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I specialize in post-Kantian European philosophy. My systematic research interests are in social and political philosophy and aesthetics. My areas of competence include ethics, philosophy of race, and philosophy of biology.

My current research centers on the history of the “philosophy of life” (Lebensphilosophie): from its first systematic formulations in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, through its main forms at the turn of the twentieth century (Dilthey, Simmel, and Bergson) and in the Weimar Republic, all the way to its entanglement with National Socialism. My research project has two foci: 1) I examine the contribution of philosophy of life to the emergence of the problem of relativism. It is my goal to show that both the history of the concept of life and the historical debates on relativism should be brought to bear on current debates. 2) I critically examine Nazi ideology and explore how philosophers contributed to the justification of Nazi racism. I understand my work on the history of racism as a groundwork for a thorough critique of its current forms. Here is a video talk of mine on "Dehumanizing Strategies in Nazi Ideology and their Anthropological Context:" https://www.macvideo.ca/media/TalkA+Dehumanizing+Strategies+in+Nazi+Ideology+and+their+Anthropological+Context/1_prhqyqct

For details about my former projects see: https://www.zfl-berlin.org/projekt/diskurse-des-lebens.html https://www.zfl-berlin.org/projekt/susan-taubes.html