Heeyoon Choi is nearing the completion of her Master’s degree in philosophy at Seoul National University. She is currently working on issues at the intersection of philosophy of mind and language with a focus in perception, object-oriented thought, and reference.
What excites you about philosophy?
I cannot describe all of philosophy’s charms here, but one thing that I find particularly captivating is that philosophy can function as a discipline of thought. In reading philosophical texts, I find great pleasure in grasping new ideas that provide deep insights and ruminating over them. In developing my own philosophy, I experience a great satisfaction in solidifying my thoughts and ideas after thorough self-examination and dialogue with others. From my perspective, the entire process of doing philosophy seems like excavating hidden gemstones in the dark, striking them against other strong materials, and refining them into glittering jewelry.
Not only am I attracted to the theoretical side of philosophy, I am also inspired by how practice can lie at the heart of the field. Since our language use is linked to our life and society, I think philosophical discourses have significant implications for practical domains, and vice versa. For example, I realized that philosophy of language and mind can be a useful methodology to explore where exclusion or degradation of certain individuals lie in language use, such as in biased language or pejoratives. Simultaneously, I was motivated by learning how the latest discussions in linguistic rights and conceptual semantics of sign languages are expanding the boundaries of the field. These philosophical discussions are not bound to speculative areas; rather, they have real world impact, and I believe “doing philosophy” may also extend to the practical realm.
What are you working on right now?
I have recently been working on the nature of singular thought and how attention functions as an object-fixing mechanism for our thoughts. Singular thoughts are generally understood as thoughts that are directly about objects, in the sense that they do not depend essentially on modes of conceptualizing objects or general descriptions of them. For example, a descriptive thought that is expressed as “the brightest star in the night sky is blue” is distinguished from one that is expressed as “Sirius is blue” or “that is blue.”
There has been wide discussion on the condition of singular thought in the recent literature. Some theorists focus on the referential relation or “referential intention” as an essential condition for singular thought, while other theorists argue for epistemic conditions such as acquaintance or perception. The aim of my current work is to point out the insufficiency of perceptually ungrounded referential intentions to guarantee direct access to objects, as subjects with only referential intentions would not be in a position to identify or track objects in important cases, such as in the cases of phenomenal singular thoughts or De Se singular thoughts. The recent paper I gave a presentation on at APA Eastern Division Meeting is a part of this project. I defended the epistemic or perception-based condition of singular thought by showing the insufficiency of referential intention, and by elaborating on the object-fixing function of attention in terms of the direction of subjects’ epistemic access. In the same vein, I have been developing a theory about how subjects turn their direction of attention and constructing a comprehensive model of attention that works both inward and outward.
What is your favorite sound in the world?
I am so glad to receive this question because sound itself has been an enduring interest of mine. One of my big projects that I am pursuing in philosophy of mind is to elucidate the nature of auditory perception and auditory representation with my background in aesthetics and sound synthesis, so I would love to briefly describe which features of “sound” attract me by giving specific examples.
First, a wonderful series of art by Christine Sun Kim, The Sound Of, led me to think about what silence and sound are, and how we experience sounds in the world. I love the fact that sound can be analyzed, visualized, or described as waves and motions that are perceived through means beyond just our ears. For example, high-frequency waves that fall above our hearing range affect our recognition of sounds or meaning units, and low-frequency waves that fall below the range send vibrations that can be felt through our tactile senses.
I am also interested in how “a sense of space” is evoked by time-based effects such as reverberation. Reverb replicates reflection of a sound in physical space, adding lush texture by changing the time and speed of the reflections. If reverberation time is prolonged, you perceive the sound as being diffused and occupying a larger space. For example, a guitar pedal called “Loomer” helps create the ambient tones that remind us of My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless.” (1991) Personally, I really enjoy using synthesizer modules to create original sounds and explore the relation between time and space in them. (e.g. Clouds from Mutable Instruments)
What books are currently on your ‘to read’ list?
I have a vast “to read” list for my current work in singular thought and attention for now, but I plan to read other interesting philosophy books that go beyond my present field of study. I keep returning to the classics to search for valuable insights from the philosophy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At the same time, I try to keep up with the latest releases in philosophy of mind and language; for example, I have recently been reading some works on conceptual engineering from Conceptual Engineering and Conceptual Ethics, (edited by Alexis Burgess, Herman Cappelen, and David Plunkett)
Outside of philosophy, I am deeply interested in reading literature whose themes play with time, memory, dream, and language. Recently I took an interest in re-reading my favorite short stories. I would love to read Julio Cortázar’s Letter to a Lady in Paris (Carta a una señorita en París), Franz Kafka’s A Dream (Sogni / Träume) and Suah Bae’s “Snake and Water (뱀과 물).” They are epistolary, and the stories unfold along the stream of the narrators’ consciousness, whose narratives blur the line between reality and illusion, dream, and memory.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
