Ilkka Maunu Olavi Niiniluoto (born March 12, 1946) is a Finnish philosopher and mathematician, serving as a professor of
philosophy at the
University of Helsinki since 1981. He is currently on leave from his position, having been appointed as
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of the University of Helsinki on August 1, 2003, for a five-year period. On April 25, 2008, he was chosen to succeed
Kari Raivio as chancellor of the University of Helsinki, beginning 1 June 2008.
Work
A significant contribution to the philosophy of science, particularly to the topic of
verisimilitude
In philosophy, verisimilitude (or truthlikeness) is the notion that some propositions are closer to being true than other propositions. The problem of verisimilitude is the problem of articulating what it takes for one false theory to be clo ...
or truth approximation, is his ''Truthlikeness'' (Synthese Library, Springer, 1987). Another notable publication is ''Critical Scientific Realism'' (Oxford University Press, 2002).
In 1990s, Niiniluoto among other university employees organized a plea to the consistory of the university to abolish ecclesiastic remnants from the university ceremonies.
Ilkka Niiniluoto is editor-in-chief of ''
Acta Philosophica Fennica'', the leading philosophical journal of Finland.
From 2008 to 2013, he served as the Chancellor of the University of Helsinki.
In 2011 he gave a Turku
Agora Lecture.
Books
*
References
External links
helsinki.fiIlkka Niiniluoto in 375 humanists 14.04.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
Analytic philosophers
Finnish philosophers
Finnish mathematicians
Philosophers of science
Atheist philosophers
Finnish skeptics
Academic personnel of the University of Helsinki
Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Scientists from Helsinki
1946 births
Living people
Rectors of the University of Helsinki
Chancellors of the University of Helsinki
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