Meritförteckning

I am Professor Emerita at Aalto University School of Business since 2013 and Docent of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki since 1998. I served as a Professor in the Philosophy of Management at Aalto University School of Business from 2008 to 2012, having initially acted in this role in 2007 when the institute was still the Helsinki School of Economics. I held the position of Senior Research Fellow at the Academy of Finland from 1998 to 2004. Prior to that, I was Lecturer in Philosophy at the Helsinki School of Economics from 1973 to 2006, and I also taught there philosophy courses between 1970 and 1973. From 1968 to 1972, I was part-time teaching assistant in both philosophy and mathematics at the University of Helsinki.

I majored in Mathematics for my Bachelor of Science degree (1967), as well as my Master of Arts degree (1970). I transitioned to philosophy for my Licentiate of Arts degree (1982) and continued in this field for my Doctor of Philosophy degree (1995). Additionally, I attended philosophy courses at the University of Zürich during the Winter Semester of 1972-73 and at the University of Bremen during the Summer Semester of 1974.

My publications include over 100 items, articles, books, and a host of teaching materials. The articles have been published in Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, Rhizai, Journal of Neurophilosophy, Philosophy of Management, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Norsk Theologisk Tidskrift, Tertium non Natur, Der Gingo-Baum, Königsberg, Ajatus, Liiketaloudellinen Aikakauskirja, Sosiologia, Tiede ja Edistys.

The publications are listed in https://research.aalto.fi/fi/persons/marja-liisa-kakkuri-knuuttila

Information om forskning och undervisning

My research in philosophy is influenced by my studies in mathematics, logic, philosophy of science, and the logico-analytical style of philosophy at the University of Helsinki during that time. This approach has been enriched by elements of hermeneutics from the University of Zürich in the early 1970s, as well as by a rigorous scholarly approach to Aristotle through research seminars at Oriel College in Oxford and three-day workshops at the European Cultural Center in Delphi and the University of Athens in the late 1990s. With this background, I am interested in the logical patterns in scientific research and writing practices, as well as in identifying connections and synthesizing seemingly conflicting theories.

In ancient philosophy, I have focused on Aristotle’s concepts of dialectic and rhetoric, the relevance of dialectical argument forms to his scientific methodology of Saving the Appearances, the role of predicables in dialectic (in collaboration with Miira Tuominen), the concept of induction (in collaboration with Simo Knuuttila and Mika Perälä), and the metaphysics of causation. I also wrote the commentary to the Finnish translation of Aristotle’s Topics, his textbook on dialectic. I have applied Aristotelian dialectical argument forms to analyze newspaper editorials, his philosophy of science and metaphysics to resolve conflicts within management methodology (with Eero Vaara), and to understand recent developments in physics. The Saving the Appearances methodology also provides the historical background for John Rawls’ methodology (in collaboration with Jukka Mäkinen). In contemporary philosophy of science, I have analyzed the structure of explanations in social research papers and argued for the compatibility of explanation and understanding in explaining human action.

I have taught courses at various levels in the philosophy of the social sciences, logic, history of philosophy, feminist philosophy, theories of power, critical thinking, and the philosophy of management research. My efforts to respond to students’ repeated question of "What use is this?" culminated in two textbooks: Argumentti ja Kritiikki (Argument and Criticism) (1998) and Mitä on Tutkimus? (What is Research?) (with Kaisa Heinlahti) (2006). These books serve as both introductions to philosophy and research practices. The logic presented in these textbooks stems from my studies of Aristotle, with key concepts including argument, debate, and rhetoric. The central idea is that each choice in research (problem, data, methods, findings, contribution) must be justified by demonstrating it as the best solution among alternatives and presented in a convincing rhetorical manner.

A brief version of this pedagogical approach can be found in Finnish in https://metodix.fi/2014/03/15/kakkuri-knuutila-marja-liisa-2001-mita-on-tutkimus-argumentti-vaittely-ja-retoriikka/

Meritförteckning

AKTIVITEETIT

International Conference on Methodology of Philosophy, 2-4 June 2025, University of Helsinki,

Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M.L

Aktiviteetti: Organisaatiokomitean jäsen

Energy as the Basis of a Unified Theory of Physics:
Neo-Aristotelian Reflections

Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M-L

Physics and Reality: An International Conference on the Philosophy of Physics
4–6 June 2024, University of Helsinki, Finland

Aktiviteetti: Puhe- tai esitystyypit ›Esitelmä

Energy as the Basis of a Unified Theory of Physics:
Neo-Aristotelian Reflections

Kakkuri-Knuuttila, M-L

Dynamis Seminar May 15-17, 2024, University of Turku, Finland

Aktiviteetti: Puhe- tai esitystyypit ›Esitelmä