history

We worry about the philosophy of history

Oulu University’s Centre for the Philosophical Study of History has posted, as the first of its Scholars in Conversation series, an interview with Prof. Herman Paul (University of Leiden) by Prof. Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKHF18rPemQ.

Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen´s letter to Thomas Kuhn: "Did you really mean to argue that science is not a rational activity?"

Dear Thomas Kuhn, I am writing this letter to you from a place and a country that, as far as I know, you never visited. And let me tell you, there is a lot here that you could do!

Heli Jantunen’s letter to Marie Curie: “You achieved much, but took the hardest path”

Dear Marie Curie, you had an incredible and incredibly difficult life. It is great that you went down in the history of science. After and during all kinds of challenges, you still managed to conduct research. Nobody needs to take such a hard path any more. Your story should inspire us, today’s researchers. And I believe it does.

X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin inspires Heini Hakosalo

Dear Dr Franklin, I am writing to you from Oulu, a town in Northern Finland. The University of Oulu, where I work, was founded in 1959, a year after your death. I am not a scientist myself, but a historian of science specializing in the history of 20th-century biomedicine. Everyone in our research field would know your name today – in fact, most schoolchildren would, at least in the Anglophone countries. In many respects, you are still with us.

Rector Niinimäki wrote to President Kekkonen: "I would like to express my gratitude to you"

Dear Mr President Kekkonen,

“Hegel in Oulu”

The recently-founded Centre for Philosophical Studies of History, a hub for junior and senior researchers interested in conceptual and philosophical studies of history and historiography, at the University of Oulu came to my attention on the occasion of the international conference The Role of Philosophy of History, 5-7 October, 2017.

JPH Editorial: What is This Field Called Philosophy of History?

Sometimes philosophy of history is called a ‘field,’ comparable to other ‘fields’ like history, sociology or biology. At other times it is linked with theory of history, and these two are understood to form a ‘field’ together. But is it justified to talk about a field in either of these cases?