Timo Airaksinen is Professor of Moral Philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, and head of department, at the Department of Social and Moral Philosophy at Helsinki University. By longstanding tradition in the University of Helsinki, the philosophy faculty is divided into two major areas, the practical and the theoretical. He graduated from the University of Turku

University of Turku

The University of Turku , located in Turku in southwestern Finland, is the second largest university in the country as measured by student enrollment, after University of Helsinki. It was established in 1920 and also has faculties at Rauma, Pori and Salo...

 in 1971 and defended his doctoral dissertation The Hegelianism of Bradley and McTaggart in 1975. He specializes in ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 and social philosophy

Social philosophy

Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social behavior . Social philosophy addresses a wide range of subjects, from individual meanings to legitimacy of laws, from the social contract to criteria for revolution, from the functions of everyday actions to the effects of...

, ethics of technology

Ethics of technology

Ethics in technology is a subfield of ethics addressing the ethical questions specific to the Technology Age. Some prominent works of philosopher Hans Jonas are devoted to ethics of technology. It is often held that technology itself is incapable of possessing moral or ethical qualities, since...

, the history of philosophy

History of philosophy

The history of philosophy is the study of philosophical ideas and concepts through time. Issues specifically related to history of philosophy might include : How can changes in philosophy be accounted for historically? What drives the development of thought in its historical context? To what...

, and education. He has written on a wide range of topics dealing with these issues, from the thinking of Hobbes to Marquis de Sade

Marquis de Sade

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...

. Airaksinen also regularly contributes to public debate in Finland and has had a column in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat

Helsingin Sanomat

Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...

.

Timo Airaksinen is a member of the editorial board

Editorial board

The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...

s of the leading Finnish philosophical journal Acta Philosophica Fennica

Acta Philosophica Fennica

Acta Philosophica Fennica is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Philosophical Society of Finland. The journal was established in 1935. From 1968-1981 it was distributed by North-Holland Publishing , and since 1981 by the Academic Bookstore . The Acta Philosophica Fennica covers all...

 and of the yearbook Berkeley Studies

Berkeley Studies

Berkeley Studies is an annual on-line journal established in 1977. Berkeley Studies publishes scholarly articles on anything related to George Berkeley...

. Also he is vice-president of the International Berkeley

George Berkeley

George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...

Society.

Selection of Airaksinen's works in English

• Ethics of coercion and authority. A philosophical study of social life, 1988 ISBN 0-8229-3583-X.
• Of glamor, Sex and De Sade, 1991 ISBN 0-89341-591-X.
• The Philosophy of the Marquis de Sade, 1995 ISBN 0-415-11229-X.
• The Philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft. The route to horror, 1999 ISBN 0-8204-4022-1.
• "Hobbes on the passions and powerlessness", Hobbes Studies, 6/1993, pp. 80–104.
• "Service and Science in Professional Life", Ethics and the Professions, 1994, pp. 1–13