I am professor for epistemology & theory of science at the University College Freiburg and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Freiburg.
In my research, I focus on political epistemology, an emerging field of research in which I pursue the dual insight of early Frankfurt School Critical Theory that epistemology requires social theory just as social theory requires epistemology. I am developing this insight in dialogue with analytic, continental and feminist epistemology on the one hand, and (French) political and social theory/philosophy on the other hand. My most recent books on political epistemology (both in German) are The Effectiveness of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology (2022) and Umkämpfte Wissenschaften – zwischen Idealisierung und Verachtung (2023).
My older research projects – on alternative governmentalities, on the concept of responsibility, on the concept of critique and on Michel Foucault’s philosophical method – have a common methodological core, best described as a historical-critical conceptual analysis. Following Ludwig Wittgenstein and Michel Foucault, I take the meaning of concepts to be established by their use in our social practices. Yet these practices must have a history emerging from the social struggles in which they partake.
You can find further information in my CV or on my Academia.edu profile.
Habilitation and Award of the venia legendi in Philosophy, 2020
University Frankfurt/Main
PhD in Philosophy, 2013
University Frankfurt/Main
MA in Philosophy, Mathematics and Cognitive Science, 2009
University of Freiburg im Breisgau
Professor for Epistemology & Theory of Science
University College Freiburg, Albert-Ludwigs-University FreiburgDecember 2021 – Present Freiburg im Breisgau
Acting Chair for Epistemology & Theory of Science
University College Freiburg, Albert-Ludwigs-University FreiburgOctober 2021 – November 2021 Freiburg im Breisgau
Interim Professor for Sociology with Focus on the History and Systematics of Social Sciences
Goethe UniversityApril 2020 – September 2021 Frankfurt am Main
Visiting Professor for Critical Social Theory
Goethe UniversityApril 2019 – March 2020 Frankfurt am Main
Assistant Professor for Political Theory
SOCIUM/University of BremenApril 2018 – February 2020 Bremen
Assistant Professor for Political Theory
InIIS/University of BremenOctober 2012 – March 2018 Bremen
In the winter term 2024/25, I will teach the following courses:
Scientific writing is not an easy task. To help you with the writing part and to give you some idea how to find a good research question for your term papers, I have assembled some tips in the Hausarbeiten-Survival Guide. (Note that this is a document in progress and is not quite as developed as its German counterpart.)