Georg Henrik von Wright
Georg Henrik von Wright | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 14 June 1916 |
Died | 16 June 2003 Helsinki, Finland | (aged 87)
Education | University of Helsinki (1934–1937, 1939–1941; PhD, 1941) University of Cambridge (1939; no degree) |
Era | 20th-century philosophy |
Region | Western philosophy |
School | Analytic philosophy |
Institutions | University of Cambridge University of Helsinki Cornell University |
Academic advisors | C. D. Broad |
Doctoral students | Jaako Hintikka |
Main interests | Modal logic, philosophy of action, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science |
Notable ideas | Deontic logic |
Georg Henrik von Wright (Swedish: [ˈjeːɔrj ˈhɛnːrɪk fɔnˈvrɪkːt], 14 June 1916 – 16 June 2003) was a Finnish philosopher, who succeeded Ludwig Wittgenstein as professor at the University of Cambridge. He published in English, Finnish, German, and Swedish, having belonged to the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland. Von Wright was of both Finnish and 17th-century Scottish ancestry.[1]
Work
Von Wright's writings come under two broad categories. The first is analytic philosophy and philosophical logic in the Anglo-American vein. His 1951 books, An Essay in Modal Logic and Deontic Logic, were landmarks in the postwar rise of formal modal logic and its deontic version. He was an authority on Wittgenstein, editing his later works. He was the leading figure in the Finnish philosophy of his time, specializing in philosophical logic, philosophical analysis, philosophy of action, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and the close study of Charles Sanders Peirce.
The other vein in von Wright's writings is moralist and pessimist. During the last twenty years of his life, under the influence of Oswald Spengler, Jürgen Habermas and the Frankfurt School's reflections about modern Rationality, he wrote prolifically. His best known article from this period is entitled The Myth of Progress, and it questions whether our apparent material and technological progress can really be considered "progress".
In the last year of his life, among his other honorary degrees, he held an honorary degree at the University of Bergen.[2]
Bibliography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Georg_Henrik_von_Wright_home_1.jpg/180px-Georg_Henrik_von_Wright_home_1.jpg)
- The Logical Problem of Induction, PhD thesis, 31 May 1941[3]
- Den logiska empirismen (Logical Empirism), in Swedish, 1945
- Über Wahrscheinlichkeit (On Chance), in German, 1945
- An Essay in Modal Logic, 1951
- A Treatise on Induction and Probability, 1951
- Deontic Logic, 1951
- Tanke och förkunnelse (Thought and Preaching), in Swedish, 1955
- Logical Studies, 1957
- Logik, filosofi och språk (Logic, philosophy and language), in Swedish, 1957
- The Varieties of Goodness, 1963. (1958-60 Gifford Lectures in the University of St. Andrews, online) He considered this his best and most personal work.
- Norm and Action, 1963 (1958-60 Gifford Lectures, St. Andrews, online)
- The Logic of Preference, 1963
- Essay om naturen, människan och den vetenskaplig-tekniska revolutionen (Essay on Nature, Man and the Scientific-Technological Revolution), in Swedish, 1963
- An Essay in Deontic Logic, 1968
- Time, Change and Contradiction, 1969
- Tieteen filosofian kaksi perinnettä (The Two Traditions of the Philosophy of Science), in Finnish, 1970
- Explanation and Understanding, 1971
- Causality and Determinism, 1974
- Handlung, Norm und Intention (Action, Norm and Intention), in German, 1977
- Humanismen som livshållning (Humanism as an approach to Life), in Swedish, 1978
- Freedom and Determination, 1980
- Wittgenstein, 1982
- Philosophical Papers I-III, 1983–1984
- Of Human Freedom, 1984. (1984 Tanner Lectures at the University of Helsinki, online)
- Filosofisia tutkielmia (Philosophical Dissertations), in Finnish, 1985
- Vetenskapen och förnuftet (Science and Reason), in Swedish, 1986
- Minervan Pöllö (The Owl of Minerva), in Finnish, 1991
- Myten om framsteget (The Myth of Progress), in Swedish, 1993
- The Tree of Knowledge, 1993
- Att förstå sin samtid (To Understand one's own Time), in Swedish, 1994
- Six Essays in Philosophical Logic, 1996
- Viimeisistä ajoista. Ajatusleikki (On the End Times. A Thought Experiment.), in Finnish, 1997
- Logiikka ja humanismi (Logic and Humanism), in Finnish, 1998
- In the Shadow of Descartes, 1998
- Mitt liv som jag minns det (My Life as I Remember it), in Swedish, 2001
Von Wright edited posthumous publications by Wittgenstein, which were published by Blackwell (unless otherwise stated):
- 1961. Notebooks 1914-1916.
- 1967. Zettel (Translated into English as Culture and Value).
- 1969. On Certainty.
- 1971. ProtoTractatus—An Early Version of Tractatus Logico- Philosophicus. Cornell University Press.
- 1973. Letters to C.K. Ogden with Comments on the English Translation of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.
- 1974. Letters to Russell, Keynes and Moore.
- 1978 (1956). Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics.
- 1980. Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology. Vols 1,2.
- 1980. Culture and Value (English translation of Zettel).
- 1982. Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology, Vol. 1. Vol. 2, 1992.
Von Wright also edited extracts from the diary of David Pinsent, also published by Blackwell:
- 1990. A Portrait of Wittgenstein as a Young Man: From the Diary of David Hume Pinsent 1912-1914", ISBN 978-0-63117-5117.
Notes
- ^ "Georg Wrightin jälkeläisiä" (PDF). suvut.genealogia.fi. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Nytt om navn". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 17 January 2002. p. 14.
- ^ von Wright Georg Henrik. The logical problem of induction. Acta philosophica fennica, vol. 3. Societas Philosophica, Helsinki. Distributed by Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, Helsinki (Helsingfors) 1941, 258 pp.
References
External links
- Georg Henrik von Wright in 375 humanists. Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, 13 May 2015.
- 1916 births
- 2003 deaths
- Writers from Helsinki
- People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
- Swedish-speaking Finns
- Finnish people of Scottish descent
- Finnish nobility
- Finnish philosophers
- Analytic philosophers
- Philosophers of language
- Philosophers of mind
- Finnish humanists
- Logicians
- Finnish writers in Swedish
- Writers from Uusimaa
- Selma Lagerlöf Prize winners
- Modal logicians
- Virtue ethicists
- 20th-century philosophers
- University of Helsinki alumni
- Academics of the University of Cambridge
- Academics of the University of Helsinki
- Fellows of the British Academy