Tobias Wilsch

Dr. Tobias Wilsch is currently an Akademischer Rat (Lecturer) at the University of Tübingen, affiliated with the Department of Philosophy within the Philosophisches Seminar. He has held an interim professorship for Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Mainz (2021–2023) and served as a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University (2015–2016). His research focuses on metaphysics, philosophy of science, epistemology, and action theory, with particular emphasis on modality, natural laws, essences, and logical consequence.

Education:

• PhD in Philosophy, Rutgers University (2015)
• M.Litt in Philosophy, University of St. Andrews (2008–2010)
• Studies in Philosophy, Logic, and Science Theory at LMU Munich (2004–2006)

Research Interests:

• Metaphysical explanation and its modal foundations
• Nature of natural laws and their modal governance
• Epistemological and action-theoretic dimensions of rational agency
• Grounding theory and essentialist accounts

His current Heisenberg Project (DFG-funded) investigates the relationship between normative reasons, causal explanations, and modal necessity, proposing a unified account of alethic and deontic modality.

Funding & Grants:

• Heisenberg Fellowship (German Research Foundation, DFG) focusing on action theory and epistemology

Publications: Key works include The Sources of Necessity (Oxford UP, 2025) and articles in Philosophical Studies, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, and Philosophical Issues.