"As a philosopher, I have a particular interest in science."
René van Woudenberg
Dean Faculty of Humanities
With this foreword, I welcome all alumni of the faculty to this new edition of idea, in which you can read all about what’s going on at the faculty— and it’s a lot, and diverse, and both interesting and important!
Allow me to introduce myself. As of 1 January 2024, I will succeed Susan Legêne as dean. I am a professor of Epistemology and Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy, where I have enjoyed working for many years. Previously, I was dean of the then-smallest faculty at VU Amsterdam, the beautiful Faculty of Philosophy.
As a philosopher, I have a particular interest in science. Unfortunately, almost all books that deal with the philosophy of science remain silent about the Humanities—while there are indeed such philosophically interesting and valuable things to say that would aid understanding! In the context of the research project Epistemic Progress in the University, we have jumped into this gap. With Stephen Grimm (New York) and Rik Peels (VU, Faculty of Humanities and FRT), I have written a book entitled A Philosophy of the Humanities, which will be published next year by Oxford University Press. According to Aristotle, the various sciences are distinguished by the objects they investigate. In this book, we argue, among other things, that the objects studied in the Humanities are characterised by three properties: meaning, intentionality and value.
"According to Aristotle, the various sciences are distinguished by the objects they investigate."
The church father Augustine was a practitioner of the Humanities. In his commentary on the famous opening of the Gospel of John ("In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God"), he raises the question of why Christ is called 'the Word'. And then he says this: when you give a gift to someone else, it essentially means that a legal transfer of ownership takes place. If I give you a gift, something comes into your possession that was previously in my possession and that I am now losing. But, he adds, when I tell you something, when I give you a word, I am also giving you a gift. But in this case, the special thing is that something comes into your possession without me losing anything. What I had, you have now. The word thus establishes community! And that's why, Augustine says, Christ is called the Word—for this Word connects God and man, and man and man.
I wish our alumni and all our readers happy holidays!
magazine for humanities alumni december 2023