Tune in to The Graduates this Tuesday for an interview with Urte Laukaityte from the Department of Philosophy. Urte considers her views on philosophy a little outside the traditional approach to field. In the interview, she discusses what it means to use the philosophical method and why that method is applicable for a much wider variety of fields and questions than are typically considered “philosophy.” She herself studies the philosophy of psychiatry in hopes of better understanding psychosomatic phenomena and the mechanisms through which the mind and the body interact. She also talks briefly about an essay she wrote on eighteenth century Frenchman Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer, his claimed ability to manipulate “animal magnetism,” and the Benjamin Franklin-led commission that debunked those claims. Give it a read, and make sure to tune in.
The Graduates, featuring graduate student research at Cal, is broadcast every other Tuesday on KALX 90.7 FM. Past episodes are available to listen and download free on iTunes or online. This episode of The Graduates is hosted by Andrew Saintsing, a PhD candidate in the Department of Integrative Biology.