Viktoria Knoll appointed Professor of Philosophy and Discourse Culture at Saarland University

The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.

'Philosophy is a discipline of arguments,' says Viktoria Knoll, who will take up the newly created Chair of Philosophy and Discourse Culture at the Institute of Philosophy in Saarbrücken on 1 October 2026. No other discipline engages so fundamentally with patterns of argumentation or examines the often hidden presuppositions that shape our discourses. The philosopher is particularly drawn to politically contentious debates. At Saarland University, she therefore intends to focus not only on classical topics in philosophy but also, in particular, on feminist discourses and questions that stir up (much) emotion: What is gender? How do we actually talk about gender? Whose expertise counts in this context? And what role do normative questions play in gender discourses?

'In my view, many of these discourses are primarily about questions of belonging and recognition – less about who is a woman, and more about whom we should actually accept as a woman. Or who we should call a man, and why, actually." Uncovering such normative undercurrents in discourse is a task to which Viktoria Knoll intends to devote herself in future at Saarland University, including as part of an Emmy Noether research group on the topic of gender.

Knoll's research has an international focus and is set to complement the University of Saarland's emphasis on sustainability with an important new dimension. In addition to undergraduate lectures and seminars on traditional philosophical topics, her courses will primarily address socially relevant questions concerning discourse, gender and discrimination. Another focus of her work will be on engaging in dialogue with the public.

Brief CV of Viktoria Knoll

Since 1 April 2026, Viktoria Knoll has been leading a research group on 'Gender: Language and Metaphysics' (GLAM) at the Institute of Philosophy at Saarland University, which the German Research Foundation's Emmy Noether Programme funds. She was awarded her Ph.D. in 2020 at the University of Hamburg with a thesis on personal identity and held positions at the Universities of Bonn and Dresden between 2020 and 2025. International visiting appointments took her to Oslo and St Andrews. Before moving to Saarland, she held a position as a visiting professor at Humboldt University in Berlin.