Biography
Born 1968 in Germany, I studied philosophy, sociology and literature in Munich (Hochschule für Philosophie S. J. & Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität) and Berlin (Freie Universität) with a grant from Evangelisches Studienwerk e. V. After receiving my M.A. diploma with a thesis on Hans Jonas, I continued my studies as a DFG-funded graduate student at the International Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW) in Tübingen. From 1999 to 2002, I was working as an assistant professor and junior researcher at the Chair for Ethics in Medicine, also at Tübingen University, focussing on the concept of disease and its significance for the allocation of resources in public health. In 2001, I received (summa cum laude) my doctorate in philosophy at FU Berlin with a dissertation on discourse ethics. 2002-2007 I was working as an "Akademischer Rat" at the University of Freiburg i. Br./Germany, serving as head of an interfaculty institute for basic studies in ethics and philosophy. Together with my wife and our newborn son, I moved to the Netherlands in 2006 during a parental leave. In 2007, we decided to stay there, and I am since continuing my career at Utrecht University as a tenured researcher/lecturer ('universitair docent') for practical philosophy. In addition, I held positions as visiting professor at the universities of Vienna and Heidelberg in winter 2008/09 and 2011/12, respectively.