Jan-Christoph Heilinger

Jan-Christoph Heilinger holds the Chair of Moral and Political Philosophy.

I conduct research and teach in the fields of ethics and political philosophy. I have a particular interest in theories of relational equality and global justice, including their practical relevance to issues such as climate justice, public health ethics and the ethics of new technologies, including artificial intelligence. My work is influenced, amongst other things, by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, American pragmatism, and feminist and intersectional political philosophy. Methodologically, I am committed to analytical philosophy and strive to present clear and thorough arguments, whilst never losing sight of the major philosophical questions.

Together with Magali Bessone and Ryoa Chung, I lead the international research network SIRRE (Structural Injustice and Responsibility for Relational Equality); together with Hendrik Kempt and Reza Mosayebi, I organise the regular critical WAWAIS workshops on AI and sustainability; I am co-lead of the Public Health Ethics Working Group of the AEM and DGPH, and a member of the Working Group on Interactions between Humans and the Earth System at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

I support the work of the Network for Sustainable Science, the Network Against Abuse of Power in Science and the Society for Women* in Philosophy.

• Further information on the Chair of Moral and Political Philosophy

Career history

Since 2023

Chair of Moral and Political Philosophy, Witten/Herdecke University

Since 2014

Permanent Visiting Professor (professeur invité en philosophie), École Normale Supérieure, State University, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

2020 – 2023

Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer, Philosophy/Applied Ethics, RWTH Aachen

2013–2020

Research Director of the Munich Centre for Ethics (MKE) and Senior Academic Officer, Philosophy, LMU Munich

2016

Postdoctoral university lecturing qualification (venia legendi: Philosophy), LMU Munich

2010 – 2013

Postdoctoral researcher, Centre for Ethics, University of Zurich

2010

Doctoral studies, Philosophy, Humboldt University of Berlin

2004–2010

Research Coordinator, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities

2003 – 2004

Trainee period, De Gruyter Publishers, Berlin

2003

MA in Philosophy, Humboldt University of Berlin

1998–2003

Studied at the Universities of Cologne, Paris (Paris-IV Sorbonne and Paris-X Nanterre) and Berlin (Humboldt)

Research stays abroad

Rutgers University (2023), The New School for Social Research (2020), University of Sydney (2017), ENS Paris (2012), NYU (2011), Columbia University (2009), University of Zurich (2008)