Research profile

Chair of Philosophy and Political Theory (Prof. Dr. Laura Valentini)

Research profile and priorities

Research at the Chair of Philosophy and Political Theory covers a wide range of topics in contemporary social, political, legal and moral philosophy, especially in the analytic tradition. The research of the members of the chair can be roughly divided into the following thematic groups:

International political and legal philosophy

Here, the members of the Chair are currently pursuing projects on the following topics: the ethics of citizenship and migration; the existence and nature of a human right to cultural heritage; the nature of genocide as a particular injustice and crime; the nature of our duties towards those suffering from poverty worldwide.

Moral and political equality

Here, the members of the chair are pursuing projects on the following topics: the nature and ethics of stigmatization; the compatibility of competency-restricted voting rights with political and moral equality; when and why social hierarchies are wrong.

Political legitimacy and political violence

Here, the members of the chair pursue projects on the following topics: the question of whether political legitimacy is to be understood procedurally or instrumentalistically; the relationship between state legitimacy and the legitimacy of international institutions; the question of whether voters are accountable to each other as to whether they are well informed; the justification of political riots as an appropriate form of violence.

Social ontology and moral normativity

Here the members of the chair conduct research on the following topics: the nature of social norms; whether social norms have moral force; whether we can possess moral rights and powers by nature alone or whether our possession of them depends on social norms that confer them on us.