Positions and Education 

I am a philosopher at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Cologne. Before coming to Cologne, I spent time at Universities in Salzburg, Leuven, Berkeley, Konstanz, Munich, Duisburg-Essen, and Boston. I completed my Ph.D. studies (Philosophy) at the University of Konstanz in 2016 and I received my MA (Philosophy) from the University of Salzburg.

Research Topics

My past, current, and future research focus on debates in epistemology, general philosophy of science, and metaphilosophy. In epistemology, my research encompasses epistemic disagreement, epistemic pluralism, epistemic normativity, theories of justification, of evidential support and higher-order evidence, and the relationship between logic and reasoning. In the philosophy of science, my research centers on the aims of inquiry, the relationship between confirmation and rationality, and the relationship between explanation and understanding. In metaphilosophy, I am mainly interested in methods of conceptual clarification and conceptual engineering, and on the role of formal methods and idealizations in philosophy.

Besides epistemology, the philosophy of science, and metaphilosophy, I have interests in the history of analytic philosophy, decision theory, metaethics, philosophical logic, and philosophy of logic.

You can find some of my papers here, here, and there.

News

New Paper in Routledge Volume	My paper „Disagreement in a Group: Aggregation, Respect for Evidence, and Synergy“ is accepted for publication in the Volume The Epistemology of Group Disagreement, Routledge (edited by F. Broncano-Berrocal and A. Carter).
Talk in Southampton (03/20)	I am happy that D. Withing invited me to give a talk at a workshop on higher-order evidence in Southampton. (Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
First Rhine-Ruhr Epistemology Meeting (05/20)	So excited! P. Brössel, C. Feldbacher-Escamilla and I are organizing the First Rhine-Ruhr Epistemology Meeting in May. Many wonderful epistemologists from the Rhine-Ruhr area are coming to Cologne to present their work. More news coming soon! (Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Talk in Hangzhou  (06/20)	I am giving a talk at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou — many thanks to Davide Fazio and Jie Gao! „Heaven has paradise; earth has Hangzhou and Suzhou.“ (Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Member of the program committee of Bayes By the Sea (07/20)	I am a member of the program committee of a super cool conference: Bayes By the Sea — Rationality and Strategic Interaction in the Sciences. It will take place in Ancona in July 2020. Don’t forget to submit an abstract. The deadline is April 25, 2020.
Workshop Epistemology Seminar III in Bochum (06/20)	Breaking news: P. Brössel, B. Fitelson, and I are organizing the next Epistemology Seminar. It will take place at the Ruhr University Bochum in June 2020. (Invited Speakers: P. Brössel, M. Cocchiaro, K. Dorst, B. Fitelson, F. Malfatti, S. Milano, R. Pettigrew)
Member of the program committee of FEW2020 (05/20)	I am happy to be a member of the program committee of the next Formal Epistemology Workshop (FEW2020), which will take place at the University of California, Irvine, in May 2020. Submit your papers! The deadline is January 15, 2020.
New Paper in Synthese	My paper „No Commitment to the Truth“ is accepted for publication in Synthese.
New Paper in BJPS	My paper „Evidential Probabilities and Credences“ is accepted for publication in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
Cologne Summer School in Philosophy (07/’20)	I am (co-)organizing the next Cologne summer school: The Epistemology of Philosophy: A Priori – Disagreement – Authority. (Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
New Paper in OUP Volume	P. Brössel’s and my paper „Evidence of Evidence as Higher-Order Evidence“ is published in the Volume Higher-Order Evidence: New Essays, Oxford University Press (edited by M. Skipper and A. Steglich-Petersen).
Talk in Beijing (06/20)	Exciting news! I’m giving a talk at the Capital Normal University in Beijing. I am so grateful to Jiaming Chen, Stephen Grimm, and Xiao Tan for making this happen. (Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Header Image

The picture shows the main plaza of San Ignacio de Velasco in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. San Ignacio is a beautiful, tropical, and vivid city, which is very close to the Brazilian border. Whenever I can, I spend time in Santa Cruz, where I have a huge, wonderful family, and where nature is relaxing and impressively beautiful.