Doctor of Philosophy Benjamin Kiesewetter has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) for his research project "The Structure of Normativity" as part of the European research programme Horizon Europe. His research group at the Department of Philosophy at Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin will examine the concept of normativity from a philosophical perspective.
Human thought, feeling and action are characterised by normative judgements. Kiesewetter wants to explore the hypothesis that all these judgements can be traced back to a normative core concept - the concept of the reason that speaks for or against a certain action or conviction. This approach, known in recent academic literature as the "Reasons-First Approach", is to be systematically analysed for the first time within the framework of the project and across the boundaries of different philosophical sub-disciplines. "The project will bring together moral philosophy, epistemology, emotion theory and other areas of philosophy in order to develop a unified understanding of normative judgements - an important desideratum in current philosophical research," explains Kiesewetter. The aim is to develop new, reason-based analyses of normative phenomena, such as rights and duties, the justification of beliefs or the appropriateness of emotions.
"The Faculty of Humanities and the Department of Philosophy at Humboldt-Universit?t are delighted that Benjamin Kiesewetter has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant," says Prof Dr Thomas Schmidt, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Humanities. "Benjamin Kiesewetter completed his doctorate with us and his ERC success is also a confirmation of the excellent promotion of young researchers at the Department of Philosophy," adds Prof Dr Tobias Rosefeldt, Managing Director of the Department of Philosophy. "This is all the more true as the Institute endeavours to offer outstanding early-career researchers career prospects that enable them to work independently at an early stage."
About the ERC Starting Grants
ERC Starting Grants support early-career researchers at the beginning of their independent careers. Applicants can submit a project for a Starting Grant two to seven years after completing their doctorate if they already have publications as first author, (inter)national science awards or presentations at international conferences. The early-career researchers can use the maximum funding amount of 1.5 million euros for a period of five years to set up their own research group.
About the person
Benjamin Kiesewetter received his doctorate from Humboldt-Universit?t with a thesis on the normativity of rationality. His doctoral thesis, which was published in revised form by Oxford University Press, was honoured with the Humboldt Prize and the Stegmüller Prize. In addition to his monograph, he has published numerous articles in leading international peer-reviewed journals. He specialises in the fields of metaethics, moral philosophy and political philosophy. Kiesewetter has conducted research in the DFG-funded project "Principles of deliberative ought" at the Department of Philosophy of the HU and in the DFG-funded project "Knowledge and Decision" at the University of Hamburg and the Technical University of Dresden. Research stays and positions have taken him to the University of California in Berkeley (USA), the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the Australian National University in Canberra (Australia). Since October 2021, he has been a fellow at the DFG-funded research group "Human Capabilities", which is based at Freie Universit?t and Humboldt-Universit?t.
Further information
Contact Benjamin Kiesewetter
Benjamin Kiesewetter
Department of Philosophy
Humboldt-Universit?t zu Berlin
Phone: +49 30 2093 70491
benjamin.kiesewetter@hu-berlin:de