Petra Gehring

Prof. Dr. Petra Gehring is a distinguished professor of philosophy at the Technical University of Darmstadt, where she has been teaching since 2002. She holds significant leadership roles including heading the Hessian Center for Responsible Digitalization (ZEVEDI) since 2020 and chairing the Council for Information Infrastructures of the Federal and State Governments. Her academic contributions span editorial positions with the Journal Phenomenology, Yearbook of Philosophy of Technology, and German Journal of Philosophy, as well as advisory roles with the Philosophical Yearbook.

Dr. Gehring earned her MA in 1988, completed her doctorate in 1992, and achieved her habilitation in 2000 after studying philosophy, political science, and law at universities in Giessen, Marburg, and Bochum. Her academic trajectory demonstrates a consistent engagement with foundational philosophical questions while adapting to contemporary technological challenges.

Her research spans multiple philosophical domains with particular focus on metaphysics and its criticism, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. She has made significant contributions to classical and post-classical phenomenology, structuralism and post-structuralist theory formation. Her work on philosophical conceptual history and metaphorology bridges traditional philosophical inquiry with contemporary concerns about technology and power. Dr. Gehring is particularly known for her investigations into the philosophical implications of biotechnologies, digitality and digital infrastructures, as well as her work in applied ethics as a policy field and aesthetics, especially regarding the performance of signs, voice, text and sound.

Dr. Gehring's recent publications demonstrate a growing emphasis on digital humanities methods applied to philosophical questions. Her work increasingly examines the ethical and political dimensions of digital technologies, with particular attention to data governance, AI ethics, and the infrastructure of digital knowledge production. The trajectory of her scholarship reveals a consistent engagement with power dynamics in technological contexts, evolving from traditional philosophical analysis toward more applied considerations of contemporary digital challenges.

• History of Bioethics in Germany (1970-2010)
• Modal Concepts of Power
• Digital Infrastructure Innovation (including data trust models)
• Digital Metaphor Analysis

Throughout her career, Dr. Gehring has led numerous significant research initiatives including the DFG GK Technization and Society (until 2006), DFG GK Topology of Technology (until 2015), DFG GK E-Learning (until 2010), and the LOEWE priority The logic of cities. She currently serves as PI for the DFG GK Standards of governance and continues to contribute to the DFG GK European dream cultures as an associated member. Her leadership extends to her role as head of the Hessian Center for Responsible Digitalization (ZEVEDI), where she directs research on ethical technology development.

Dr. Gehring co-hosts the ZEVEDI podcast 'Digital conversation' with physicist and technology philosopher Marlene Görger, demonstrating her commitment to public engagement with philosophical questions surrounding digitalization. Her work continues to shape contemporary philosophical discourse at the intersection of traditional philosophical inquiry and emerging technological challenges.