Kyoto Institute of Philosophy Appoints Markus Gabriel as Senior Global Adviser

[Profile]
Markus Gabriel, born in 1980, studied in Bonn, Heidelberg, Lisbon, and New York. He is one of the world’s most prominent representatives of New Realism in philosophy. At the age of 29, he became the youngest full professor of philosophy in Germany. Prior to that, he had already served as a tenure-track professor at New York’s New School for Social Research since 2008.

Since 2009, he has held the Chair in Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Bonn. He serves as Director of the International Center for Philosophy since 2012.

In 2017, he founded the Center for Science and Thought together with colleagues from physics. This center facilitates interdisciplinary exchange between philosophy, science, and technology in order to find productive and sustainable solutions to the most pressing questions of our time. In this context, he is Principal Investigator of a project on Desirable Digitalization, which provides a new framework for thinking about AI.

He has held visiting professorships in Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Portugal, and the United States.

Since 2020, he has been Distinguished Lecturer in Philosophy and the New Humanities at the New School for Social Research in New York City, where he also co-directs the Institute for Philosophy and the New Humanities. The Institute, sponsored by the Udo Keller Foundation Forum Humanum, is at the forefront of understanding the impact of AI systems on human beings and the role the human sciences play in developing a new type of ethics of AI.

His best-selling books include “Why the World Doesn’t Exist”, “I Am Not a Brain: Philosophy of Mind for the 21st Century”, “The Meaning of Thought, and Moral Progress in Dark Times: Universal Values for the 21st Century”. They have been published in numerous countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the United States.

He is convinced that a New Enlightenment is on the horizon. and that we can make this world a better place with the help of the conceptual tools of philosophy and the humanities. From 2021 to 2024, while on leave from his chair at Bonn, he served first (2021-2022) as a fellow and program lead and then became the Academic Director at the same institute, which has the goal of applying insights from the humanities and social sciences to the challenges and socioeconomic megatrends of our time.

Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel
Chair in Epistemology, Modern, and Contemporary Philosophy,
Director of International Centre for Philosophy,
Director of Center for Science and Thought,
University of Bonn

[Message from Markus Gabriel]
Due to the accelerated and rapid rise of Generative AI and other novel applications of digital technologies, humanity is facing a value crisis. We live in hypercomplex times. This requires a new public philosophy which cooperates across sectors and disciplines. The goal is to develop a new vision of goodness that allows us to live well in the age of AI. KIP realizes this imperative by bringing philosophy, business, and other sectors together to reshape our digital infrastructure in light of the challenges we are facing. It is an immense pleasure and honor for me to be joining this high-level, future-oriented new institute as Senior Global Advisor.

[Contact]
Kyoto Institute of Philosophy Secretariat
Email:contact＠k-philo.org