Areas of Expertise

I am a Professor of Philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. I grew up at the Baltic Sea in the very North of Germany (in Viking Country so to speak) before heading South to the supposedly more civilized parts. Here, at the University of Tübingen, I got my PhD in Philosophy evaluating Donald Davidson’s theory of meaning. I now live with my family for over 30 years in Massachusetts. From the beginning, at the center of my philosophical research has been the nature of our understanding of rational agency. In this context, I became interested in exploring the nature and structure of empathy. In my book Rediscovering Empathy: Agency, Folk Psychology and the Human Sciences, I defend the claim that empathy is epistemically essential for understanding other agents. At the moment, I am finishing my next book exploring the role of empathy for the foundations of morality. Contrary to what the reigning political class wants us to believe, there is nothing toxic about empathy. Rather our empathic capacities, if used well, are a precondition for a well-functioning democracy. Moreover, I argue that reflecting on the centrality of empathy in the style of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments teaches us something about why it is that morality obliges us.