June 13, 2012 – ASPECT is pleased to announce the hire of Michael Moehler as new core faculty in the Department of Philosophy.  Michael Moehler began at Virginia Tech as a visiting assistant professor; August 2012 marks the beginning of his tenure track position.

Michael Moehler began his academic career in Germany with the study of Kant and related works of prominent German idealists, such as Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. After he realized how much shorter the English translation of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is compared to the original German version, he left the country and finished his bachelor’s degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

At the LSE, Michael became increasingly interested in topics at the intersection of philosophy and economics, and consequently pursued an MSc in Philosophy of the Social Sciences. After spending further time in the intellectually stimulating community of the University of London, his main research interest shifted to moral and political philosophy, and he obtained a PhD in Philosophy, also from the LSE.

After his time in the UK, Michael worked for two years in the Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he was especially involved in the department’s joint program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with Duke University. During his time at UNC, Michael received an offer for a research fellowship at the Murphy Institute at Tulane University in New Orleans. The Murphy Institute supports interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences, especially in philosophy, political science, economics, and history.

After a year in New Orleans, Michael came two years ago to Virginia Tech as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Since then, he has taught courses in value theory at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including a team-taught ASPECT course. Michael’s current research focuses on some of the key figures of moral and political philosophy, such as Hobbes, Hume, Kant, and Rawls. He is also interested in contemporary issues in moral and political philosophy, such as the integration of rational and evolutionary moral approaches, moral pluralism, and the topic of global justice.

Apart from his interest in philosophy, Michael holds degrees in business studies and furniture making. He worked for a year in management and political consulting to study the business world, for a year in a Nature Friends House to promote environmental sustainability, and for several years (part-time) in a One World Shop to promote fair trade. After much philosophical reflection, he is still a Kantian at heart. He enjoys exercising his freedom by imposing rules on himself.