Paavo Pylkkänen (born 1959) is a Finnish philosopher of mind. He is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Skövde and a university lecturer in theoretical philosophy at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

. He is known for his work on mind-body studies, building on

David Bohm David Joseph Bohm (; 20 December 1917 – 27 October 1992) was an American scientist who has been described as one of the most significant Theoretical physics, theoretical physicists of the 20th centuryDavid Peat Who's Afraid of Schrödinger' ...

's interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular Bohm's view of the cosmos as an ''enfolding and unfolding whole'' including mind and matter.

Work

Pylkkänen's areas of specialization are the mind-body problem, the basis of

cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...

, philosophy of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, the philosophy of David Bohm and the foundations of quantum theory. Since 1996 he has been employed at the University of Skövde in

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden. Skövde is situated around 150 k ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he initiated a consciousness studies program combining philosophy and cognitive neuroscience. He is currently a temporary university lecturer in theoretical philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, at University of Helsinki, where he has regularly worked since 2008. Pylkkänen has worked and published together with theoretical physicist

Basil Hiley Basil James Hiley (15 November 1935 – 25 January 2025) was a British physicist and professor emeritus of the University of London. Long-time colleague of David Bohm, Hiley is known for his work with Bohm on implicate orders and for his work ...

, a close co-worker of David Bohm over three decades. Hiley and Pylkkänen together addressed the question of the relation between mind and matter by the hypothesis of an ''active information'' within the conceptual framework of the

de Broglie–Bohm theory The de Broglie–Bohm theory is an interpretation of quantum mechanics which postulates that, in addition to the wavefunction, an actual configuration of particles exists, even when unobserved. The evolution over time of the configuration of all ...

. Pylkkänen's work ''Mind, Matter and the Implicate Order'' (2007) builds upon David Bohm's

ontological Ontology is the philosophical study of being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of reality and every ...

interpretation of quantum theory, in which quantum processes are understood as a

holomovement Holomovement is a theoretical concept proposed by physicist David Bohm to describe a dynamic and unbroken totality that underlies all of reality. It forms the foundation of Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics and his metaphysical model, part ...

in terms of implicate and explicate orders.Basil J. Hiley, Paavo Pylkkänen
Can mind affect matter via active information
Mind & Matter Vol. 3(2), pp. 7–27, Imprint Academic, 2005

Bibliography

;Articles and book chapters * Pylkkänen, P.: ''Fundamental Physics and the Mind – Is There a Connection?'' Quantum Interaction, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 8951, p. 3–11, 20 February 2015 * Pylkkänen, P.: ''David Bohm och den vetenskapliga andan'', 2010, Beyond belief and knowledge: Thoughts from a dialogue. Liljenström, H. & Linderman, A. (eds.). Stockholm : Carlsson p. 127–142. (in Swedish) * Pylkkänen, P. : ''Quantum philosophy is philosophy enough'', 2010, How we became doctors of philosophy. Roinila, M. (ed.). Helsinki: Suomen Filosofinen Yhdistys ry. p. 151–157. * Pylkkänen, P.: ''Implications of Bohmian quantum ontology for psychopathology'', March 2010. In : NeuroQuantology. vol. 8, no. 1, p. 37–48. * Pylkkänen, P.: ''Does dynamical modelling explain time consciousness?'', 2007, Computation, Information, Cognition: The Nexus and the Liminal. Stuart, S. & Crnkovic, G. D. (eds.). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press p. 218–229. * Pylkkänen, P.: ''Escaping the prison of language'', 2007, Communication - Action - Meaning: A Festschrift to Jens Allwood. E. A. (ed.). Department of Linguistics, Göteborg University * Pylkkänen, P. & Hiley, B. J.
''Can mind affect matter via active information?''
In: Mind and Matter, vol.3, no.2, Imprint Academic, 2005, p. 7–26. ;Books and edited works * Dewdney, C., Pylkkänen, P., Atmanspacher, H. (eds.) ''Foundations of Physics'' Vol. 43(4) April 2013, ''Special issue: Hiley Festschrift''. Springer. * Pylkkänen, P.: ''Mind, Matter and the Implicate Order'', 2007 Berlin Heidelberg New York: Springer-Verlag. 270 p. (The Frontiers Collection), . * Paavo Pylkkänen and Tere Vadén (eds.): Dimensions of conscious experience, Advances in Consciousness Research, Volume 37, John Benjamins B.V., 2001, . * David Bohm & Charles Biederman (Paavo Pylkkänen, ed.): ''Bohm-Biederman Correspondence: Creativity and science'', Routledge, 1999, . * P. Pylkkänen, P. Pylkkö, A. Hautamäki (eds.): ''Brain, Mind and Physics'', IOS Press, 1997, . * P. Pylkkänen: ''Mind, matter and active information: the relevance of David Bohm's interpretation of quantum theory to cognitive science'', Yliopistopaino, 1992, * P. Pylkkänen (ed.): ''The Search for Meaning: The New Spirit in Science and Philosophy'', Crucible, The Aquarian Press, 1989, .

References

External links

University of Helsinki

publications
Paavo Pylkkänen
University of Skövde {{DEFAULTSORT:Pylkkanen, Paavo 1959 births 20th-century Finnish philosophers 21st-century Finnish philosophers Consciousness researchers and theorists Quantum mind Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Philosophers of mind Living people Academic staff of the University of Skövde