Prof. Dr. Frieder Vogelmann

Prof. Dr. Frieder Vogelmann

Professor for Epistemology & Theory of Science

University College Freiburg

University of Freiburg

Biography

I am professor for epistemology & theory of science at the University College Freiburg and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Freiburg.

In my research, I focus on political epistemology, an emerging field of research in which I pursue the dual insight of early Frankfurt School Critical Theory that epistemology requires social theory just as social theory requires epistemology. I am developing this insight in dialogue with analytic, continental and feminist epistemology on the one hand, and (French) political and social theory/philosophy on the other hand. The result of this project has been published in my book The Effectiveness of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology.

My further research projects – on alternative governmentalities, on the concept of responsibility, on the concept of critique and on Michel Foucault’s philosophical method – have a common methodological core, best described as a historical-critical conceptual analysis. Following Ludwig Wittgenstein and Michel Foucault, I take the meaning of concepts to be established by their use in our social practices. Yet these practices must have a history emerging from the social struggles in which they partake.

You can find further information in my CV or on my Academia.edu profile.

Interests
  • Political Epistemology
  • Critical Theory
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • Michel Foucault
  • Responsibility
  • Contemporary French Philosophy
Education
  • Habilitation and Award of the venia legendi in Philosophy, 2020

    University Frankfurt/Main

  • PhD in Philosophy, 2013

    University Frankfurt/Main

  • MA in Philosophy, Mathematics and Cognitive Science, 2009

    University of Freiburg im Breisgau

Academic Appointments

Recent Publications

“Wissen verändert uns”. Interview with Thomas Steiner
Frieder Vogelmann, interviewed by Thomas Steiner from Badische Zeitung
Is Knowledge Power? An Interview with Florian Geisler [In German]
Wie wirken Wissensbestände wirklich auf Gesellschaft und Individuen ein? Frieder Vogelmann nimmt unsere Begriffe in seinem neuen Buch genauer in den Blick.
The Force of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology [in German]
To aptly conceptualise the internal relationship between truth and knowledge on one side, and politics and society on the other side, political epistemology must reformulate the concepts of epistemology and social and political theory. For the concept of knowledge, this task implies to consider the truth and the force of knowledge equally.
The Force of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology [in German]
Four Paths Towards Political Epistemology [in German]
In this chapter, I suggest that we should understand “political Epistemology” as a name for the task to intertwine epistemology with social and critical theory.
Four Paths Towards Political Epistemology [in German]

Upcoming Talks

Recent Posts

New Book in Autumn! [in German]
My new book Contested Sciences – Between Idealisation and Contempt comes out in the [Was bedeutet das alles?]-series with Reclam on 13 October 2023.
New Book in Autumn! [in German]
How to Translate Science in the Public? [in German]
In the radio show Sein und Streit from 19 March, I spoke with Catherine Newmark about our understanding of the sciences and their relation to politics.
How to Translate Science in the Public? [in German]
Workshop Wie weiter mit der politischen Epistemologie? [in German]
A two-day workshop in Freiburg for discussing the present state and the potential future of political epistemology from all its different traditions, including postcolonial theory, feminist epistemology, critical theory and analytic epistemology.
Workshop *Wie weiter mit der politischen Epistemologie?* [in German]
Recording of the book presentation and discussion of Die Wirksamkeit des Wissens
The recording of the book presentation of Die Wirksamkeit des Wissens and its discussion with Ulrich Bröckling, Nadja Germann, Nicola Gess and Daniel Loick is now available on this page.
Recording of the book presentation and discussion of *Die Wirksamkeit des Wissens*
Two Interviews on Philosophy and Political Epistemology
For those who understand German, you can now listen to two podcast episodes on my new book and, more generally, on topics I am working on. With the makers of Narabo, Lukas Kiemele and Roxana Rentsch, I chatted about my career path, philosophy, responsibility and political epistemology.
Two Interviews on Philosophy and Political Epistemology
The Genealogy of Normativity
In this research project, I aim to write a genealogy of “normativity,” this “chief term” of philosophy.
The Genealogy of Normativity
BEHEMOTH - A Journal on Civilisation
The journal Behemoth publishes semi-annually research articles on contingent and sometimes precarious regimes of (dis)order.
BEHEMOTH - A Journal on Civilisation
The Effectiveness of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology
How does knowledge affect us? What political significance do epistemological questions and insights have? My habilitation project investigates the force of knowledge
The Effectiveness of Knowledge. A Political Epistemology
Alternative Govern­mentalities
How can we govern in such a way that those governed need not fear those governing? What if the usual answer of political philosophy, namely “autonomy,” is not sufficient?
Alternative Govern­mentalities
Concepts of Critique
How do we picture the activity of criticising, and how does this influence our theoretical activity of explicating the concept of critique? What kind of knowledge do we produce in criticising? And what is the relation between critique and necessity?
Concepts of Critique
Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur
Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur is a peer-reviewed open-access online journal for book reviews in scholarly philosophy.
Zeitschrift für philosophische Literatur
Philosophie & Kritik. Beiträge zur politischen Philosophie und Kritischen Theorie
The book series Philosophie & Kritik. Beiträge zur politischen Philosophie und Kritischen Theorie will start in 2017 with Springer VS. It publishes books which understand themselves as politically engaged philosophy.
Philosophie & Kritik. Beiträge zur politischen Philosophie und Kritischen Theorie
Michel Foucault’s Philosophy
From a systematic perspective I am especially interested in Michel Foucault’s methodology and the resulting conception of (political) philosophy as well as his attempts to write a non-relativistic ‘History of Truth’.
Michel Foucault's Philosophy
Responsibility
That we should behave and act responsibly seems to be a self-evident norm hardly questioned by anyone. Yet, historically speaking, this is fairly new – only 200 years ago, “responsibility” was a rather marginal legal concept with no ethical significance. So what does the surprising career of “responsibility” mean, both for our thinking and our acting? What happens when “responsibility” becomes a required self-understanding for individuals at the workplace, in the welfare state or in the criminal justice system? And what are the consequences when philosophy’s analyses of “responsibility” focus almost exclusively on conditions of agency mostly absent in non-philosophical practices?
Responsibility

Teaching

In the summer term 2023, I will teach the following courses:

Epistemic Injustice: Interdisciplinary Approaches
A seminar on Miranda Fricker’s book Epistemic Injustice and the interdisciplinary debate about the concept and the phenomenon.
Kaleidoscope. Colloquium for Alternative Epistemologies (together with Nadja Germann)
In this joint colloquium, we will read research literature on alternative epistemologies as well as discuss talks on current research projects from members of the colloqium and external guests.
Nothing But the Truth. Theories of Truth in the 20th and 21st Century [in German].
What is truth? Can it be defined? In the seminar, we will get to know the most important theories of truth from the 20th and 21st century.
Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
This lecture introduces students to the philosophy of science by looking at its most important problems and debates.

Notes on Term Papers

Scientific writing is not an easy task. To help you with the writing part and to give you some idea how to find a good research question for your term papers, I have assembled some tips in the Hausarbeiten-Survival Guide. (Note that this is a document in progress and is not quite as developed as its German counterpart.)

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