Profile
My research focuses on philosophy of science, argumentation theory and applied ethics, but covers further areas such as the interpretation of classic texts. As regards philosophy of science, I am particularly interested in the methodological problems of specific sciences (e.g. economics, climate science), the limits of our scientific foreknowledge, appropriate ways for expressing and communicating uncertainties, and the role of science in democratic societies. The theory of dialectical structures represents my major research project in argumentation theory. It can be applied, for example, to reconstruct classical philosophical texts or political controversies alike.
Publications
Monographs
- Prediction or Prophecy? The Boundaries of Economic Foreknowledge and Their Socio-Political Consequences. Wiesbaden: DUV 2006. [SpringerLink]
- Theorie dialektischer Strukturen. Frankfurt a.M.: Klostermann 2010. [Amazon] [Review by F. Zenker in Argumentation]
- Descartes' »Meditationen über die Grundlagen der Philosophie«. Ein systematischer Kommentar. Stuttgart: Reclam 2011. [Amazon]
- Ethical Aspects of Climate Engineering. With S. Cacean. Karlsruhe: KIT Scientific Publishing 2012. [KIT Scientific Publishing]
- Debate Dynamics: How Controversy Improves Our Beliefs. Synthese Library. Dordrecht: Springer 2012. [SpringerLink] [TOC and Introduction as PDF] [Illustrative movie]
Articles (selection)
- “Probabilities in climate policy advice: A critical comment”, Climatic Change, 85, 2007, pp. 1-9. [link]
- “What’s the worst case?”, Analyse und Kritik, 32, 2010, pp. 87-106. [link]
- “On degrees of justification”, Erkenntnis, 77, 2012, pp. 237-272. [link] [Supplementary interactive calculation of DOJs, based on the free Wolfram CDF Player] [Postscriptum 08/2012]
- “Revamping Hypothetico-Deductivism: A dialectic account of confirmation”, Erkenntnis, forthcoming. [link]
- “Justifying inference to the best explanation as a practical meta-syllogism on dialectical structures”, Synthese, forthcoming. [link]
CV
| since 10/2010 | Juniorprofessor of philosophy of science at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). |
| 10/2009-09/2010 | Fellow at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald, Germany. |
| 10/2008-09/2010 | Juniorprofessor of philosophy of simulation at the Institute of Philosophy, Universität Stuttgart. |
| 06/2008 | Dr. habil., Habilitation in philosophy at the Freie Universität Berlin with Habilitation thesis "Theorie dialektischer Strukturen". |
| 10/2005-09/2008 | Lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin. |
| 01/2005-09/2005 | Scientific assistant at the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). |
| 11/2004 | Dr. phil. (Ph.D.), dissertation in philosophy at the Freie Universität Berlin with Ph.D. thesis "Prediction or Prophecy – A Study on the Boundaries of Economic Foreknowledge". |
| 07/2002 | M.A., Master degree in philosophy (major), mathematics (minor) and political sciences (minor) at the Freie Universität Berlin. |
Projects
- Shared Research Group LOBSTER (Limits and Objectivity of Scientific Foreknowledge: The Case of Energy Outlooks) [link]
- EuTRACE [link]
- DFG SPP Climate Engineering [link]
- Helmholtz Research School Energy Scenarios [link]
- Helmholtz Alliance Future Infrastructures for Meeting Energy Demands - Towards Sustainability and Social Compatibility [link]
- Argunet: Argument Mapping Software [link]
- ArDys: Simulating Complex Debate (simulation package that underpins the book Debate Dynamics) [link]
