Department of Philosophy 2020 Mini Celebration

Descriptive Transcript

[A dark blue slide bearing the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy, Celebrating the Class of 2020.

A slideshow plays, transitioning between slides with a page-turning animation, where one corner of the frame is dragged to the other side, the next slide revealed beneath it.

Fades to black. A dark blue slide bearing the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy, Celebrating the Class of 2020.

Kate Moran is shown before gray wall with white trim and brown doors.]

Kate Moran: Hi, welcome to the philosophy department's mini celebration. I'm Kate Moran, I'm chair of the department, and we're very happy that you could be joining us today. Of course, we wish that it could be in person, but it's a happy occasion nonetheless. We're very proud of you, our graduates, and we're really grateful for all of the support that parents and friends have given our graduates along the way, so we're happy we can be together and celebrate this, albeit virtually. We have a great little program planned with some student speakers and guest speakers. So without further ado, I will introduce our first speaker who is Ripley Stroud, and she's earning her master's degree from our department this year.

[A dark blue slide bearing the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy, Celebrating the Class of 2020

The next slide shows a blue tinted image of the Louis D. Brandeis statue. Next to the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University. Below reads: Ripley Stroud, Graduate Student Speaker.

Ripley Stroud is shown waving before a yellow wall and a window.]

Ripley Stroud: Hello, everyone, and hello future Ripley who's watching this. It is exceedingly weird to just sort of be talking on a screen, but seems like it's something that everyone else has learned how to have to do during this pandemic, so I figured I would take my shot at it too. And, on a similar note, seems like a lot of people have had to learn how to make PowerPoints, so I figure I would do my speech in the format of a PowerPoint as well to show that I'm am also adapting. [does a thumbs up]

[Ripley gives a thumbs up.]

Ripley: So we'll bring this up here. I've practiced this maybe five times. We're here, yay. And I'm just going to put it in full-screen mode if I can figure out how. Great, practice does not make perfect. [thumbs up]

[The first slide of Ripley's PowerPoint is shown. On a colorful background featuring drawings of flowers in a white box reads: A speech, Centered around Pascal's Pensée 172, Ripley Stroud, 2020. The video of Ripley is reduced to a small square, which now appears in the top right of the screen.]

Ripley: So this is my speech. It's centered around Pascal's Pensee 172, which I will review in the presentation, so don't worry if you're not immediately familiar with it. But just to get everyone on the same page and to show that I've learned something from the master's program, I'm gonna start off with some sign-posting. I will begin this speech by first examining individual instances of a phenomenon. I will then move to inductively extract a rule for this phenomenon. I will look to the literature to support this rule and then apply it back to the particular instance of the master's program here at Brandeis. So we have section one, the individual instances, with a lovely graphic.

[The following slide is titled: §1: The Individual Instances. Below a graphic is shown. Three orange cells are shown in a row, connected by an orange line. The center cell has two pointed sides that point to the outer cells, which have pointed inner sides and flat outer sides. Above the first cell reads: Set of perceived experiences (p1, p2, p3, … pn). In the cell reads: Empirical Observation. Below the cell is a drawing of an eye. Above the second cell is a graphic of a human profile in silhouette with the brain visible. In the cell reads: Cognitive Faculties. Below reads: Reason. Above the second cell reads: Extrapolated Law. In the third cell reads: Posited Theory. Below shows a clip art image of a silhouette beside a speech bubble with a glowing lightbulb inside.

The graphic fades away, and under the same heading, a bullet point appears reading: Some personal failings.]

Ripley: For someone who's studying philosophy, I'm pretty shit at appraising teleology. It's all too easy for me to go through life looking at the road ahead, looking and concentrating at the hills in the distance rather than the flat road I currently walk. This leads to sleep lost and time wasted, all for the false promise of an achievable goal that I really desperately want to be able to seize.

[Another bullet point appears, reading: Exaggeration thereof, as of late.]

Ripley: This tendency of mine is generally present, but it's rearing its ugly head more often than not now that we're in lockdown. It's a constant struggle to stay in the moment most of the time, and I spent a lot of time wondering what the end of May will look like.

[Another bullet point appears, reading: Perhaps this bodes well for my career?]

Ripley: But, like a good philosopher, that also means that I spend a lot of time wondering about my wondering. I suspect that this tendency of mine is not unique to me. Section two, the extracted rule, with some support from the French.

[A new slide reads: §2: The Extracted Rule. Fading in a moment later reads: (with some support from the French.) Moments later appears a bulletpoint reading: Oops! Inductive reasoning is risky.]

Ripley: Thus, like a bad philosopher, I extrapolate paradigms from particulars, claiming general laws from these specific instances. This reads as follows. Generally, humans suffer from this kind of future-gazing. Pascal even had a pensee about it, and if there's one thing that I've learned from the study of philosophy it's to cite others to minimize the work that I myself have to do.

[Under the same heading, the bullet points fade away. Beneath the heading, the quote read by Ripley is shown.]

Ripley: "We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate the future as too slow in coming as if in order to hasten its course; or we recall the past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that we wander in the times which are not ours, and do not think of the only one which belongs to us; and so idle are we that we dream of those times which are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists. For the present is generally painful to us. We conceal it from our sight because it troubles us; and if it be delightful to us, we regret to see it pass away. We try to sustain it by the future, and think of arranging matters which are not in our power, for a time which we have no certainty of reaching."

[The following slide shows the remainder of the quote.]

Ripley: "Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so."

[Beneath the quote, a frowning face with a tear below the left eye is shown.]

Ripley: Here, Pascal supports my inducted rule, and as such I feel justified in deductively applying it to our master's program. Section three, the relevant portion of all this.

[A new slide reads: §3: The Relevant Portion. A bullet point fades in, reading: Some background.]

Ripley: I had finished my coursework here at Brandeis after three semesters. When nearing the close of my final semester, my family kept asking if I was going to walk at graduation, and, if so, when they should plan on being there for it. A substantial part of me automatically scoffed at the very suggestion. Why would I walk at graduation when largely this program served as a transition point from my bachelor's to my doctorate rather than as an end in itself.

[Another bullet point fades in, reading: Unjustified beliefs.]

Ripley: This naturally was a mistaken belief, and one that I think falls underneath the general tendency for us to look anywhere but the present. I am here to prepare myself for future graduate study, the future graduate study gets the brunt of my attention.

[Another bullet point fades in, reading: Reevaluation under Pascal's observations.]

Ripley: But so much is lost if that is believed. Not only does it lessen the weight of each achievement we accomplished during this program, but it also renders each day spent at this program less worthwhile, less important, than what we perceive to be the worth of our ultimate goal and the days that we spend working at that. We, as good practitioners of self-love, really ought to treat ourselves and our time with more respect than that. The time of our lives is, and was, strongly worthwhile and valuable in its own right no matter what the outcome.

[Another bullet point fades in, reading: Growth, generally.]

Ripley: Things are also lost externally if that is believed. I do not think it is surprising that so much was lost when we moved classes online because this sort of program is shaped wholly by the experiences that we have with those around us. I have become a stronger thinker and a better person because the people I met here, faculty and colleagues alike, showed no hesitation in telling me when they thought I was wrong about something and how I could do better. My sample, the piece of work that I'm most proud of, would not have been something I could be proud of if it weren't for the people who showed me what was wrong with all of it. This, I take it, is the core of collaborative philosophy, and it cannot be done alone.

[The previous bullet points fade away. New text fades in, which reads: In more or less words: I am exceedingly grateful for the time I have spent here and the people I have met.]

Ripley: Further, each instance of it is precious in its own right as an end in itself. So it is a deeply harmful mistake to disregard this collaboration as merely transitional or as nothing but a stepping stone to something else. It is rare to find a community where that can happen, and I am sad to be leaving one where it did. But I'm endlessly grateful for the experience as it was, and I'm happy that such a community exists at all. Thank you.

[Beneath the text, a line drawn image of a hand with the thumb and pinky extended, and the middle three fingers bent. Ripley is shown in full screen and does a peace sign to the camera.

Kate is shown.]

Kate: Thank you, Ripley. I think that was a very fitting address for the occasion under the circumstances. Our next speaker is Maxwell Snider, who is earning his BA in philosophy this year.

[A slide shows a blue-tinted image of the Louis D. Brandeis statue. Next to the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University. Below reads: Maxwell Snider, Undergraduate Student Speaker. Maxwell Snider is shown before a blue wall.]

Maxwell Snider: Several weeks ago, a professor asked me if at our final meeting I would be willing to speak to several of the freshmen in our class and perhaps provide some words of wisdom to them. At the time, I wasn't quite sure what to say. As a college senior only nearing the end of his final year, I wasn't certain what to do. So with four years of undergraduate classes spanning several academic disciplines and many hours of lectures, classes, salons, seminars, and office hours under my belt, I did what I've been taught to do so many times: I googled it. After several searches, I began to become discouraged, as much of what I'd come across was all too generic. So I was left with a question: what does a college student really know how to do? And having reflected on this question for a while, it slowly became clear to me what I needed to say to those freshmen. I'll now share with you all what I shared with them, and I hope you find something illuminating in it.

As recent college graduates, we've likely experienced many moments of uncertainty and discomfort, from the first time we spoke seriously to an adult, to our first day at a job, the first time we moved to a new city, or even the first time we willingly went to office hours. As recent college graduates, we've dealt with these uncomfortable situations many times. My advice for those freshmen, and my advice to you today, is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Those awkward situations are the ones which make the unfamiliar familiar. The formula is simple. When someone offers you an opportunity, always say yes. Say yes to that new exciting job with a startup. Say yes to the opportunity to move to that new city. Say yes to speaking at graduation when you haven't the slightest idea what to say. Anytime you're unsure whether to make the leap or not, always make the leap because by becoming more certain about living in the unknown, you will become better leaders, better scholars, better companions, and, most importantly, better human beings.

An esteemed scholar of philosophy and also a Brandeis graduate, Michael Sandel speaks on the first day of his justice class about the risks of studying philosophy. To quote him, "These risks spring from the fact that philosophy teaches us and unsettles us by confronting us with what we already know." As philosophers, we're used to asking and confronting these difficult questions. We are therefore already readily acquainted with the uncomfortable. You cannot get too comfortable with being uncomfortable. So as we all leave Brandeis and enter this world of great uncertainty, I hope you all, like good philosophers, continue to embrace situations of uncertainty and discomfort. An enormous thank you to the trustees, faculty and staff, and also to my fellow students and their families. We've accomplished much. Congratulations, Class of 2020.

[Kate is shown.]

Kate: Thank you, Max, and congratulations. Our next address is a faculty address, and that will be from Brendan Cline, who was our Florence Levy Kay postdoctoral fellow in philosophy.

[A slide shows a blue-tinted image of the Louis D. Brandeis statue. Next to the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University. Below reads: Brendan Cline, Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Philosophy and Neuroscience. Brendan Cline is shown before a white wall.]

Brendan Cline: Wilfrid Sellars famously said that, quote, "The aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term." I think this is the best general characterization of philosophy that I know of, and it certainly highlights one of the things that I most love about being a philosopher. For those like me who have a curious mind, you basically can study whatever you feel interested in at any particular moment and just call it "Philosophy of X." But Sellars' characterization of philosophy here is also striking in how apparently it is silent about the practical significance of philosophical reflection. Philosophy doesn't just study how the world is but also how it ought to be. And as Aristotle pointed out, we don't study what matters and what we owe to each other just to complete our fancy theoretical framework. We study these things also, and perhaps primarily, because we want to live well, to be good, to treat others as they deserve, and to contribute to creating a more just society.

One of the things that really got me hooked on studying philosophy early on, is that it seemed to offer a venue for developing a rigorous, comprehensive understanding of the world, while somehow also fitting in a commitment to making the world better than it is. At the most general level, I see philosophy as a kind of ultimate blending of these intellectual and ethical projects. Sometimes it seems like knowledge and contemplation themselves can somehow help us to become good. For example, by really recognizing our personal finitude and seeing ourselves as just one person amid a world filled with many others of equal worth, we might take a more modest stance towards our own personal importance, especially the importance of satisfying transient, superficial consumerist desires. And at the same time, the plights of others, especially the marginalized and the oppressed, can seem to take on a greater significance when we examine things from this more detached perspective "under the aspect of eternity," as they say. And the sheer elegance and grandeur of life on Earth, and the cosmos more broadly, can be thrilling and inspiring to behold. And what marvelous creatures we are, able to reflect on all of this and to care for one another. Maybe a philosophical system that artfully weaved everything together could perhaps itself be so stunning and beautiful that it would compel any competent onlooker to lead a morally decent life. I sometimes imagine that this is what Kant and Plato took themselves to be up to.

When I was a young student, I became transfixed on this apparent link between knowledge and ethics. I became convinced that if more people, ideally everyone, would only study a little more philosophy and generally read more good books, this would quickly pave the way to a more just world. At times, I still do think that. But there are also traps in this idealistic picture of philosophy and inquiry. Among the hazards that my younger self fell prey to was adopting a judgmental outlook that belittled those who didn't spend quite so much time as I did in bookish pursuits. And this judgmental perspective very easily marginalizes all sorts of people in virtue of their cultural and economic circumstances, personal preferences, familial obligations, and general fortunes.

We are lucky to have had the right combination of leisure and good judgment that led us to invest some of our youthful energy into the serious study of philosophy. But if we take too literally the idea that the unexamined life is not worth living, and if we assume that self-examination demands engagement with academia and with philosophical texts, then we have on our hands a hierarchical outlook in which, lucky us, we students of philosophy happen to be at the very top. Plato might approve. But we should resist this narrow, self-aggrandizing picture. Instead, I think it is better to see philosophy as one kind of valuable activity that can, in some cases, help us to "facilitate the transition from 'is' to 'ought.'"

Studying philosophy can be a powerful way of deepening one's commitment to crafting a more just world. It can provide you with skills and tools to make ethically better decisions and maybe even help others to be better too. And, certainly, engaging with philosophy can be a key element of a person's quest to lead a meaningful life. But philosophy isn't the only activity that is useful for these purposes, and academic philosophy isn't an activity that everyone must or can participate in. There are many ways to lead good human life and to be a good person. And deep engagement with academic philosophy is not part of every one of those ways of living well. At least, embracing this conclusion is the best way I found to avoid the marginalizing trap that I warned about earlier. I think this pluralistic vision promises to keep much of what is most valuable about the idealistic image of philosophy while avoiding some of the nearby hazards. I offer it up to you as a way to help you respect and live well with the many others who haven't made the kind of philosophy we study a core part of their lives. And after all, it might be just a tad naive to think that a clever syllogism really could compel kindness from even the coldest of hearts or single-handedly undo injustices that have been centuries in the making. I think a serious commitment to making the world better requires an openness to wielding a diverse array of tools. Philosophy certainly is a potent one, but it's also certainly not the only one. Be on guard against patterns of thought that suggest otherwise.

It's been an absolute pleasure to be able to join you and be a part of the Brandeis community these last two years. I've delighted in getting to know and work with you, and I'll always remember my time here fondly. Congratulations to all of our graduates. Thank you for all of your hard work, excellent questions, infectious curiosity, and enthusiasm. You are at the core of what makes this such a fantastic place to work and teach. And thank you to all the friends and family, whose support and encouragement makes our philosophical adventures together possible. I wish all of you the very best as you start the next chapters of your lives.

[Kate is shown.]

Kate: Thank you, Brendan, and congratulations to Brendan too, who's off to a job in the Channel Islands in California next year, which sounds lovely. Finally, today we have a special guest speaker. David Chalmers is university professor at New York University, and he specializes in Philosophy of Mind and Language. He's very well known for his work on consciousness. He was going to give a talk in our department this spring. And I think he will next year, hopefully, sometime. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but he was kind enough to send us some remarks for this celebration, so here's David Chalmers.

[A slide shows a blue-tinted image of the Louis D. Brandeis statue. Next to the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University. Below reads: David Chalmers, Professor of Philosophy at New York University, Guest Speaker.

David Chalmers is shown outside before a small pond, with a small red house-like structure in the background.]

David Chalmers: Greetings, philosophy students of Brandeis. Congratulations on your graduation today. It's an honor to be invited to say a few words to mark your graduation. I confess, I've never given a graduation speech before, so please bear with me. I'm sorry that I didn't get to visit recently to give the talk I was scheduled to give before this crazy pandemic came along. I hope that we can reschedule for some point in the future once all this has settled down. I guess most of you will have moved on by then, but, well, you got my personal invitation to come back for the occasion. I hope that's okay. It'd be great to meet all of you.

Actually, I know a number of Brandeis philosophy students already. A couple of the MA students came down earlier this year to visit NYU. And my own PhD student, Rob Long, completed his MA at Brandeis a few years ago. Now he's almost finished his PhD in philosophy at NYU, working on the philosophy of artificial intelligence, and he's doing great. I hope that Brandeis has prepared you as well as it prepared him. I know you have a number of amazing philosophy professors there who can give you a training on how to think about philosophy. It's second to none. And philosophy prepares you for many things. Some of you may go on with further study of philosophy. Some of you may go into other academic fields. Some may go into business. Some into law. Some into politics. Some into health. Some of you may go into technology. Some may go into the arts. Some of you may change the world.

Philosophy doesn't give you black and white answers about what to do in these fields, but it trains you in how to think about what to do with some clarity. It gives you tools for thinking. If you're gonna change the world, if you wanna make the world a better place, it helps to think about what it is for the world to be a better place. If you want to make good decisions, it helps to think about what it is for a decision to be rational. If you wanna transform people's consciousness, it helps to think about the structure and nature of consciousness. Philosophy helps you to think about those things. Of course, now we're living in crazy, uncertain times and dealing with a huge amount of uncertainty about what's ahead. None of us really knows what's ahead, and philosophy can't tell you what's ahead. Well, not unless you've used your philosophy to come up with a time machine or a Cosmoscope.

But, again, philosophy can at least help us think about some of the important questions we have to grapple with. How do we balance health and safety against the economy and the need to get out there and live a good life? How do we build relationships in a digital age? How can we protect the vulnerable while still building a society in which people can flourish? Philosophy's not gonna answer these questions, but it's gonna give us tools for at least thinking about them with some clarity, and I hope and expect that your training in philosophy has put you in a position to think about these difficult issues that all of us have to grapple with in the years ahead. Anyway, I just wanna congratulate you, again, for all the progress you've made in philosophy, and I wish you all the best in the years ahead, thanks.

[Kate is shown.]

Kate: Thank you. So the next portion of our program is a slideshow of all of our graduates this year, and I'll be reading their names, and they've prepared slides that sort of reflect their individual approach to philosophy. And, anyway, we'll go ahead with that.

[A slideshow begins, showing a picture of the graduate and their name, accompanied by various pictures, quotes and other material selected by the graduates.

Kate: C.J. Aulenbach, Master's paper: "Presentation Versus Representation in Fiction."

Kate: Yaakov Bleier, Master's paper: "Faith and Foundation: The Epistemological Significance of Theism."

[On a white background reads: Adriadne Maria Dubus. Master's Thesis: "Rape and Individual Responsibility." In a gray box reads: Thank you, Professor Smiley for your wisdom and patience while editing my master's thesis. It has been such a pleasure working with you. To Professor Moran, thank you for your consistent understanding and support. Lia, I couldn't have gotten through application season without you! You're the best. I am looking forward to continuing to study philosophy at Binghamton University this fall. Thanks Brandeis!

Below, in a white box reads: "The crucial thing is to find a truth which is for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die." — Kierkegaard. To the right, a picture of a smiling Ariadne is shown.]

Kate: Ariadne Maria Dubus, Master's paper: "Rape and Individual Responsibility."

[On a blue background reads: Brandeis Philosophy Department, Thank you for the opportunity to learn from and work with some of the most intelligent people I've ever had the privilege of meeting.

Thank you for being a source of strength and support through a time of great personal hardship.

Thank you for the lifelong personal and professional friendships.

v/r, Joshua Duquette

Master's Paper Title: "Terrorism: Redefined and Justified."

To the right, a picture shows Joshua.

To the far right in multiple colors reads: Messages from My Kids:

"Tell your teachers I said 'Thank you for letting me come to their classes with you.' OK, Daddy? And tell Professor Smiley I said hi!" — Hailey, age 8.

"Tell them that they gave you too much homework." — Izzy, age 6.

"I love you!" — Leona, age 2.]

Kate: Joshua Duquette, Master's paper: "Terrorism: Redefined and Justified."

[On a peach background, animate in as separate paragraphs reads: Jamie Gregora asks…

Wait, what did I just get a degree in?

Philosophy: The study of the foundational questions.

Philosophy's method of inquiry is to understand assumptions underlying particular perspectives, and the implications of those assumptions in order to form coherent views. Science stops when there is an impasse that cannot be resolved via experimentation. This is where philosophical inquiry begins.

My propositions serve as elucidations in the following way: Anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them – steps – to climb up beyond them. (He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he is climbed up on it)" — Ludwig Wittgenstein.

A black and white image shows Ludwig Wittgenstein looking into the distance.]

Kate: Jamie Gregora.

[On an orange and gray ombre background reads: Nathan Reiser. MA Paper: Reengineering Corporate Responsibility. "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle." — Lewis Carol. To the left on a black background, a headshot of Nathan is shown.]

Kate: Nathan Reiser, Master's paper: "Reengineering Corporate Responsibility."

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Andrew William Steele. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Andrew William Steele, master's paper: "Intuitions and Epistemological Methodology."

[On a white background reads: Ripley Stroud. MA Thesis: "Blind, Partial, Prejudiced, Absurd: an Essay on Self-Deception. Headed to the UNC Chapel Hill this fall to find some decent biscuits. Has been getting lots of sleep as of late. (fig. A). Recently her cat ate an omelette (fig. B).

To the right, two images are shown. On the left, Ripley is shown in bed, under a large gray comforter. Below reads: fig A. On the right, a black cat is shown standing on the floor, and in the foreground, a rainbow-colored plate with a long, pale, omelette in the center of the plate. Below reads: fig. B.

Kate: Ripley Stroud, Master's paper: "Blind, Partial, Prejudiced, Absurd: An Essay on Self-Deception."

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Kyle Tebo. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Kyle Tebo.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Jack Thomson Allan. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Jack Thomson Allan.

[On a white background reads: Avishai J. Baynash. "The truth is the index of itself and of what is false." — Baruch Spinoza.

Advice from Faculty: "When you are making your argument — be lean, be mean," — Professor Berislav Marusic. "BE CLEAR!" — Professor Eli Hirsch. "Life is not about what you have done, it's about what you have to do," — Professor Andreas Teuber.

Thank you to the entire Philosophy Department for your guidance and wisdom throughout my time in the major. You empower me to strive for wisdom and truth with precision and rigor. Thank you.]

Kate: Avishai J. Baynash.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Ross Joseph Cherlin. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Ross Joseph Cherlin, graduated magna cum laude.

[A white slide shows screenshots from the University of Cambridge's Philosophy Department from a webpage titled 'deathindex' which lists the causes of death of philosophers. The causes of death for philosophers with last names beginning with letters A, B, C, W, and Z. On the bottom left in a blue circle reads Johan Chung.]

Kate: Johan Chung, graduated magna cum laude.

[On a white background reads: "All of humanity's problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone." — Pascal. Kevin Dardik.]

Kate: Kevin Dardik.

[On a green background reads: I would like to thank Brandeis Philosophy Department for the wisdom and joy. — Qindi Ding, Summer 2020. To the right, outlined in a black circle, is a picture of Qindi before a window in the library, large green trees visible behind her.]

Kate: Qindi Ding, graduated summa cum laude with high honors in philosophy.

[On a gray background reads: Thank you, Brandeis Philosophy Department! Keep in touch! — Emma Farrell. To the right, on a black background, a decorative image shows four multicolored circles of different size.]

Kate: Emma J. Farrell, graduated summa cum laude with highest Honors in philosophy, was a recipient of the philosophy faculty prize, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Joel Brian Fisch. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Joel Brian Fisch.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Meghan Mary Gibbons. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Meghan Mary Gibbons, graduated cum laude.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Samuel Clayton Lageson. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Samuel Clayton Lageson, graduated cum laude.

[On a black background, a picture of Zeyu Liu is shown outside, with the Charles River on the right, and apartments to the left. There is a thin layer of trodden snow covering the ground, but Zeyu stands in a T-shirt, arms crossed, looking pensively at the ground. To the right reads: Zeyu Liu.]

Kate: Zeyu Liu, graduated cum laude.

[On a white background reads: Mariah Manter.

"… there is no clear line between philosophy and science. Where there are no fixed boundaries only the timid never risk trespass." — Donald Davidson, Mental Events.

Thank you so much to the Brandeis Philosophy Department! Philosophy was never in my plans, but now I cannot imagine my education without it.

Special thank you to: Umrao Sethi, Jerry Samet, Berislav Marusic, and Julie Seeger. To the right is a picture of Mariah giving a double thumbs-up next to an aquarium tank where a large sea turtle swims by.]

Kate: Mariah Manter, graduated cum laude.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Maxwell Patrick Monheit. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Maxwell Patrick Monheit.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Alan Thomas Omori. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Alan Thomas Omori, graduated magna cum laude.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Nicholas Anthony Parrot. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Nicholas Anthony Parrott, graduated cum laude.

[On a yellow background reads: Sonia Maria Pavel. "To recognize reason as the rose and the cross of the present; and thereby to delight in the present—this rational insight is the reconciliation with actuality which philosophy grants to those who have received the inner call to comprehend." — G. W. F. Hegel. To the right, a picture shows Sonia and Professors Yack and Smiley, all wearing formal clothing and name tags on lanyards around their necks. Below reads: Sonia Pavel, Professor Bernie Yack, Professor Marion Smiley.]

Kate: Sonia Maria Pavel, graduated summa cum laude with highest honors in philosophy, and was a recipient of the philosophy faculty prize, and the winner of the Doris Brewer Cohen Award in the Humanities for the best senior thesis, and she was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

[A dark blue slide shows the Brandeis seal. Below reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy. Alexander Perez-Aquino. Celebrating the Class of 2020.]

Kate: Alexander Perez-Aquino.

[On a geometric background reads: Ephesians 2:8-9 Matthew 22:37 — 39. Hangil Ryu.]

Kate: Hangil Ryu, graduated magna cum laude.

[On a black background, a picture shows Carrie Sheng before a white background, giving a double thumbs up. Below reads: Carrie Sheng.]

Kate: Wei Sheng, graduated summa cum laude with honors in philosophy, and was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

[On a white background, a headshot of Maxwell is shown. To the right reads: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." — Friedrich Nietzsche. Maxewll G. Snider.]

Kate: Maxwell Grant Snider, graduated magna cum laude.

On a light blue background reads: "While I had a great time learning philosophy with the amazing faculty Brandeis University has to offer, I'd like to personally thank Professor Samet for all that he did for me and for going above and beyond, both inside and outside of the classroom." — Alexis David Sverdlik. To the left, a picture of Alexis is shown. He smiles from before a body of water.]

Kate: Alexis David Sverdlik, graduated magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

[On a green background reads: Gabe Treviño. "Philosophy is all about the wrong answers" — Brendan Cline. To the right, a picture shows Gabe outside, with a butterfly hanging onto his index finger.]

Kate: Gabe Trevino, our one Bachelor of Science degree recipient.

[Kate is shown.]

Kate: So that's our program. Thanks for joining us today. I'd like to say a special thank you to Julie Seeger, our department administrator, and Edwin Gonzalez and his colleagues in media technology services for putting this whole program together.

I think I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that it's been a pleasure and an honor being your professor at Brandeis. Sometimes people ask me what's special about Brandeis, what I like about being a professor here. And my first answer, my immediate answer, is always the students. I think Brandeis students have a kind of seriousness and sincerity about them that I haven't seen anywhere else, and they care about each other, about the world around them in a way that I think is really remarkable. It's the highlight of my day to go to class and talk with you, or talk with you in the little squares on my computer in recent months, and I thank you for that. And I hope that we can stay in touch over the next few years. I know that there are great things in your future, and we're all very proud of you. If you'd like to hang out with some faculty and each other after this program, please do join us in the Zoom room. And with that note, I'll just say thank you and congratulations!

[A dark blue slide bearing the Brandeis seal reads: Brandeis University, Department of Philosophy, Celebrating the Class of 2020.

A slideshow plays.