Dr Y.M. de Boer (Ype)

My research focuses on the relation between ontology, ethics and imagination. In what way do perceptions and conceptions of reality translate to ethical attunements? What is the role of the imagination in our understanding of reality?

These general questions have guided and continue to guide my research on the work of Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, on the role of sex in contemporary Western culture and on the literary writing of Japanese author Haruki Murakami. My dissertation on Agamben, 'Happy Life. Agamben's Poetico-Philosophical Experiment' (cum laude) was awarded the Legatum Stolpianum, a five-yearly science prize for best dissertation with a storng ethico-philosophical element defended at a Dutch University.

In addition, I have translated two works by Agamben and one by Alain Badiou and frequently write philosophical essays for a broader audience.