About

As a researcher, teacher, rights advocate, and international development practitioner, I have devoted much of my life to trying to shape a more livable world, where rights are protected and respected, and everyone can thrive and live without fear or discrimination.

I am presently an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Lone Star College–Kingwood and Houston Community College, a Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology at the University of South Africa, a Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, and an International Research Associate at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM).

Previously, I was a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Houston (2023), a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre de Recherche en Éthique in Montréal (2020-21), a Lecturer of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at UDSM (2017-19), a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg (2016-17), and an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Lone Star College–Tomball (2016).

I graduated from Rice University with a PhD in Philosophy in May 2016. I further hold Master’s degrees in Physics (Heidelberg University, 2009) and Philosophy (Rice University, 2014).

In my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote under the direction of Professor George Sher, I defend a novel account of the wrongness of killing, according to which it is no less seriously wrong to kill a non-human conscious animal than it is to kill you or me.

I believe that philosophical thinking has an important role to play in public life, and I regularly write columns for newspapers in the United States and a number of countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, some of which are available on my blog.

I travel a good deal, both to learn more about the world and to speak, collaborate, and work on projects in education, development, and human and animal rights.

When I am free, I enjoy cycling, hiking, catching up with friends, and spending time with my wife, Khukie.

I grew up in the small Swabian village of Adelmannsfelden in Southwest Germany.