Philosophy has been taught here in Leuven since the founding of the university in 1425.
During the first 2 years of study it was a compulsory subject for all students.
In the 19th century the Catholic Church faced an existential crisis
as progressions in science led people to question religion.
In an attempt to overcome this, Pope Leo the 13th commissioned Cardinal Mercier
to found a new philosophical study centre where science and philosophy would go hand in hand.
The Institute of Philosophy was born.
The Institute quickly became an internationally renowned school.
Did you know that famous philosophers such as Derrida, Levinas and Popper
conducted research or gave guest lectures here?
By the way: Herman Van Rompuy, former president of the European Council, is an alumnus of the Institute.
In this building you can also find smuggled books!
Just before World War II, a Leuven PhD student
managed to rescue 40.000 pages of Edmund Husserl's work
from destruction by the German National Socialists.
Before we go, I really need to ask someone a question.
So Alex, why did you choose to study philosophy at the University of Leuven?
– Well, the thing about philosophy is that it really tries to tackle
the questions that no other science can tackle.
It questions the fundamental things that lie in a sense beyond.
It is courageous and it really tries to dig into what nothing else can dig into.
For example philosophy of mind, what it tries to do is,
it tries to answer the very nature of consciousness. What does it mean to be conscious?
How does consciousness relate to the physical?
What is the relation between your body and your mind?
See, those kinds of questions are the incentive, the reason
why I chose to study here because
I was really interested in finding out what the answers to those questions are.
And if not answers, at least pursuing the questions and
perhaps trying to learn something by exploring those questions.
That's great.
– Thank you. Thank you very much.