Marybel Menzies is a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto. Her areas of specialization are philosophy of mind and value theory. She is particularly interested in questions about the value of consciousness, and how those questions pertain to decision-making in bioethics contexts.
What excites you about philosophy?
What excites me the most about philosophy is the expansiveness of the discipline. Each area of the field is closely interdependent and interconnected with what at first seemed like remote other areas. However, as you dig deeper, you start to see how a thesis in one area of philosophy very quickly becomes implicated in another area. For example, metaphysics often seems highly insular from ethics. However, we quickly see how questions of personal identity, a question relocated to metaphysics, start to draw on questions of ethics and even political philosophy.
If you could wake up tomorrow with a new talent, what would you most like it to be?
If I could wake up tomorrow with a new talent, it would be the ability to play an instrument. As a child, I wanted to learn how to play the saxophone. Sadly though, I don’t own a saxophone. More recently, however, I have been appreciating classical and minimalist piano. So, I think, given that I already own a keyboard, waking up having piano-playing talent would be the most practical way to express myself musically.
What do you like to do outside work?
Outside of work, I like to stay quite physically active. I enjoy most solo activities, these include swimming, yoga, biking, kayaking, running, dancing, and weightlifting. I was a competitive swimmer and coach most of my life, so I like swimming to remain a fairly consistent part of it. I also enjoy reading, watching movies, and listening to music. As of right now, I am reading a few books concurrently. These include, This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin, Exhalation by Ted Chiang, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. I also saw Oppenheimer this past weekend, which I enjoyed!
What would your childhood self say if someone told you that you would grow up to be a philosopher?
If someone told my childhood self I would become a philosopher, I think, they would be thrilled (and surprised that this was even a career option). I was one of those (often construed as annoying) children that would constantly ask questions I now consider philosophical, like “Where do we go when we die?” and “Where did the universe come from?.” I remember going on walks with my sister regularly, and her needing to tolerate my nuisance questioning which often included long discussions on the nature of reincarnation and the big bang. With that in mind, I think my childhood self would be happy to see that I’ve committed myself to a life investigating those kinds of questions.
If you could have a one-hour conversation with any philosopher or historical figure from any time, who would you pick and what topic would you choose?
Bertrand Russell. The topics I would ask about would vary because he wrote about anything and everything that I could think to ask him about. So, I think I would just want to see where the conversation took us. I suppose, though, if made to direct the course of the conversation, I would at least like it to touch on what a good life consists of, and what theory of mind he eventually took to be the most convincing and why.
What’s your favorite quote?
Here are two, but they are two ways of saying essentially the same thing:
“The secret of happiness is this: let your interest be as wide as possible and let your reactions to the things and persons who interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile.”
“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” – Bertrand Russell
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.
Alexis LaBar has a Master’s degree in Philosophy from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Before attending West Chester, she graduated from Moravian University with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, a minor in Global Religions, and an Ethics certificate. She is the recipient of the 2022 Claghorn Award in Philosophy, awarded by West Chester University, and the 2021 Douglas Anderson Prize in Philosophy, awarded by Moravian University. She is the Editor of the Teaching Beat and Work/Life Balance Beat.
