As a nominee of the ESJP you obviously study or studied Philosophy, but could you tell us something more about yourself and how your interest in Philosophy came to be?
Right now, I am close to attaining my Master’s degree in philosophy in Berlin. I decided on wanting to study philosophy after reading Plato’s Phaidon during my final school years; it deeply moved me to see how so many things commonly taken for granted (for example, everything in existence being made up of physical matter) could be questioned reasonably. For me, philosophy meant—and still does mean—intellectual freedom: an invitation to imagine that reality may actually not quite be how we commonly view it today, and to imagine it with sensible reasons to boot.
What works or thinkers inspired you most in your development as a student in Philosophy?
Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel—to be more specific, the Hegel of the Encyclopædia and the Science of Logic—exerted by far the largest influence upon my thinking, which I notice through the fact that I tend to explain new philosophical concepts to myself in the terminology of his dialectics. Concerning the actual thought and the writing style, I feel most at home in the late philosophies of Schelling and Heidegger. For political philosophy, Carl Schmitt has been invaluable to me. Most of all, I am indebted to my teacher Prof. Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann and his writings.
Could you shortly introduce the topic of your paper and tell us why you wanted to write about this topic?
My paper is concerned with the way the great Dutch humanists Desiderius Erasmus and Hugo de Groot deal with their inner-Christian adversaries. More specifically, I aim to portray how they identify certain trends among Christians as either Jewish or Islamic elements. It seems to me that, rather than being wholly preoccupied with domestic fronts, they actually do not care much about either of these rival religious groups in and of themselves. It is interesting to compare how the competing attributions changed between the two thinkers though. As an exchange student, I wanted to take part in Prof. Edwin Rabbie’s seminar in order to know more about the country and, in Erasmus’s case, the city which I was fortunate enough to be able to study in for the semester. Moreover, I had already worked on political theology and the theological debates during the Reformation, so the topic came naturally to me.
The ESJP works with a double-blind peer-reviewed process that most academic journals also use, followed by an intensive editorial process in which you get feedback on your work. What did you take out of this experience?
It is always fruitful to learn what others have to say about your work.
Since your paper was first nominated by a teacher for our journal and then passed the double-blind peer-reviewed process, you have shown to be able to write a noteworthy and qualitative philosophical paper. What is your secret?
Two to five hours of playing video games for every one hour of actually studying. Not having to pay tuition fees also helps.
You are still a student (or you just graduated) and already have a first publication, what’s next? What are your plans for the future?
I am fortunate enough to enjoy this paper as my second publication already as I was able to publish another paper of mine just a couple of months earlier. In the following months, I aim to let more of my writing see the light of publicity while also finishing my Master’s thesis. Directly afterwards, I will begin to work on my doctoral thesis that will keep me busy for the next few years.
