The Department of Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology provides high quality education in various philosophy programmes at Radboud Universiteit and its research output can be found at the Center for Contemporary European Philosophy.
In philosophical anthropology, the question of what it means to be human and in what (if anything) we distinguish ourselves from animals is central. In Nijmegen research, psychoanalysis plays a decisive role. From this perspective, questions such as the relationship between 'normality' and pathology, the importance of sexuality (and what that means) are addressed. In metaphysics, the question is about (the meaning of) being. In the Nijmegen metaphysical research the hermeneutic tradition is central. Important figures in this respect include Heidegger, Gadamer and Derrida. In addition, philosophical research on religion is conducted into the relationship between faith and reason.
The two fields overlap in part, firstly because human beings play a central role in understanding being and, secondly, because psychoanalysis is also often regarded as a hermeneutic (i.e., interpretive) practice. The profile of our department is pluralistic. We explicitly seek academic dialogue and collaboration among the various philosophical approaches that have emerged on the European continent since the 19th century.
Chair of the department of Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology is prof. dr. Annabelle Dufourcq.