Postdoctoral Researcher (EXPIRED)

The position is based in the ERC research group 'REASONS F1RST – The Structure of Normativity’ (PI: Benjamin Kiesewetter).
 
Project description:
Some of the core fields of philosophy – including moral philosophy, value theory, and epistemology – are, at their heart, concerned with normative questions: questions about what is good or bad, right or wrong, justified or unjustified. These questions concern the content of judgements that human beings are constantly making and that structure our way of thinking, feeling, and acting. But while there is wide agreement in contemporary philosophy that normative judgements form a unified and important category of human thought, philosophers still struggle to understand what normativity actually is. One highly attractive hypothesis is that normativity can be analysed in terms of reasons – i.e. in terms of the factors that count in favour of or against actions or attitudes. The aim of REASONS F1RST is to systematically explore this Reasons-First Approach on a large scale and across various philosophical subdisciplines. Fostering multidisciplinary conversations between moral philosophy, epistemology, value theory, aesthetics, the philosophy of emotions, and related areas, the project will develop novel analyses of normative phenomena. It also seeks to address recent challenges to the Reasons-First Approach and to compare it to competing approaches. REASONS F1RST thus pursues a twofold objective: (i) to assess the merits and demerits of the Reasons-First Approach compared to alternative proposals, and (ii) to work out in detail how different normative phenomena – including values, obligations and rights, the justification of beliefs, as well as appropriateness norms for emotions – can be explained in terms of reasons.
 
The work programme of REASONS F1RST will be carried out in four sub-projects: (1) Reasons and Value; (2) Reasons and Ought; (3) Reasons and Knowledge; and (4) Reasons and Fittingness. According to our present plans, one of the advertised positions is associated with sub-project (3), while the other is associated with sub-project (4). However, we will also seriously consider applications from candidates whose research interests concern other aspects of the project. Further information on the project is available at the project website:  https://thestructureofnormativity.net/project.

Your Tasks

• conduct independent research in the context of the project (70 %)
• actively participate in the regular meetings and events of the research group and contribute to organizing workshops and other events (20 %)
• organizational tasks that are part of the self-administration of the university (10 %)

We offer

• salary according to Remuneration level 13 TV-L
• fixed-term (limited until 31.03.2027) (§ 2 (1) sentence 2 of the WissZeitVG; in accordance with the provisions of the WissZeitVG and the Agreement on Satisfactory Conditions of Employment, the length of contract may differ in individual cases)
• fulltime
• internal and external training opportunities
• variety of health, consulting and prevention services
• reconcilability of family and work
• flexible working hours
• good transport connection
• supplementary company pension
• collegial working environment
• open and pleasant working atmosphere
• exciting, varied tasks

Your Profile

We expect

• a scientific university degree (e. g. Master) in philosophy
• a PhD in philosophy
• a documented research focus in the area of the relevant sub-project (e. g. epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of emotions, meta-ethics)
• excellent research achievements relevant to the project, which can be demonstrated by internationally peer-reviewed publications
• an independent research proposal that is closely related to the project
• a cooperative and team-oriented style of work
• an autonomous, self-reliant and committed manner of working and the willingness to take a formative role within the research group
• strong coordination and organization skills
• good proficiency in written and spoken English

Preferred experience and skills

• experience in organizing workshops and conferences
• international experience in academia