On the Possibilities of Philosophical Research: Remembering Jaakko Hintikka (1929–2015)
On the Possibilities of Philosophical Research: Remembering Jaakko Hintikka (1929–2015)

Summary/Abstract: Kaarlo Jaakko Juhani Hintikka, born 12 January 1929 in Vantaa, Finland, died on 12 August 2015 in Porvoo, Finland, following a minor accident at his home. Hintikka’s philosophical career and in many ways also his personal life were exceptional. His philosophical journey took a head start when shortly after the war he won a newly established exchange student fellowship, which enabled him to spend a year at Williams College in 1948–1949. From that year spent abroad originates his idea for the semantic completeness proof of first-order logic. After the conferment of the doctoral degree from the University of Helsinki in 1956 (the PhD work was defended in 1953), Hintikka became Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University (1956–1959). The fellowship was annually awarded to eight scholars to do three years of research without further responsibilities.1 Following the Harvard years, Hintikka applied for a professorship at the University of Turku but withdrew his application as soon as he received a position at Helsinki, where he assumed the duties of a Professor of Practical (Moral and Social) Philosophy (1959–1970), followed by the post of research professor at the Academy of Finland (1970–1981). Meanwhile, he was appointed part-time Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University (1965– 1982) and full-time professor at Florida State University (1978–1990). In 1990, he moved to Boston, where he served as full-time Professor of Philosophy at Boston University until his retirement in 2014. He moved back to Finland in 2012 and was Honorary Fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Study until his death.

• Details
• Contents