Lilli Kristina Alanen (née Gullichsen; 16 October 1941 – 22 October 2021) was a Finnish philosopher and Professor Emeritus of History of Philosophy at Department of Philosophy at

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. She was elected a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 2018.

Early life and education

Lilli Gullichsen was born on 16 October 1941 in

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

, Finland. She studied philosophy at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in Paris, where she was a student of

Ferdinand Alquié Ferdinand Alquié (; 18 December 1906, Carcassonne, Aude – 28 February 1985, Montpellier) was a French philosopher and member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques from 1978. In the years 1931 to 1945 he was a professor in var ...

, and the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

, where she was a student of Ingmar Pörn and

Georg Henrik von Wright Georg Henrik von Wright (; 14 June 1916 – 16 June 2003) was a Finnish philosopher. Biography G. H. von Wright was born in Helsinki on 14 June 1916 to Tor von Wright and his wife Ragni Elisabeth Alfthan. On the retirement of Ludwig Wittgenste ...

Academic career

In the 1980s she taught at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in the US and in Helsinki before being named professor of philosophy at Uppsala University in 1997. Alanen specialised in the history of philosophy, with particular interest in

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathem ...

and

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

. She also contributed to

feminist philosophy Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...

. In her critically received book on Descartes (2003), Alanen goes beyond mere history, drawing out the historical antecedents and the intellectual evolution of Descartes' thinking about the mind, showing how his emphasis on the embodiment of the mind has implications far more complex and interesting than the usual dualist account associated with his thinking suggests. Alanen was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. She was also a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Univer ...

Personal life

Alanen was a member of the industrialist Ahlström family. Her mother was a Finnish art collector and patron of the arts

Maire Gullichsen Maire Eva Johanna Gullichsen (née Ahlström, later known as Gullichsen-Nyströmer, 24 June 1907, Porin maalaiskunta – 9 July 1990, Pori) was a Finnish art collector and patron. She was a co-founder of the Artek furniture company. Pori Art M ...

and her father the industrialist Harry Gullichsen. Her siblings were the Finnish architect

Kristian Gullichsen Kristian Valter Alexander Gullichsen (29 September 1932, in Helsinki – 17 March 2021, in Helsinki) was a Finnish architect. The son of Harry and Maire Gullichsen, he was born into a family of industrialists, designers and artists. His siblings w ...

and

Johan Gullichsen Johan Erik Gullichsen (28 June 1936 – 13 May 2023) was a Finnish paper engineer. From 1989 to 1999 he was professor for Pulping Technology at Helsinki University of Technology. He was also a sailor and competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics. J ...

, a professor of engineering. The family home at

Noormarkku Noormarkku ( sv, Norrmark) is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region. The municipality had a population of 6,158 (31 December 2009) and covered an area of of which ...

near

is the world-famous modernist house

Villa Mairea Villa Mairea is a villa, guest-house, and rural retreat designed and built by the Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto for Harry and Maire Gullichsen in Noormarkku, Finland. The building was constructed in 1938–1939. The Gullichsens were ...

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

. In 1964 she married the Finnish artist Sakari Alanen (born 1940), and they had three children. They were divorced in 1989. In 1992, Alanen married the American philosopher Frederick Stoutland (1933–2011). Alanen died on 22 October 2021 in Helsinki.

Selected works

*Lilli Alanen, ''Studies in Cartesian epistemology and philosophy of mind'',

Acta Philosophica ''Acta Philosophica'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1992. The editor-in-chief is Francesco Russo (Pontifical University of the Holy Cross). The journal publishes articles in Italian, English, Spanish, and Fren ...

Fennica, Helsinki, 1982. *Lilli Alanen and Sara Heinämaa (eds.), ''Commonality and Particularity in Ethics'', Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1997. *Lilli Alanen and Charlotte Witt (eds.), ''Feminist Reflections on the History of Philosophy'' (The New Synthese Historical Library), Springer, New York, 2004. *Lilli Alanen, ''Descartes's Concept of Mind'', Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2003.Reviews of ''Descartes's Concept of Mind'': * * * * * *

References

External links

Bibliography of Alanen's work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alanen, Lilli 1941 births 2021 deaths People from Pori Academic staff of Uppsala University Finnish women philosophers Philosophers of mind 20th-century Finnish philosophers 21st-century Finnish philosophers Finnish people of Norwegian descent Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters