Makke Marij Bakker

Makke Marij is an exceptionally talented student who has obtained very high marks (an average of 9.2, i.e. summa cum laude distinction, for her Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, as well as excellent marks for her Research Master’s programme). She is combining her studies in Philosophy with a Bachelor’s degree programme in History, is also taking course units in Latin, and is planning to study Arabic as well. The latter aligns with her ambition to read the work of Arabic and other philosophers that have been ‘forgotten’ or are unknown in the Western world in their original languages (Latin or Arabic), as translations are often not available. In her motivation letter, Makke Marij wrote a wonderful reflection on what philosophy currently is and how a well-conducted philosophical dialogue fits within it. In her pitch for the jury, she delved deeper by posing the question of how earlier, and more or less forgotten, philosophers actually fit into this dialogue. After all, these philosophers are not able to answer potential contemporary questions and views. As an example, she cited Portuguese philosopher Petri Fonsecae. This philosopher was also known as the Portuguese Aristotle in his time (the second half of the 16th century), due to his important commentaries on the work of Aristotle. At the time, he was a pioneering figure in logic and metaphysics, among other domains, but is still hardly known today. Marijke strives to explore how these historical, more or less forgotten, philosophers could fit within current philosophical dialogue. This is an interesting thought, especially as she is willing to broaden this with the work of early Arabic philosophers.

In addition to her studies, Makke Marij has held teaching assistant positions for six different course units, for which she mainly gave seminars (twice a week). She gave two (powerful, according to the faculty selection committee) speeches during the Groningen-Nijmegen Colloquium gatherings, has authored a readers’ guide for the book Een kleine filosofie van grote emoties by Ignaas Devisch, and, together with a group of fellow students, was nominated for the Ben Feringa Impact Award for their project Collective Memory Dialogue Chards.

The jury is impressed by the choices that Makke Marij has made in her studies and highly valued her presentation.