Ilkka Niiniluoto

Ilkka Maunu Olavi Niiniluoto
Born March 12, 1946, Helsinki.

Master of Arts (Applied Mathematics), 1968, Licentiate of Philosophy, 1971, and Doctor of Philosophy (Theoretical Philosophy), University of Helsinki, 1974

Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Helsinki, 1977–2014
Chancellor, University of Helsinki, 2008–2013
Rector, University of Helsinki, 2003–2008
Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of Helsinki, 1973–1977

Publications, research projects and other academic activities

Research interests: philosophy of science, philosophical logic, theory of knowledge, cultural philosophy, history of philosophy

Main works: Is Science Progressive? (1984), Truthlikeness (1987) and Critical Scientific Realism (1999). In addition to two hundred academic articles and edited works, a dozen Finnish-language textbooks and essay collections, including Tiede, filosofia ja maailmankatsomus (‘Knowledge, philosophy and world-view’, 1984), Maailma, minä ja kulttuuri (‘The world, me and culture’, 1990), Järki, arvot ja välineet (‘Reason, values and means’, 1994) and Totuuden rakastaminen (‘Loving truth’, 2003).

Awards and special achievements
University of Helsinki’s award for public information, 1986
Chydenius Prize, 1990
Prometheus Prize, 2004
Honorary Doctorate, Helsinki School of Art and Design, 2007

Written by Ilkka Niiniluoto (Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta, ed.)
Translated by John Calton

My dream

After retiring at the beginning of April 2014, I have continued my research and teaching as an active professor emeritus. My latest work Hyvän elämän filosofiaa (‘The philosophy of the good life’) is in press and will be published by the Society for Finnish Literature in the autumn of 2015. My dream is to write three new books in the peace of my summer house: two monographs in English on abductive reasoning and the philosophy of culture, and one in Finnish on the philosophy of technology.