Job description

As an associate professor of philosophy, I primarily work on issues in environmental philosophy. I am particularly interested in the relationship between human beings and nature, and especially in the ontological questions connected to this relationship.

In a book published in 2016 (Philosophy of Nature: Rethinking Naturalness, Routledge), I examine the concept of naturalness. Are there, in fact, good reasons—or even a possibility—for using this concept today, and if so, what does it mean? I seek to reformulate and “restore” the concept in light of what is known as dispositional ontology. In doing so, I arrive at a concept that is not normative—that is, does not have a moral significance—in the traditional sense.

I argue that such a concept is not only useful but, strictly speaking, necessary for science and for a meaningful discussion of environmental issues and environmental ethics.

In a more recent book, published in September 2026, Limits in Nature: A Philosophical Exploration (Routledge), I seek to develop a better understanding of the relationship between limits in nature and human freedom. In many ways, it could be said that most environmental conflicts—and the ensuing debates about priorities and values—ultimately come down to a conflict between freedom and limits in nature.

In the book, I aim to show that these concepts are intimately connected, that today’s understanding of limits is “insufficiently thought through,” and that our general understanding of freedom and “liberation from nature” is based on inadequate premises. Are we unambiguously liberated by transgressing these limits, or must this claim be qualified in specific ways? Taking as my point of departure a relational ontology developed in my previous book, I seek to show what does—and does not—actually lead to liberation.

Other publications from recent years address the question of social constructivism in environmental philosophy, as well as a topic related to phenomenology’s perspective on—or challenge to—objective descriptions in science: What does it mean to provide “a description from within”?

I have also written on topics in medical philosophy, transhumanism, and dispositional theory more specifically. I am currently working on a project with the working title The Metaphysics of AI.