Board visit: the Institute for Philosophy wants to continue to grow through new collaborations
The university is home to many pearls of research institutes that do not make the news every day. The Executive Board visited one such pearl, the Institute of Philosophy, on Tuesday 1 July. It resulted in an inspired conversation.
It is 33 degrees outside, inside, the Institute of Philosophy is gathering steam for a visit by vice rector Erwin Muller and Executive Board members Hester Bijl and Timo Kos. They are immediately presented with some remarkable facts about the institute by academic director Susanna Lindberg. For instance, besides the more 'common' research groups of theoretical philosophy, practical philosophy and philosophy history, Philosophy has two special departments. Namely: continental philosophy, of which only one other university in the Netherlands has one, and Global and Comparative Philosophy. The latter department is unique both in the Netherlands and in Europe.
Another handsome achievement is that the number of Master's students in Philosophy is growing steadily. From 60 in academic year '23 - '24 to 84 in academic year '24 - '25. And for the coming year, the number of applications is even higher. Of course, there are concerns for the future about the exact impact of the pending Dutch Internalisation in Balance Act.
Take to the streets?
Next, four young researchers of the institute give presentations on the very different issues they are investigating. Thomas Fossen kicks off; he has spent years working on issues of political legitimacy. What do you do, for example, when your friends call on you to take to the streets and demand the fall of the regime? Do you want to do that, and why? In a recently published book, he proposes a method for dealing with those questions. His new line of research deals with the limits of climate activism by scientists. The boundary between science and politics is at stake: how does activism relate to your role as a scientist? Or does your role as a scientist give you reasons to actually take to the streets?
Heavyweights
Marie Louise Krogh examines political philosophical thinking in Europe during the colonial past. She looks at the emergence of thinking about concepts such as “race”, “colonisation” and “empire”, also in relation to the modern political landscape. In 2024, she received a Veni grant to research the influence of imperialist thought and politics on influential thinkers such as Kant, Fichte and Hegel. It promises to be a critical look at these philosophical heavyweights, because as Krogh says: 'You shouldn't leave old white men to young white men.'
Encounters between worlds
Korean philosopher Dobin Choi explores the interaction between Eastern and Western philosophy. Among other things, he compared Eastern schools of thought such as Chinese Confucianism with Western philosophers such as David Hume. He is also interested in modern encounters between these two worlds. Among other things, he wants to know why popular Korean culture is so appealing in large parts of the Western world. To further demonstrate this influence: 'Recently, the New York Times published a list of the best 100 films of the 21st century. The Korean film Parasite was at number one.' He explores that issue by analysing the Korean philosophical backgrounds of that culture.
Perception of time
With Martin Lipman, we dive into human and scientist thinking: how do we reconcile outcomes of scientific research, such as physics, with our perception of the world? How do scientists arrive at a particular perspective or point of view? Lipman himself examined, for example, human perception of time. 'Physicists tell us to abandon our traditional understanding of time, that we should rather see it as a separate dimension. But how is it then that people themselves still experience time as something that passes or flows? And in relation to that: when is it valid for a scientist to change his or her point of view, and when not?'
Lipman then talks enthusiastically about a new minor, “The Mysterious Reality”, which will start next year. This minor, a collaboration with Physics, looks at understanding physical phenomena such as time and The Big Bang. 'It will be a very nice minor,' he says enthusiastically. 'I would love to take it myself.'
Workload, finances and collaboration
After strolling through the classic PJ Veth building, where the institute is housed, the company talks for a while about threats and opportunities of the institute. Workload and finances remain a huge problem, they stress. One possible solution to seeking money streams other than from the state and receiving space for research and teaching is to continue to seek other collaborations. 'That topic is high on our agenda,' says Timo Kos. And he asks: 'how can we help?' Immediately, people are busy brainstorming, for example about public collaborations in defence and ethics. Or cooperation in UnaEuropa to let philosophy contribute to shaping European citizens. And perhaps links are possible in the field of education between Amsterdam, a major player in the field of logic, and Leiden?
Finally, Martin Lipman notes he would love it if philosophers were much more involved in writing major synergy grants. 'Philosophers offer varied, unique perspectives,' he stresses. 'Therefore, we can facilitate the conversation between scientists from various disciplines.'
Visiting the institutes
Research at Leiden University is organised in 33 institutes. The Executive Board is visiting all the faculty institutes to find out what is going on there in these times of cutbacks, and to learn about developments in research and education.