Prof. dr. Herwig Grimm

Herwig Grimm studied philosophy at the Universities of Salzburg, Zurich and Munich, main emphasis on ethics and applied ethics. In 2004 he earned his Master’s degree in Salzburg with a thesis on “Moral Standing of Animals? – Approaching the subject with discourse ethics”. From 2004 to 2011 he was a scientific assistant at the interdisciplinary Institute for Technology, Theology and Natural sciences in Munich. He took his doctoral degree at the Munich School of Philosophy. From 2011 he has been a professor and the head of the unit “Ethics and Human-Animal-Studies” at the Messerli Research Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna.

Main fields of research

  • Applied animal ethics / ethics of farm animal welfare / veterinary ethics
  • Pragmatism in applied ethics
  • Orientation towards practice in ethics
  • Methods of problem-oriented and applied moral philosophy

Current research projects (selection)

  • The Internal Morality of the Veterinary Profession: An Empirically Informed Ethical Analysis of Hightech Veterinary Medicine (FWF)
  • The Lacanian Animal – A Psychoanalytical Perspective on Anthropocentrism and the Ambivalences in the Human-Animal Relationship (FWF)
  • Vethics E-Portfolio. Professional Ethics für Amtstierärzte. Erstellung von Lernmodulen und eines online gestützten Weiterbildungsangebotes für Amtstierärzte, praktische Tierärzte und Studierende.

Link to VetDoc Research Information System of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna