Today I met with Angela Bischof, a graduate student at Duke University, and Amy Berg, a professor of philosophy at Oberlin college. Both were enriching conversations, allowing me additional insight into what studying philosophy at a graduate level entails, as well as the interdisciplinary capacity of studying and teaching philosophy.
Angela talked to me about her experience with philosophy in college, which she encountered by chance, originally planning studying psychology. Rather than continental philosophy, which I’m primarily interested in, Angela’s research deals with analytic philosophy, as well as studies which overlap with research in psychology. She recently finished a study delving into the question of whether animals can be considered moral agents, which combined philosophy inquiry and logic as well as scientific psychological and behavioral research.
My conversation with Professor Berg was also so interesting. Her work deals with political philosophy, as well as feminist applications of philosophy. She recommended an interesting read to me, called Famine, Affluence and Morality. Both of Bergs and Bischof’s work seemed more grounded than some of the philosophers I have talked to previously, dealing with questions of the morality of state, moral actors, etc.
Duke Campus