Research focus
Epistemology: Social Epistemology, Non-Ideal Epistemology
Metaphysics: Social Ontology, Naturalism
Wittgenstein
Research principles
1. Analytic and “Continental” Tradition in Dialogue
One important background conviction behind my research is that research in the analytic tradition can be fruitfully brought into contact with authors of the “continental” tradition. My research is not obligated to either side, but rather led by the desire to answer certain questions by utilizing good ideas and arguments wherever they can be found. Despite this, my writing style follows the imperative of clarity championed by the analytic tradition which I take to be an achievement that deserves to be preserved. This orientation is due to my philosophical education both at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany (more “continentally”) and at King’s College London in England which is almost entirely analytic. These experiences have brought me to believe that the main distinction in philosophy is not simply between analytic and “continental”, but rather between good and bad philosophy as such.
2. Practical Relevance of Theoretical Philosophy
Despite being anchored in theoretical philosophy, my research interests have been influenced by the aim to work out the practical, societal and cultural relevance of certain questions and theories in theoretical philosophy. I view the question of how technology and society relate through this lens since the scientific image (its incipience traced back at least to Early Modern thought) is a precondition for the rise of technology and its social, ethical and cultural ramifications in the modern sense of the word. I have, for example, dealt with this in my paper "Is Naturalism an Ideology?" (2020).
Another example is my current project "Conspiracy Theories and the Legacy of Enlightenment" which contends that the phenomenon of conspiracy theories cannot be dealt within the traditional confines of social and vice epistemology. It is necessary instead to view conspiracy theories before the backdrop and wider cultural significance of the Enlightenment tradition.
Epistemology: Social Epistemology, Non-Ideal Epistemology
Metaphysics: Social Ontology, Naturalism
Wittgenstein
Research principles
1. Analytic and “Continental” Tradition in Dialogue
One important background conviction behind my research is that research in the analytic tradition can be fruitfully brought into contact with authors of the “continental” tradition. My research is not obligated to either side, but rather led by the desire to answer certain questions by utilizing good ideas and arguments wherever they can be found. Despite this, my writing style follows the imperative of clarity championed by the analytic tradition which I take to be an achievement that deserves to be preserved. This orientation is due to my philosophical education both at the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany (more “continentally”) and at King’s College London in England which is almost entirely analytic. These experiences have brought me to believe that the main distinction in philosophy is not simply between analytic and “continental”, but rather between good and bad philosophy as such.
2. Practical Relevance of Theoretical Philosophy
Despite being anchored in theoretical philosophy, my research interests have been influenced by the aim to work out the practical, societal and cultural relevance of certain questions and theories in theoretical philosophy. I view the question of how technology and society relate through this lens since the scientific image (its incipience traced back at least to Early Modern thought) is a precondition for the rise of technology and its social, ethical and cultural ramifications in the modern sense of the word. I have, for example, dealt with this in my paper "Is Naturalism an Ideology?" (2020).
Another example is my current project "Conspiracy Theories and the Legacy of Enlightenment" which contends that the phenomenon of conspiracy theories cannot be dealt within the traditional confines of social and vice epistemology. It is necessary instead to view conspiracy theories before the backdrop and wider cultural significance of the Enlightenment tradition.