Georg Henrik von Wright

Georg Henrik von Wright
Born 14 June 1916
Helsinki, Finland
Died 16 June 2003(2003-06-16) (aged 87)
Helsinki, Finland
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 fɔn ˈvrɪkːt]; 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] He also was awarded Swedish Academy Finland Prize in 1968.

Bibliography

Von Wright's home on Laivurinkatu street, Helsinki: a commemorative plaque marking his long-term residence in the house was fixed to the outer wall in 2006.
  • 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[4] He considered this his best and most personal work.
  • Norm and Action, 1963 (1958-60 Gifford Lectures, St. Andrews[5]
  • 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, Vols. 1–2, 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 0-631-17511-3.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Georg Wrightin jälkeläisiä" (PDF). suvut.genealogia.fi. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Nytt om navn". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 17 January 2002. p. 14.
  3. ↑ Wright, Georg Henrik von. The logical problem of induction. Acta philosophica fennica, vol. 3. Societas Philosophica, Helsinki (Helsingfors) 1941.
  4. ↑ “The Varieties of Goodness” online.
  5. ↑ “Norm and Action” online.

References

Further reading

  • Schilpp, Paul Arthur; Hahn, Lewis Edwin, eds. (1989). The Philosophy of Georg Henrik von Wright. Library of Living Philosophers. La Salle (Ill.): Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87548-372-0.
  • Meggle, Georg; Vilkko, Risto, eds. (2016). Georg Henrik von Wright’s Book of Friends. Acta philosophica Fennica, 92. Helsinki: Societas philosophica Fennica. ISBN 978-951-9264-83-7. ISSN 0355-1792.
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