Moral Responsibility. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6899558.

Loriga, L. (2026). The Postmodern Era. Instinct, Reason and the Self in the Aftermath of Postmodernity: Beyond Reason. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-25339-2_2.

Loriga, L. (2025). Blame and Amputation: Uncovering Preconceptions and Addressing Physicians’ Scepticism. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_7.

Loriga, L. (2025). Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2.

Loriga, L. (2025). Closing Remarks: Voluntary Limb Removal and the Challenge to Patient Autonomy. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_9.

Loriga, L. (2025). Health and Well-Being: Philosophical Approaches. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_8.

Loriga, L. (2025). Identity, Gender and Narrative in BID. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_1.

Loriga, L. (2025). Legitimacy of Bodily Modification Intervenstions. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_4.

Loriga, L. (2025). Moral Responsibility. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_6.

Loriga, L. (2025). Pre-operative Risk Assessment and Post-operative Risk Behaviours. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_5.

Loriga, L. (2025). The Ethics of Body-Modifying Surgeries. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_3.

Loriga, L. (2025). Theoretical Framework: Understanding BID Through Embodiment. Body Integrity Dysphoria and the Ethical Dilemma of On-Demand Amputation. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82443-2_2.

Loriga, L. (2024). Body Integrity Dysphoria and "Just" Amputation: State-of-the-Art and Beyond. HUMAN AFFAIRS-POSTDISCIPLINARY HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES QUARTERLY. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2022-1005.

Loriga, L. (2024). Body integrity dysphoria and moral responsibility: an interpretation of the scepticism regarding on-demand amputations. MEDICAL HUMANITIES. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2023-012811.

Loriga, L. (2024). The right to choose: A comparative analysis of patient autonomy and body integrity dysphoria among Czech healthcare professionals. Ethics & bioethics (in Central Europe). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2024-0001.

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