Victoria Min-Yi Wang has simply accomplished her MA in philosophy (of science) with a specialization in bioethics on the College of Toronto. Initially, she skilled as a most cancers scientist working in numerous labs within the UK, has examined her hand as an editor at a scientific journal, after which solely slowly discovered her love for severe (tutorial?) philosophy. Now, Victoria’s pursuits lie on the interface of epistemology and ethics, and she or he is particularly interested in questions or issues that may be tackled with sources from feminist philosophy.
What excites you about philosophy?
Virtually every thing. The truth that you possibly can philosophize about principally something (though that doesn’t imply you need to); the thrilling combine between doing summary pondering and theorizing whereas attempting to remain grounded in empirical realities; with the ability to learn broadly and all of it being probably related to a philosophical challenge; the observe of writing as a means of clarifying your ideas and modifying that work in order that ideas and concepts will be communicated; the methods by which philosophical analyses can prolong their tendrils into every other self-discipline to light up and/or disrupt these disciplines and the concomitant results that these different disciplines can have on the observe of philosophy; the potential of philosophy to have an effect on—and in the very best instances, change for the higher—the every day lives of those that come into contact with it.
What are you engaged on proper now?
That is a straightforward query. I’m engaged on two forms of issues in the meanwhile. First, I’m attempting to increase on and enhance a few the essays I wrote as a part of the graduate programs I took on the College of Toronto, within the hope that they may be publishable within the not-too-distant future. Considered one of them is about care ethics and evidence-based nursing. Right here, I’m attempting to argue that sources from feminist care ethics will help fill in a few of the gaps left by the very process-based strategy of evidence-based nursing. And in a special essay, I focus on one of many predominant approaches to science communication—the deficit mannequin—utilizing sources from the physician and sociologist Ludwik Fleck who was writing within the first half of the 20th century. The primary factor I’m attempting to attain on this essay is to problematize the strict dichotomy between “consultants” and “laypeople” that lecturers typically presuppose when writing about and doing science communication.
Second, I’m getting ready a spreadsheet with data on numerous philosophy Ph.D. applications to use to, with software and funding deadlines, and professors I’m taken with working with. Together with this, I’m additionally engaged on my writing pattern, which, to make issues tougher for myself, is predicated on neither of the 2 essays talked about above. As an alternative, I’ll be constructing on a paper by which I discover what it means to have extreme self-trust and the way this may be detrimental to patient-physician relationships.
What three issues are in your bucket listing that you simply’ve not but completed?
- Getting a everlasting job at a college.
- Writing (and publishing) a ebook.
- Sustaining caring and loving relationships till the tip of my life.
What do you love to do outdoors work?
Maybe unsurprisingly and unoriginally, I like studying fiction. That is for numerous causes, together with the great thing about language, the chance to journey to different occasions and locations and into different individuals’s internal lives, as an escape from my life. One of many best joys is that this little ebook membership I’m a part of the place we’ve set ourselves the duty of studying one ebook from each nation on the earth; we’ve managed about forty to date.
Once I don’t have my head buried in a ebook and am not looking at a display I take pleasure in operating and climbing; I used to be born in Austria, so it’s nearly compulsory to like mountains (and classical music).
Lastly, I’m much less solitary than these solutions make me sound: in between studying and operating I like spending time with my companion, household, and associates (in-person or on the cellphone, that is what shifting round rather a lot results in). We discuss every thing, from philosophy to science to the most recent relationship gossip.
What’s your favourite ebook of all time? (Or high 3). Why? To whom would you suggest them?
Inconceivable query. These are provisional solutions, in no specific order, liable to alter over time.
Orlando (1928) by Virginia Woolf: I don’t assume I’ve ever learn a sentence of hers that I disliked and really many who I’ve liked. This novel specifically, with its fantastical time-and-gender-bending components, is each humorous and lethal severe, a mix I massively admire, each in fiction and life. I’d suggest this to anybody who isn’t but satisfied that modernism is without doubt one of the finest literary durations (at the very least for English language fiction).
Malina (1971) by Ingeborg Bachmann: This was the Austrian ebook we learn on our world ebook membership tour earlier this yr. As a part of the ebook membership, we fee books from 1 to five (although the factors for these rankings are contested and extremely idiosyncratic). This ebook earned at the very least two 5s (together with one from me), one 1, and one “1 or 5.” Make of that what you’ll, however it actually generated a superb dialogue. It’s a novel written within the first-person from the angle of a profitable feminine Austrian author (maybe an alter ego of Bachmann herself) and the way she is trapped in a patriarchal world, marred by the current previous of fascism. Though general extra severe than Orlando, it in some way additionally manages to mix passages that made me snicker out loud with others that made me cry. I’d suggest this to anybody who desires to find out about post-war Austria and get a glimpse into (white) feminine consciousness.
The Residing Mountain (1977) by Nan Shepherd: This can be a brief work of non-fiction that’s in any other case arduous to categorise. In a single sense it’s clearly concerning the Cairngorm Mountains, a mountain vary within the Scottish Highlands, its flora, fauna, climate, and local weather. However apart from that, it’s a meditation on strolling and climbing, for many years, in a single comparatively small space of the world, and what it’s like “to be with the mountain as one visits a good friend with no intention however to be with him.” I’d suggest this to anybody who loves strolling and the outside, blended with some philosophical reflection.
What would you want your final meal to be?
The reply to this query will in all probability change sooner or later. However some of the scrumptious and comforting issues I ate just lately is momos—steamed dumplings from Tibet and the Himalayas; in Toronto, the Parkdale neighborhood has a number of nice Tibetan eating places. Those I had have been crammed with pork and drowned in a chili sauce. Fairly heavenly and would fortunately have these simply earlier than I die.
This part of the APA Weblog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers slightly higher. We’re together with profiles of APA members that highlight what captures their curiosity not solely contained in the workplace, but additionally outdoors of it. We’d love so that you can be part of it, so please contact us by way of the interview nomination form here to appoint your self or a good friend.
Alexis LaBar has a Grasp’s diploma in Philosophy from West Chester College of Pennsylvania. Earlier than attending West Chester, she graduated from Moravian College with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, a minor in International Religions, and an Ethics certificates. She is the recipient of the 2022 Claghorn Award in Philosophy, awarded by West Chester College, and the 2021 Douglas Anderson Prize in Philosophy, awarded by Moravian College. She is the Editor of the Educating Beat and Work/Life Stability Beat.
