Simon Friederich is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science at University College Groningen, University of Groningen, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science. Trained both as a philosopher (PhD, Bonn) and theoretical physicist (PhD, Heidelberg), his work spans quantum foundations, symmetries, multiverse epistemology, and the philosophy of science.
In recent years, Simon has turned toward environmental ethics and the philosophy of technology. Together with Maarten Boudry, he has argued that nuclear energy use can in certain circumstances be not only permissible but ethically required as part of climate change mitigation. Their 2022 paper Ethics of Nuclear Energy in Times of Climate Change, published in Philosophy and Technology, concludes that, given the risks of decarbonization failure, some societies may have a moral duty to pursue nuclear power.
