Txetxu Ausín Díez

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TXETXU AUSÍN. Narrative biography

My name is Txetxu Ausín. I come from the city of Bilbao, the Basque Country, Spain. My name is a basque diminutive of Joseph and I take my surname from my mother, Natividad Ausín, who died when I was sixteen. It is a small tribute to her memory since she always encouraged me to follow my interests in philosophy and history. Her life and her death taught me about the value of dignity and the core notion of human interdependence. From that feeling to the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country there was only one step. In my studies of philosophy I knew two great Spanish thinkers, Miguel Sánchez-Mazas and Lorenzo Peña, who led me to the realms of norms, logic and applied ethics. About these issues I worked in my PhD thesis, that I presented in 2000 with the title “Between Logic and Law: Paradoxes and Normative Conflicts”. I obtained the highest degree and the First Prize for the year. During the training for that research, I was teaching History of Philosophy, Psychology and Ethics in High School and when I finished my PhD thesis I became Assistant Professor of Professional Ethics of Communication, Logic and Philosophy of Language, and Critical Thinking at the European University of Madrid, as well as a Scholar of several Research Foundations. At present, I am Tenured Scientist at the Institute of Philosophy, Spanish National Research Council (CCHS/CSIC), Madrid. I’m also Invited Professor in Bioethics and Contemporary Ethics at the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, ITESM, México. But, apart from academic skills, I have been involved in NGOs as Oxfam International (http://www.intermonoxfam.org/) and in professional associations as the Spanish Leibniz Society (www.leibnzisociedad.org) or the Spanish Association for Ethics and Politics (www.eticayfilosofiapolitica.es/) . I am manager of the web and journal about Applied Ethics DILEMATA (www.dilemata.net) and Editor in Chief of “Clásicos del Pensamiento” (CSIC) and “Theoria cum Praxi” book series (http://www.plazayvaldes.es/theoria/). Nowadays, I am main researcher of KONTUZ!: The Limits of Precautionary Principle in Contemporary Ethical and Legal Praxis (MINECO FFI2011-24414). My research focuses are:

- Foundations of Applied Ethics. Bioethics. Ethics of Communication. Ethics and Government.

- Human Rights and Global Justice.

- Economy on a Human Scale: Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Development.

- Theories of Argumentation and Deontic Logic.

- Legal and Political Writings of Leibniz.