Due to the corona-crisis it is not possible to get to know the new colleagues of ESPhil, therefore I would like to introduce Savriel Dillingh in this newsletter. Savriel is a PhD candidate at Erasmus School of Philosophy. We would like to welcome Savriel in the ESPhil community and hope to meet him soon at the campus.
Where are you from?
I’m from Katwijk aan Zee, a small-ish fishing village off the coast of South Holland, near Leiden. I got out of there as soon as I could, though, and moved to Amsterdam. Although I’ve since moved to Utrecht (last week, actually), Amsterdam still feels like where I’m from. It’s also a much cooler answer than “that fishing village most known for a hereditary disease caused by inbreeding”.
Where did you do your studies/What did you study?
I studied literature and ethics at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University.
Why did you choose Erasmus School of Philosophy to do your PhD?
I’m PhD’ing in Nicholas Vrousalis’s Inequality Against Freedom (InAF) project, which was 100% what drew me to Rotterdam. Being a part of ESPhil is just a very welcome bonus!
What is your research about?
The InAF project studies the relationship between freedom and economic inequality. My PhD is grounded mostly in the political philosophy of the market and political theory of the firm.
What are your expectations of the PhD?
I’m very much hoping I can avoid the dreaded PhD-burn-out, of course. Otherwise I expect to really dig into my subject and hopefully get to know many people in the field.
What are your first impressions of the Erasmus University and the city Rotterdam?
I was, first and foremost, incredibly impressed by the campus! The University of Amsterdam is a famously fragmented organization (especially for the humanities) — my studies there saw me go back and forth between three separate buildings — and the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University is too small to have a campus, so walking around the EUR campus was an experience. I’m looking forward to coming there often when corona lets up in 2024.
