On 31 March, the first PhD student from the international community of the PhD program Philosophy, run under the auspices of the Centre for Ethics, successfully defended her dissertation. Lyra Ekström Lindbäck presented the thesis entitled Iris Murdoch and the Ancient Quarrel: Why Literature is Not Philosophy and defended it in discussion with external reviewers Nora Hämäläinen (University of Helsinki) and Rick Anthony Furtak (Colorado College). This ambitious work advocates for maintaining the divide between literature and philosophy, criticises the too liberal use by philosophers of literary narratives, and argues that a fully-fledged successful philosophical novel is a rare feat. We congratulate Lyra and are looking forward to following her future career.
