Witten/Herdecke University
Chair of Practical Philosophy
Department of Philosophy, Politics & Economics
Alfred-Herrhausen-Str. 50
D-58448 Witten
jan-christoph.heilinger@uni-wh.de
+49 2302 926-507
| Employment | |
| Since 2023 | Chair of Practical Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Politics & Economics, Witten/Herdecke University |
| Since 2014 | Permanent visiting professor, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université d’Etat d’Haïti, Port-au-Prince |
| 2020-2023 | Lecturer and researcher in Philosophy/Applied Ethics at RWTH Aachen University |
| 2013-2020 | Academic director (Akademischer Geschäftsführer) of Munich Center for Ethics at LMU Munich (until 2019) and lecturer in philosophy (Akademischer Rat/Oberrat) at LMU Munich, Department of Philosophy (until 2020) |
| 2010–2013 | Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the University of Zurich (Center for Ethics) |
| 2004–2010 | Researcher and scientific coordinator of two research projects at Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities |
| 2003–2004 | Editor’s assistant at de Gruyter publ., Berlin |
| 2009-2023 | Visiting research stays at Columbia University, ENS Paris, NYU, the University of Sydney, the University of Auckland, The New School, and Rutgers University |
| Education | |
| 2016 | Habilitation at LMU Munich: “Global relational equality. Moral cosmopolitanism in a pragmatic perspective” |
| 2009 | Dr. phil. (summa cum laude) from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin: “Anthropologie und Ethik des Enhancements” |
| 2003 | M.A. (‘with distinction’) in philosophy from Humboldt Universität zu Berlin |
| 1998–2003 | Studying philosophy at the universities of Cologne, Paris (Paris-IV Sorbonne and Paris-X Nanterre) and Berlin (Humboldt) |
| 1977 | Born in Cologne |
I work in the field of practical philosophy. My research programme is characterised by the ambition to identify practical problems, to undertake conceptual analysis of the underlying philosophical and ethical issues, and to contribute to developing responses that advance knowledge and contribute to practice. This approach draws upon both my philosophical training and my engagement and collaboration with practitioners and experts from different disciplines. My conceptual analysis and selection of research topics is informed by my longstanding commitment to relational egalitarianism and (global) justice.
I am interested particularly in applied ethics (digital technologies/AI and human enhancement, public health and climate change); the theory and practice of global ethics, relational justice and responsibility; and methods of ethical decision making in practical contexts.
Selected conferences and workshops:
“Realising Understanding“, RWTH Aachen University, on February 18, 2021
“Moral Progress and Human Enhancement“, LMU Munich/RWTH Aachen University, on January 21, 2021
“Philip Kitcher on Moral Progress“, Munich Lectures in Ethics at Munich Centre for Ethics, on June 2–4, 2019
“Responsibility for Refugee and Migrant Integration” at Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne, on February 21, 2019
“Cosmopolitan Responsibility” at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, on February 1, 2019
“Global Individual Responsibility” at the Munich Center for Ethics, on April 25–27, 2018
“The Ethics of Complex Global Challenges” at the VELiM Center, University of Sydney, on March 2/3, 2017
Heilinger, Jan-Christoph/Venkatapuram, Sridhar/Voss, Maike/Wild, Verina (2022): Realizing justice in the coordinated global coronavirus response. In: Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 13/02, 21–40.
Wild, Verina/Heilinger, Jan-Christoph/Thompson, Alison (2022): Covid-19 und Public-Health-Ethik. Gerechtigkeit ernst nehmen. In: Public Health Forum 30/1.
Kempt, Hendrik/Heilinger, Jan-Christoph/Nagel, Saskia K. (2022): “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Doctor”: Meaningful Disagreements with AI in Medical Contexts. In: AI & Society (online first).
Kempt, Hendrik/Heilinger, Jan-Christoph/Nagel, Saskia K. (2022). Relative Explainability and Double Standards in Medical Decision Making. In: Ethics and Information Technology (online first).
Heilinger, Jan-Christoph (2021): Individual responsibility and global structural injustice. Towards an ethos of cosmopolitan responsibility. In: Journal of Social Philosophy 52/2, 185–200.
Heilinger, Jan-Christoph (2021): Democratic Contractualism: Philip Kitcher’s Pragmatic Account of Moral Progress. In: Philip Kitcher: Moral Progress. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.