Åsa Wikforss (born 25 July 1961) is a Swedish professor of theoretical philosophy at Stockholm University and a member of the Swedish Academy. She works at the intersection of philosophy of mind, language and epistemology, and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Åsa Wikforss | |
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| Born | 25 July 1961 Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Occupation | Professor of philosophy |
| Notable work |
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| Member of the Swedish Academy (Seat No. 7) | |
| Assumed office 20 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Sara Danius |
Wikforss is known in Sweden for her writing on knowledge and knowledge resistance. Her 2017 book Alternativa fakta: Om kunskapen och dess fiender ("Alternative facts: On knowledge and its enemies") was distributed to over 100,000 gymnasium students for Christmas 2019.[1] She succeeded Sara Danius in seat 7 of the Swedish Academy in December 2019.
Wikforss has published widely on topics in philosophy of mind, language, and epistemology. She is a member of several international research networks and research councils. In September 2017 she published Alternativa fakta: Om kunskapen och dess fiender ("Alternative facts: On knowledge and its enemies"); the book was later criticized in Svenska Dagbladet for statistical errors on the topic of Swedish schools.[1]
In 2018 she has had over a hundred public appearances, speaking about knowledge and knowledge-resistance, in Sweden and beyond. She participates frequently in the public debate in Sweden, in print as well as on TV and radio.[2][3][4] On 9 May 2019 she was elected to the Swedish Academy, to succeed Sara Danius on seat 7. She was formally inducted on 20 December 2019.[5]
In 2021 Wikforss published Därför demokrati: Om kunskapen och folkstyret (That's the reason for democracy: On knowledge and rule of the people), a followup book to Alternativa fakta that discusses the motivations for democracy along with the political system's relation to truth.[6]
References
edit- 1 2 Dellert, Mattias; Hill, Siri (3 February 2020). "Åsa Wikforss kritiseras för bristande källkritik i boken "Alternativa fakta"" [Åsa Wikforss criticized for poor information evaluation in the book ”Alternativa fakta”]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 February 2023.
- ↑ "Åsa Wikforss". Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. CCCB. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
- ↑ "Sveriges första kvinnliga docent i teoretisk filosofi". forskning.se (in Swedish). 28 May 2002. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
- ↑ "Professor Åsa Wikforss". www2.philosophy.su.se. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
- ↑ "Wikforss om Danius: "Hon ville inte avguda utan avkoda"" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ↑ Westerberg, Ola (26 May 2021). "Wikforss: Dags att berätta varför demokrati är bra" [Wikforss: time to explain why democracy is a good thing]. Utrikesmagasinet (in Swedish). Swedish Institute for International Affairs. Retrieved 3 February 2023.