Last Friday, ESPhil MA student Marjolijn Hordijk was awarded the Jan Brouwer Thesis Prize in Philosophy at the Royal Holland Society of Sciences, for her master's thesis Wittgenstein meets Ramsey: A Critical Assessment of F.P. Ramsey's Critical Notice on Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. She had previously graduated cum laude at ESPhil.
The jury report: "The actual subject of the thesis is a critical evaluation of Ramsey's 'Critical Notice' (Mind, 1923). In the jury's opinion, Hordijk scores outstandingly well on all the criteria used by the jury. Her thesis contains a clever analysis, both of Wittgenstein's Tractatus, certainly one of the most difficult philosophical publications of the twentieth century, and of Ramsey's Critical Notice, still an under-explored text; she navigates skilfully and without a redundant display of erudition vis-à-vis the secondary literature; her presentation is clear and economical; in the problem definition and its elaboration, she demonstrates a wise self-restraint. Hordijk's conclusion is that Ramsey failed to understand Wittgenstein on a number of important points, a conclusion that is daring but is presented with reverence. The fact that her conclusions are mainly negative is not considered an objection in the eyes of the jury, but rather an argument for continuing on the chosen path through an article, or, perhaps, a dissertation."
Erasmus School of Philosophy wholeheartedly congratulates Marjolijn Hordijk on her achievement!
- More information
Would you like to learn more about the Jan Brouwer Thesis Award, or read the full jury report? Then visit the website of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Dutch).