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Philosophy has been taught here in Leuven since the founding of the university in 1425.

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During the first 2 years of study it was
a compulsory subject for all students.

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In the 19th century the Catholic Church
faced an existential crisis

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as progressions in science led people
to question religion.

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In an attempt to overcome this,
Pope Leo the 13th commissioned Cardinal Mercier

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to found a new philosophical study centre where science and philosophy would go hand in hand.

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The Institute of Philosophy was born.

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The Institute quickly became an internationally
renowned school.

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Did you know that famous philosophers
such as Derrida, Levinas and Popper

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conducted research or gave guest lectures here?

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By the way: Herman Van Rompuy, former president of the European Council, is an alumnus of the Institute.

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In this building you can also find smuggled books!

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Just before World War II, a Leuven PhD student

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managed to rescue 40.000 pages of
Edmund Husserl's work

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from destruction by the German National Socialists.

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Before we go, I really need to ask
someone a question.

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So Alex, why did you choose to study
philosophy at the University of Leuven?

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– Well, the thing about philosophy is
that it really tries to tackle

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the questions that no other science can tackle.

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It questions the fundamental things
that lie in a sense beyond.

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It is courageous and it really tries to dig into
what nothing else can dig into.

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For example philosophy of mind,
what it tries to do is,

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it tries to answer the very nature of consciousness. What does it mean to be conscious?

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How does consciousness relate to the physical?

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What is the relation between your body
and your mind?

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See, those kinds of questions are
the incentive, the reason

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why I chose to study here because

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I was really interested in finding out what
the answers to those questions are.

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And if not answers, at least pursuing
the questions and

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perhaps trying to learn something
by exploring those questions.

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That's great.

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– Thank you. Thank you very much.