Sybe Schaap (born 20 May 1946) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He has been Senator from 12 July 2007 to 11 July 2019, doing water, agriculture, foreign affairs and European Union affairs. For example, he arranged a majority in favor of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement in the Dutch parliament.

Biography

He is a son of a farmer from the

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. His father worked as a ‘pioneer’ in one of our new ‘polders’, reclaimed from the sea between 1935 and 1948. In 1948 his family one of the first to start a farm there, specialized in the propagation of seed

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

. His first education was agriculture and economy. After his father died, Sybe took over the farm for a few years, before stopping farming. Later he studied

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

and philosophy. Then he wrote dissertation in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

–

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

(1979) and habilitation in

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. Essential for his philosophical development were ‘underground’ lectures in Prague, organized by dissidents of

Charta 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něme ...

. In

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

he also developed his love for the eastern part of Europe, what brought him also to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from 1992.Dutch MP on Tension Between Russia and EU
/ref> By incident he was elected as a chairman of one of the Dutch water authorities and later on to president of the Association of water authorities, which started his ‘water career’ and brought him all over the world as an advisor (included Ukraine). At the end he was appointed as a professor in water policy at the universities of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

and

Wageningen Wageningen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a ...

. Nowadays he gives philosophical lectures on many locations (Amsterdam, Prague, Delft, Wageningen,

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

etc.

Education

* 1964 – High school. * 1967 – Agricultural College in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

. * 1969 – Economical College in

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. * 1973 – VU Amsterdam (social science). * 1995 – dissertation in VU Amsterdam (Doctorate Philosophy). * 2002 – Habilitation Philosophy in Prague.

Career

* 1968–2003 – Farmer and seed potato propagation in

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and Ukraine. * 1981–2002 – Research consultant in international agricultural sector. * 1982 – 2012 – Lecturer. Philosophy, Free University Amsterdam. * Since 1992 – Lecturer. Philosophy, Charles University Prague. * 2003 – 2010 – President of Dutch Association of Water authorities. * 2007 – 2019 – Senator. * 2012 – 2017 – Member of Advisory Committee Water for the Dutch Government. * Since 2014 – Chairman of Commission of Genetical Modification (advisory committee of the Dutch government on all developments in biogenetics). * 2010 – 2019 – Chairman of Netherlands Water Partnership. * 2010–2013 – Professor of Water policy & Governance in

Technical University Delft The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, and natural sciences. It is considered one o ...

. * 2010–2013 – Professor of Water policy & Governance in

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...

Main philosophical articles

* Bedreigd bestaan; het landbouwbeleid en de positie van de boer (The Hague 1983) – Critical study on corporatism in the Dutch agriculture sector. * Theodor Adorno; in verzet tegen het totale kwaad (2001) – On ethics and metaphysics in the philosophy of Th.

Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has come ...

. * Pleidooi voor het betrekkelijke (2006) – Against absolutism in philosophy. * J. Habermas; zelfbehoud en zelfconstitutie (1984) – Study on Habermas utopian philosophy. * De wederopkomst van het fascisme (1989) – Against the idea that fascism is returning in a classical way. * Lefort en het postmodernisme (2018) – Claude Lefort's political philosophy, applied to postmodernism. * De nachtwaker ontslagen (2006) – On fundamental changes in the Dutch constitutional state. * Nut en noodzaak van een correspondentie (2004) – On the correspondence of Nietzsche. * Herstel burgerschap in ere (2017) – On the value of citizenship in postmodern times. * De maakbaarheid voorbij (2009) – On centralism and decentralisation in Dutch politics. * Van burger naar mens (2019) – How civil rights loose meaning and change into human rights.

Other facts

Notable resident of

Lemmer Lemmer () is a town in the municipality of De Fryske Marren, in the Dutch province of Friesland. Lemmer lies adjacent to the IJsselmeer and the Frisian Lakes and is one of Friesland's best-known surface water sports locations. Lemmer is a bustli ...

References

External links

Populism in Europe – an open lecture by Senator Sybe Schaap

Water and crisis: time to act
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaap, Sybe 1946 births Living people People's Party for Freedom and Democracy senators Dutch civil servants People from Emmeloord Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 20th-century Dutch philosophers 21st-century Dutch philosophers Dutch political philosophers