Nina Karin Monsen (born 29 May 1943) is a Norwegian

moral philosopher Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethics ...

and author. She has written several books, both non-fiction and fiction, and has been active in Norwegian public debate since the early 1970s.

Life

Monsen has a Magister's degree in Philosophy (1969) and was one of the founders of the Norwegian new feminist movement in 1970. Her early work was on the logician

Quine Quine may refer to: * Quine (computing), a program that produces its source code as output * Quine's paradox, in logic * Quine (surname), people with the surname ** Willard Van Orman Quine (1908–2000), American philosopher and logician See al ...

and she later studied

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 ...

. She has become the most visible proponent of

Personalism Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleie ...

in Norway, with ''Det elskende menneske'' (The loving human being, 1987) as her most central work. Monsen grew up in a

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

family, and later converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. She lectures in evangelical churches. She was appointed a

government scholar Government scholar () is a position awarded by the Parliament of Norway upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research and funded directly over the state budget of Norway. The position can be "for li ...

in 2004. In 2009, she was awarded the

Fritt Ord Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord (organization), Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award () and the Frit ...

. She was married to legal scholar Helge Johan Thue, until he died in 2010.

Publications

Non-fiction

* ''Det kvinnelige menneske''. Aschehoug, 1975 * ''Jomfru, mor eller menneske'' Universitetsforlaget, 1984 * ''Det elskende menneske, person og etikk'' (1987) * ''Det Kjempende menneske, person og etikk'' (1990) * ''Velferd uten ansikt, en filosofisk analyse av velferdsstaten'' (1998) * ''Kunsten å tenke, en filosofisk metode til et bedre liv'' (2001) * ''Den gode sirkel, en filosofi om helse og kjærlighet'' (2002) * ''Det sårbare menneske, en filosofi om skam, skyld og synd'' (2004) * ''Livstro, lesetykker'' (2005) * ''Det innerste valget'' (2007) * ''Kampen om ekteskapet og barnet'' (2009)

Fiction

* ''Under Godhetens synsvinkel'', essays, 1992 * ''Kvinnepakten'', novel, 1977 * ''Jammersminne'', novel, 1980 * ''Dødt liv'', short stories, 1987 * ''Inntrengere'', novel, 1989 * ''Tvillingsjeler'', novel, 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsen, Nina Karin 1943 births 20th-century Norwegian philosophers 21st-century Norwegian philosophers Converts to Christianity Scholars of feminist philosophy Living people Norwegian Christians Norwegian women academics Writers from Bergen Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian women philosophers Proponents of Christian feminism Postmodern feminists