Version: v1, Published online: 1998
Retrieved April 26, 2024, from https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/von-wright-georg-henrik-1916-2003/v-1
Article Summary
G.H. von Wright was one of the most influential analytic philosophers of the twentieth century. Born in Helsinki, Finland, von Wright did his early work on logic, probability and induction under the influence of logical empiricism. In 1948–51 he served as Ludwig Wittgenstein’s successor at Cambridge, but returned to his homeland and later became a member of the Academy of Finland. He did pioneering work on the new applications of logic: modal logic, deontic logic, the logic of norms and action, preference logic, tense logic, causality and determinism. In the 1970s his ideas about the explanation and understanding of human action helped to establish new links between the analytic tradition and Continental hermeneutics. Von Wright’s later works, which are eloquent books and essays written originally in his two native languages (Swedish and Finnish), deal with issues of humanism and human welfare, history and future, technology and ecology.
Niiniluoto, Ilkka. Von Wright, Georg Henrik (1916–2003), 1998, doi:10.4324/9780415249126-DD073-1. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Taylor and Francis, https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/biographical/von-wright-georg-henrik-1916-2003/v-1.
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