The One with the Swiss Dean and a Bottle of Wine
I have been wanting to write this interview for quite a
long time. Everything started because Ted, one of our editors, told me
(attention, SPOILER ALERT!) about an alleged piece of advice that Christoph
Lüthy, professor in the History of Philosophy and Science at Radboud University
and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, gave to
Matt Damon (who, fortunately, didn’t follow it) and to some scones-eating
British politician (who, unfortunately, didn’t follow it). This was the rumor I
had been waiting for, but then the summer holidays arrived, the Italian seaside
distracted me, the new semester started, and all sorts of things every student
is familiar with happened. Like a good bottle of Brunello di Montalcino that
you save for special occasions, this interview had been put on hold, waiting
for the best moment to be written. And
it was still there waiting when the familiar voice of the interviewee himself
greeted me with a lively “Buongiorno!” in the koffiehoek (15th floor
of the Erasmus Building, the place to be for every philosopher in Nijmegen).
The day to open that metaphorical bottle of Brunello di Montalcino had been
set, but I needed some insights from one of the persons who knows prof. Lüthy
best, namely his wife Carla Rita Palmerino, professor of the History of
Philosophy at Radboud University and program coordinator of the Research Master
in Philosophy. And no, if you were thinking about a love blossomed within the
Erasmusgebouw’s walls, you would be mistaken. Their love blossomed in a way
more romantic (but equally cold and foggy) setting, in dear old Scotland, as
they recently revealed in an interview with VOX.
(more…)
