Loves: tigers, television series, and war and democracy
Sara van Goozen starts off with kittens, but, well, who doesn’t like kittens? Actually, she says, “I used to like lions a lot, but then the Lion King came out and suddenly, everyone liked lions. So I switched to tigers instead. They’re beautiful animals.” To be fair, Sara doesn’t visit the zoo often: she is more occupied with following the television series that she loves, like
Supernatural and Doctor Who. Because shows are less limited and can feature more elaborate story and character development, she prefers her series to movies.
Finally, Van Goozen mentions war and democracy, which at first sight may seem a strange combination. She explains: “I decided to make a list of topics that interest me when I started on my capstone assignment,” she explains. “I’m a history person: I’m interested in those radical reactions, or violent attempts to overthrow the elite.” So, the list contained war, revolution, human rights and democracy. “For my assignment, I took these aspects from history and asked a philosophical question.”
Hates: metaphysics, ‘infusions’
After UCM, Van Goozen will be doing a master’s degree in philosophy. She likes the more ‘practical’ philosophy that can be applied to ethics or politics. “But I don’t like metaphysics. Discussions whether we actually know what we know … It’s nice to talk about things like that when you’re having a beer with friends, but overall I wish we could get away from those ontological and metaphysical debates.”
Another thing she finds annoying (if not frustrating) is infusions – or rather, people who call infusions ‘tea’. “I’m a tea purist. Tea is a plant. Infusions are herbs or grass or whatever. They’re not the same thing!”