By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, KY. – When Carson Loring faced life-threatening melanoma, he found consolation in the philosophy of the 17th century philosopher Baruch Spinoza through Loring’s classes at the University of Kentucky’s College of Arts and Sciences. 

“I was struggling with the idea of death,” Loring said. “There was a chance that might happen to me. I’m not exactly religious, so I didn’t have God to comfort me. Spinoza gave me a concept of God I could understand. If God exists, He’s there in nature and in everything. It’s just something that stuck with me.”  

Now on the mend, Loring is graduating in December with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. His recovery and his engagement with philosophy have impressed his professors. 

"Carson has a keen sense of the high stakes that animate philosophical questioning, and as a major at UK he was able to give wonderful expression to life, both in his work and as a person,” said Eric Sanday, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy. “It has been an honor to work with him." 

Loring, who’s from suburban Cincinnati, followed a roundabout route to a philosophy degree. He began as an engineering major at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, then transferred to UK to be closer to his family. At UK, he also was majoring in engineering when he found out a mole on his head was melanoma. There followed a series of treatments and setbacks that were complicated by the discovery of cancer in other parts of his body and by a bad reaction to the drugs in his liver. As a result, Loring felt isolated from his classes, and he began to think about changing majors. 

“I was diagnosed with cancer three times, and each time was different,” Loring said.  “One time it was a mole on my head, one time it was in a lymph node, and the next in my brain and lungs. Then Covid happened, and I just couldn't keep up with the work. I also got to a point where I realized my reading and rhetoric and critical analysis skills are stronger than my math skills, and I had taken several virtual background philosophy courses. I liked them a lot.  

“My dad studied philosophy as well, and I just thought it would be a good place to switch into a smaller department where it's more personal, and it's less about doing your math homework every day, and it's more about critical thinking.” 

Thanks to the UK Department of Philosophy, Loring has received a full range of instruction on the breadth of philosophy with a focus on a couple of areas. 

"I've been taking lot of high-level classes, such as history of modern philosophy, history of ancient history and of medieval history, and the philosophy of mind,” Loring said. "Right now, I have a class that's solely focused on (18th century philosopher Immanuel) Kant. And I took one that had an ancient Greek focus with mostly Plato and Aristotle.” 

His Kant studies proved particularly relevant to his life thus far. 

"We've recently discussed in my class Kant’s idea of the sublime and overcoming adversity by pushing yourself past limits you didn't even know you had,” he said. “That's something I like a lot. The topic of my final paper is how my health issues relate to that.” 

At the moment, Loring appears to be cancer-free, although doctors are checking some spots. After graduation, Loring plans to return to the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, where he received the bulk of his treatment and where he worked this past summer, to help patients through some of the same ordeals he faced.  

"I will be working with patients who are going through clinical trials,” he said. “They need help not necessarily always with the treatment itself but also having to deal with the side effects of the treatment.” 

As hobbies, Loring has saltwater aquariums, and he follows motorsports, which he took interest in during his treatments. He also enjoys discussing topics in philosophy with his father, particularly existentialism. Ultimately, he’s glad he found what’s wildly possible at UK, even amid illness and recovery.