Armin Nassehi appointed to the German Ethics Council

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The German Ethics Council advises Germany’s parliament and government on key societal and bioethical matters arising from new developments in biotechnology, medicine and other areas of science. Professor Nassehi holds the Chair of General Sociology and Theory of Society at LMU. He is regarded as one of the most prominent advocates of system theory.

Nassehi’s research focuses primarily on the formation of sociological theories and the analysis of societal developments, including digitalization, integration, social inequality and climate change. The professor already acts as Vice Chairman of the Bavarian Ethics Council and, during the pandemic, served on the North Rhine-Westphalian state government’s council of experts for the coronavirus. In his capacity as a sociologist, he regularly adopts a public stance on societal and political issues.

The German Ethics Council to which he has been appointed concerns itself with medical and biotechnology issues that are of relevance to society, but also with societal values. Together with Armin Nassehi, legal scholar Hans-Georg Dederer, computer scientist Aldo Faisal, chairwoman of Haus der Krebs-Selbsthilfe (the German Cancer Self-Help Association) Hedy Kerek-Bodden, economist Achim Wambach and medical ethics expert Eva Winkler have also been appointed to the council. A months-long delay preceded the naming of these new members by the German government. In keeping with the law, however, the body now once again comprises 26 people.