Our research group strives to create a lively research environment for all those with projects in theoretical philosophy here at Bielefeld University, or with ties to it. The group is organized around the chair of theoretical philosophy held by Christian Nimtz, but we invite everyone with projects in fields such as the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, epistemology, theory of action, metaphysics or meta-philosophy. You find an overview of the people working here, the projects they pursue, the flagship projects we as a group try to push along as well below. If you are interested in theoretical philosophy, please do so check out our 'research seminar theoretical philosophy'. If you want to learn more, please contact us: Prof. Christian Nimtz. Christian Nimtz, Professor Chair of Theoretical Philosophy e-mail   website works on topics in the philosophy of language, (modal) epistemology, the philosophy of mind and meta-philosophy Peter Schulte, Dr. Assistant Professor e-mail   website works on topics in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and meta-ethics Alexander Steinberg, Dr. Assistant Professor e-mail   website works on topics in metaphysics, the philosophy of logic and language, and the history of analytic philosophy Steve Kindley, M.A. Doctoral Student e-mail   website works on topics in epistemology Philippe Biermann, M.A. Doctoral Student e-mail   website works on topics in the philosophy of language and mind, epistemology and meta-ethics

	Ali Yasar, M.A. Humboldt-University of Berlin Berlin School of Mind and Brain Doctoral Student e-mail   website	works on topics in metaphysics and epistemology of mind, meta-philosophy, philosophy of language, and meta-ethics.
	Fabian Hundertmark, Dr. Bielefeld University Postdoc e-mail   website	works on topics in the philosophy of mind
	Romy Jaster, Dr. (HU Berlin) Postdoc e-mail   website	works on topics in metaphysics, the philosophy of language and epistemology
	Wolfgang Schwarz, Dr. (Edinburgh) Lecturer e-mail   website	works on topics in epistemology, the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and logic.
	Insa Lawler, Dr. (Ruhr-University Bochum) Postdoc e-mail   website	works on topics in epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of language
	Lars Dänzer, Dr. (Duisburg-Essen) Postdoc e-mail   website	works on topics in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind

	Lea Bachus e-mail
	Janina Bergemann e-mail

Get-together on Christmas 2016:

Dinner at the end of the summer semester 2016:

 

• "The Future of Teleosemantics", Universität Bielefeld, 6.-8. September 2018
• "Masterclass in Philosophy 2018 on The Nature of Visual Perception" with Prof. Nico Orlandi (Santa Cruz), Universität Bielefeld, 4.-6. Juli 2018
• "Teleosemantics and the Nature of Functions" Bielefeld September 2017
• "Animal Signals - Function, Evolution and Meaning" Bielefeld May 2017
• "Modal Knowledge" Bielefeld March 2017
• "Teleosemantic Perspectives on Perception", Bielefeld, October 2016
• Workshop with Kit Fine about Truthmaker Semantics, Bielefeld, June 2016
• "Natural Kind Terms - Reference, Rigidity, Essence", Bielefeld, September 2015
• "Bence Nanay's 'Between Perception and Action'", Bielefeld, April 2014.
• "Minds Without Magic?", Bielefeld, September 2013.
• "Categorization & Meaning", at the ZiF (Bielefeld), February 2013.
• "Teleosemantics Today", Erlangen, February 2012.

The main forum of our research group is the “Research Seminar Theoretical Philosophy”, where we discuss papers contributed by participants or invited guests. See here for details and the current schedule.

From July to September 2018, the topic of our colloquium will be Nick Shea's new book Representation in Cognitive Science. The author will be in Bielefeld to discuss his book with us on August 31st and September 4th.

If you're interested in participating, send an email to: peter.schulte@uni-bielefeld de

Once a term we meet with people working in theoretical philosophy from Osnabrück (Prof. Kompa) and Münster (Prof. Strobach).

The department of philosophy partakes in the European Ph.D.-Network in Philosophy, a joint scholarly program aimed at promoting the scientific quality and the internationalization of doctoral education, as well as providing doctoral students enhanced career possibilities. The participants of this network are the University of Bergen, the University of Bucharest, the University of Helsinki, the University of Bologna, Uppsala University, and Bielefeld University . The Network is intended to facilitate joint supervision of Ph.D. theses and to foster the integration of the program’s doctoral students into European academic communities. The Network focuses on Theoretical Philosophy, in particular, epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science.

There are two flagship-projects related to our research group. The one is the project "Advancing Teleosemantics" funded by the German Research Council (DFG).

The other is a broader project on two-dimensional semantics and its implications for the semantics of natural languages, rigidity & essence, ethics, and fiction.

Some Current and Recent Research Projects

Tugenderkenntnistheorie	Ph.D. project Christian Nimtz / Gerhard Ernst (Erlangen) 2013 -	Steve Kindley
Mind and Function - Teleosemantics Beyond Selected Effects	Ph.D. project Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2013 - 2018	Fabian Hundertmark
Knowing why – An investigation of explanatory knowledge	Ph.D. project Raphael van Riel (Duisburg-Essen) / Thomas Spitzley (Duisburg-Essen) / Christian Nimtz 2014 - 2018	Insa Lawler
Agent’s Abilities and Freedom of the Will	Ph.D. project Barbara Vetter (HU Berlin) / Christian Nimtz 2013 - 2017	Romy Jaster
Wissen, was möglich ist	Ph.D. project Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2011 - 2013	Sebastian Müller
From Intentional Explanations to Representation - Rethinking Teleosemantics	Postdoc project ('Habilitation') 2010 - 2016	Peter Schulte
Sentence Understanding and the Rational-Intentional Explanation of Linguistic Communication	Ph.D. project Brendan Balcerak Jackson / Thomas Grundmann / Christian Nimtz 2010 - 2013	Lars Dänzer

Recent MA- and BA-Theses (Only the Exceptional Ones)  

Evolutionary Ethics. In Search of a Non-Question-Begging Response to Evolutionary Debunking Arguments.	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2018	Philippe Biermann
Indicative Conditionals - Against Material and Non-truth-conditional Accounts, For a Possible Worlds Semantics.	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2018	Marcel Kertels
Robert C. Stalnaker’s Two-Dimensionalist Pragmatics: A Discussion of the Diagonalization Strategy as a Solution to Two Puzzles Regarding Kripkean Semantics.	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2018	Marko Wenzel
The Conscious Brain - Does Attention Serve as a Gatekeeper to Consciousness?	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2018	Ali Yasar
On the Pluralities of Worlds: Characterisation and Object Individuation in Extended Modal Meinongianism	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Marcus Kracht 2015	Daniel Milne-Plückebaum
A Shotgun Wedding? – Non-Declaratives and Truth-Conditional Semantics	MA-thesis Christian Nimtz / Peter Schulte 2014	Insa Lawler
Kontrafaktische Kausalitätstheorien	BA-thesis Peter Schulte / Christian Nimtz 2014	Stefan Guhe

Responsible for this homepage: Prof. Christian Nimtz.

 

Research Group Theoretical Philosophy

 

Advancing Teleosemantics

Research Seminar Theoretical Philosophy

Master Theoretische Philosophie