Idyll eller verklighet? : Albert Edelfelt och Gunnar Berndtson i det moderna genombrottets ambivalens

Idyll or Reality? Albert Edelfelt, Gunnar Berndtson and the ambivalent breakthrough of modernity Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905) and Gunnar Berndtson (1854-1895) have much in common. In this dissertation, I study their paintings of local peasants and fishermen and of the gentry’s summer in the county of Uusimaa in southern Finland, in the context of Nordic history of ideas. The breakthrough of modernity, with its attention on debating social problems, provides a novel angle into the oeuvres of the two artists. My focus is on the paintings which emerge in the collision of the public discussion of social matters and the values of the artists’ manorial milieu. The artists’ relation to the public discussion is scrutinized through two of the main topics: the question of the common people and democracy, and the question of equality between men and women. My dissertation is a contextual study which is based on the analysis of the artworks of Edelfelt and Berndtson, on their letters, and on the study of drama and fiction of their time. The notion “liberté, egalité, fraternité” is linked to the breakthrough of modernity. Both artists were aware of the ideal of equality. They used the means and the themes of contemporary art in their presentations, but their pictures contain the ideal of an earlier epoch: the hardworking, but still complacent common people. This conception of the common people is also reflected in the poems of J. L. Runeberg. Women of the late 19th century challenged woman’s primary role as wife and mother. In Edelfelt’s and Berndtson’s depictions of the gentry enjoying summer, women and children have the main role. Notwithstanding the debate of the breakthrough of modernity they depicted women almost without exception as good mothers. Their paintings often depict lazy days in the sunshine, which were, in reality, rare moments for the mistress of the house. Edelfelt’s and Berndtson’s subjects from the Uusimaa countryside coincide with the topics of the breakthrough of modernity, but both the pictures of the common people and the depictions of the gentry enjoying summer, are a retouched picture of reality, often an idyll, in which the public discussion of social matters is evident only materially or not at all.

Society by Numbers : Studies on Model-Based Explanations in the Social Sciences

The aim of this dissertation is to provide conceptual tools for the social scientist for clarifying, evaluating and comparing explanations of social phenomena based on formal mathematical models. The focus is on relatively simple theoretical models and simulations, not statistical models. These studies apply a theory of explanation according to which explanation is about tracing objective relations of dependence, knowledge of which enables answers to contrastive why and how-questions. This theory is developed further by delineating criteria for evaluating competing explanations and by applying the theory to social scientific modelling practices and to the key concepts of equilibrium and mechanism. The dissertation is comprised of an introductory essay and six published original research articles. The main theses about model-based explanations in the social sciences argued for in the articles are the following. 1) The concept of explanatory power, often used to argue for the superiority of one explanation over another, compasses five dimensions which are partially independent and involve some systematic trade-offs. 2) All equilibrium explanations do not causally explain the obtaining of the end equilibrium state with the multiple possible initial states. Instead, they often constitutively explain the macro property of the system with the micro properties of the parts (together with their organization). 3) There is an important ambivalence in the concept mechanism used in many model-based explanations and this difference corresponds to a difference between two alternative research heuristics. 4) Whether unrealistic assumptions in a model (such as a rational choice model) are detrimental to an explanation provided by the model depends on whether the representation of the explanatory dependency in the model is itself dependent on the particular unrealistic assumptions. Thus evaluating whether a literally false assumption in a model is problematic requires specifying exactly what is supposed to be explained and by what. 5) The question of whether an explanatory relationship depends on particular false assumptions can be explored with the process of derivational robustness analysis and the importance of robustness analysis accounts for some of the puzzling features of the tradition of model-building in economics. 6) The fact that economists have been relatively reluctant to use true agent-based simulations to formulate explanations can partially be explained by the specific ideal of scientific understanding implicit in the practise of orthodox economics.

Death, Destruction and Commemoration : Tracing ritual activities in Finnish Late Iron Age cemeteries (AD 550-1150)

The thesis is connected with death, memory and ancestor commemoration during the Merovingian Period, the Viking Age and the beginning of the Crusade Period (AD 550-1150) in Finland. During this time, cremation was the dominant burial rite. It was not until the end of the Viking Age that inhumation became more common but both cremations and inhumations are performed even at the same sites throughout the time. Three different burial types 1) cremation cemeteries below level ground, 2) inhumation burials and 3) water burials are discussed in five articles. I consider these burial forms from three different viewpoints; collectivity-individuality, visibility-invisibility and cremation-inhumation. The thesis also discusses the topics of memory, memorialisation and monument re-use, which have been neglected subjects in Finnish archaeology until now. Both cremation cemeteries below level ground and inhumation burials have been re-used during their time of usage, and on most occasions are situated in a landscape that is overlaid by other monuments as well. The main questions of the thesis are: What kinds of ritual behaviour can we detect in the burials during the period (AD 550-1150)? How did people perceive the moraine hills that functioned as burial places? What kind of re-use can be detected in the Iron Age cemeteries? Why have ancient sites and artefacts been re-used? This thesis shows that it is possible to claim that both artefact and site re-use is a much more widespread phenomenon than has previously been thought in Finnish archaeology. It is also a conscious and deliberate behaviour that can be related to an ancestor cult and commemoration of the dead. The funerary rituals during this time period show great variation and complex, both regionally and nationally. Not only have the dead been buried using elaborate rituals, they have also been mourned and commemorated in intricate ways that proves that death was not an end product, but the start of something new.

Constructive Perspectives on Inductive Logic

Constructive (intuitionist, anti-realist) semantics has thus far been lacking an adequate concept of truth in infinity concerning factual (i.e., empirical, non-mathematical) sentences. One consequence of this problem is the difficulty of incorporating inductive reasoning in constructive semantics. It is not possible to formulate a notion for probable truth in infinity if there is no adequate notion of what truth in infinity is. One needs a notion of a constructive possible world based on sensory experience. Moreover, a constructive probability measure must be defined over these constructively possible empirical worlds. This study defines a particular kind of approach to the concept of truth in infinity for Rudolf Carnap's inductive logic. The new approach is based on truth in the consecutive finite domains of individuals. This concept will be given a constructive interpretation. What can be verifiably said about an empirical statement with respect to this concept of truth, will be explained, for which purpose a constructive notion of epistemic probability will be introduced. The aim of this study is also to improve Carnap's inductive logic. The study addresses the problem of justifying the use of an "inductivist" method in Carnap's lambda-continuum. A correction rule for adjusting the inductive method itself in the course of obtaining evidence will be introduced. Together with the constructive interpretation of probability, the correction rule yields positive prior probabilities for universal generalizations in infinite domains.

Leibniz on Rational Decision-Making

In this study I discuss G. W. Leibniz's (1646-1716) views on rational decision-making from the standpoint of both God and man. The Divine decision takes place within creation, as God freely chooses the best from an infinite number of possible worlds. While God's choice is based on absolutely certain knowledge, human decisions on practical matters are mostly based on uncertain knowledge. However, in many respects they could be regarded as analogous in more complicated situations. In addition to giving an overview of the divine decision-making and discussing critically the criteria God favours in his choice, I provide an account of Leibniz's views on human deliberation, which includes some new ideas. One of these concerns is the importance of estimating probabilities in making decisions one estimates both the goodness of the act itself and its consequences as far as the desired good is concerned. Another idea is related to the plurality of goods in complicated decisions and the competition this may provoke. Thirdly, heuristic models are used to sketch situations under deliberation in order to help in making the decision. Combining the views of Marcelo Dascal, Jaakko Hintikka and Simo Knuuttila, I argue that Leibniz applied two kinds of models of rational decision-making to practical controversies, often without explicating the details. The more simple, traditional pair of scales model is best suited to cases in which one has to decide for or against some option, or to distribute goods among parties and strive for a compromise. What may be of more help in more complicated deliberations is the novel vectorial model, which is an instance of the general mathematical doctrine of the calculus of variations. To illustrate this distinction, I discuss some cases in which he apparently applied these models in different kinds of situation. These examples support the view that the models had a systematic value in his theory of practical rationality.

Talousmetafysiikan kritiikkiä

Jakke Holvas: A Critique of the Metaphysics of Economy The research problem of this dissertation is the commonly held opinion according to which everything has become a question of economy in the present day. Economy legitimates and justifies. In this study, the pattern of thinking and conceptualizing in which economy figures as the ultimate reason is called the metaphysics of economy. The defining characteristic of the metaphysics of economy is its failure to recognize non-economic rules, ethics, or ways of existence. The sources included in the study cover certain classics of philosophy (Plato, Aristotle, Friedrich Nietzsche) and sociology (Karl Marx, Max Weber, Marcel Mauss), as well as the more recent French social theory (Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault). The research methods used are textual analysis and evaluation of concepts by means of historical comparison. The background to the study is given by the views of historians and sociologists according to whom traditional forms have ceased to exist and the market economy become established as the western system of values. The study identifies points of transition from the traditional forms to economic values. In addition, the dissertation focuses on the modern non-economic forms. The study examines the economic and ethical meanings of gift in antiquity in Homer, Plato, and Aristotle. Following Marcel Mauss, the study analyzes the forms and principles of gift exchange. The study also applies Nietzsche’s philosophy to evaluate under what conditions giving a gift becomes an act of exercising power that puts its receiver into debt. The conclusion of the study is that the classics of philosophy and sociology can rightly be interpreted in terms of the metaphysics of economy, but they also offer grounds for criticizing this metaphysics, even alternatives. One such alternative is non-economic archaic ethic. The study delineates a duality between economy and non-economy as well as creating concepts which could be used in the future to critically analyze economy from a position external to the economic system of concepts.

Herakleitos, filosofia ja metafysiikka : Collin ja Heideggerin tulkintojen valossa

Tutkielmani aiheena on noin 2500 vuotta sitten Efesoksen kaupungissa eläneen Herakleitoksen ajattelu. Selvitän, mikä suhde Herakleitoksen ajattelulla on filosofiaan ja metafysiikkaan. Lähestyn tätä kysymystä pääasiassa kahden uuden ajan filosofin italialaisen Giorgio Collin (1917-1979) ja saksalaisen Martin Heideggerin (1889-1976) esittämien tulkintojen pohjalta. Osoitan, että Herakleitoksen ajattelu eroaa olennaisesti Platonin ja Aristoteleen jälkeisestä filosofisesta ja metafyysisestä ajattelusta. Perusteluna tarkastelen Herakleitoksen ajattelua neljästä näkökulmasta: 1) historiallisesti filosofian syntyä edeltäneen viisauden ja uskonnollisen ajattelun edustajana, 2) loogisesti olevan käsitteeseen keskittyvästä metafysiikasta poikkeavana ajatteluna, 3) välittömän kokemuksen ajatteluna ja 4) fenomenologisena ilmiön ja kätkeytymättömyyden ajatteluna. Ensimmäinen ja kolmas näkökulma edustavat Collin tulkintaa, toinen ja neljäs näkökulma puolestaan Heideggerin tulkintaa. Tärkeimpinä lähteinäni ovat Collin teokset Filosofian synty (1975), Filosofia dell'espressione (1969) ja La sapienza greca (1977-80) sekä Heideggerin teokset Oleminen ja aika (1927), Einführung in die Metaphysik (1935/53), Aletheia (1951), Logos (1951) ja Heraklit Seminar (1966-67).

Tarskin totuus : Totuuden määrittelemisen taustaehtoja ja seurauksia

Tutkielma esittelee Alfred Tarskin formalisoitujen kielien totuusmääritelmän filosofisia ja loogisia taustaehtoja ja seurauksia. Tutkimuksen keskeisimmät menetelmät ovat filosofinen analyysi ja matemaattinen logiikka. Keinona on myös aatehistoriallinen tutkimus. Keskeisin tutkimuksen kohde on Alfred Tarskin artikkeli "Der Wahrheitsbegriff in den formalisierten Sprachen", 1935 (julkaistu käännöksenä teoksessa Logic, Semantics, Metamathematics, Papers from 1923 to 1938, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1956). Tarskin alkuperäinen totuusmääritelmä formalisoiduille kielille ja totuuden määrittelemättömyystulos ovat esitetty nykyaikaisella notaatiolla. Analyyttisen ja historiallisen lähestymisen kautta Tarskin totuusmääritelmän ja malliteorian suhteita selvennetään absoluuttisen ja suhteellisen totuuskäsityksen avulla. Ajatusta formaalisista kielistä ennalta annetusti tulkittuina kielinä esitellään ja sen historiallisia taustoja selvitetään. Tämän idean olennaisuus todetaan Tarskin 1930-luvun totuusmääritelmän muodostumiselle. Eräiden käännöksen käsitteeseen liittyvien epäselvyyksien esiin nostaminen ja aksiomaattisten totuusteorioiden ja totuusmääritelmän suhteen esitteleminen ovat osa tutkielman loogista osuutta. Näiden lisäksi tutkielma esittelee S. Shapiron ja J. Ketlandin totuusteoreettisen deationismin kritiikkiä, jossa käytetään Tarskin totuusmääritelmää vastaavaa totuusteoreettista aksiomatisointia.

Heidegger ja logos : Oleminen ja aika inhimillisen järjellisyyden uudelleentulkintana

Käsilläolevan tutkielman kohteena on Martin Heideggerin (1889–1976) tulkintatyö, jonka hän varhaisessa ajattelussaan (1919–1927) kohdisti kreikkalaisen filosofian keskeiseen käsitteeseen logos: ”järki”, ”puhekyky”. Tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, miten Heidegger tulkitsi tätä käsitettä ja mikä merkitys Heideggerin tulkintatyöllä oli hänen pääteoksensa Sein und Zeit (1927, suom. Oleminen ja aika) kannalta. Työn keskeinen näkemys on, että Heideggerin ajattelu on nähtävä kreikkalaisen järjellisyyskäsityksen kriittisenä arviointina ja uudelleentulkintana. Heideggerin filosofia pohjautui vahvasti näkemykselle, jonka mukaan ajattelumme on hyvin perustavassa mielessä kiinni perinteessä ja sen välittämissä käsityksissä ja tulkinnoissa. Heideggerin mukaan filosofinen tutkimus ei voi koskaan täysin ennakkoluulotonta ja tämän vuoksi kaiken ajattelun on päästävä selville oman tilanteensa historiallisuudesta ja satunnaisuudesta; tieteellinen filosofia ei voi valita systemaattisen ja historiallisen lähestymistavan välillä, vaan sen on oltava olemuksellisesti molempia. Vuosina 1919–1929 Heideggerin historiallisen tulkintatyön ensisijaisena kohteena oli kreikkalainen filosofia, erityisesti Aristoteleen ajattelu. Heideggerin mukaan Aristoteles ei ollut ensimmäinen filosofista ajattelua harjoittanut henkilö, mutta Heidegger näki Aristoteleen tuotannon tiivistävän yhteen länsimaisen ajattelun keskeisimmät ennakkokäsitykset. Tutkielmassa seurataan Heideggerin pyrkimystä tulkita inhimillisen järjellisyyden ilmiötä, jonka juuret Heidegger paikansi Aristoteleen ihmismääritelmään zōon logon ekhon (”järjellinen eläin”). Aristotelesta seurannut skolastinen filosofia omaksui tämän määritelmän muodossa animal rationale, mutta Heidegger painotti, että tällä käännöksellä oli taipumus sivuuttaa se perusta, joka oli vielä ominainen kreikkalaiselle järjen käsitteelle. Sillä Aristoteleelle ja kreikkalaiselle ajattelulle logos ei merkinnyt ainoastaan haluihin ja tunteisiin rinnastuvaa mielen sisäistä kykyä vaan ennen kaikkea yhteisöllisesti jaettua tulkintaa ympäröivästä todellisuudesta. Tämä tulkinta ilmenee jokapäiväisesti keskustelun ja kommunikaation yhteydessä, mutta se on myös olennainen osa tapaamme jäsentää ympäröivää todellisuutta merkitykselliseksi. Heidegger kuitenkin argumentoi, että kreikkalainen ajattelu näki tämän kielellis-diskursiivisen käsittämisen alisteisena inhimillisen kokemuksen perustaville tavoille olla suhteessa todellisuuteen: puhtaalle aistihavainnolle (aisthēsis) sekä intuitiiviselle tajuamiselle (noein). Tutkielma koostuu neljästä luvusta sekä lyhyestä johdannosta. Ensimmäinen luku käsittelee Heideggerin filosofian kantavaa teemaa, kysymystä olemisen mielestä – sekä tämän kysymyksen perustaa kreikkalaisessa ajattelussa. Tämän jälkeen luodaan katsaus Heideggerin fenomenologiseen metodiin, sen ensisijaiseen kohdealueeseen inhimillisessä kokemuksessa sekä fenomenologisen tutkimuksen historialliseen ulottuvuuteen. Toisessa luvussa esitetään puolestaan Heideggerin tulkinta käsitteestä logos. Tulkinnan ymmärtämiseksi on välttämätöntä esittää tiivistetysti Heideggerin tulkinta kreikkalaisesta totuuden käsitteestä. Heideggerin mukaan kreikkalainen ajattelu ymmärsi totuuden monitasoisena ilmiönä, jonka perustavin käyttöyhteys on löydettävissä todellisuuden ilmiöstä. Kolmannessa luvussa pureudutaan niihin piirteisiin, joiden valossa Aristoteles Heideggerin mukaan tulkitsi kielen ja kokemuksen välistä suhdetta. Neljännessä luvussa esitetään, mitä edellä esitetyt oivallukset merkitsivät Heideggerin oman filosofisen projektin kannalta, erityisesti inhimillistä olemassaoloa (Dasein) selvittäneen fundamentaaliontologian kannalta.

Kriitkko Einari J. Vehmas ja moderni taide

The doctoral dissertation Critic Einari J. Vehmas and Modern Art deals with one of the central figures of the Finnish art scene and his work as an art critic, art museum curator and cultural critic. The main body of research material consists of the writings of Einari J. Vehmas (1902 1980) from 1937 to the late 1960s. Vehmas wrote art reviews for magazines, and from the year 1945 he was a regular art critic for one of the major newspapers in Finland. Vehmas was heavily inclined towards French literature and visual arts. Marcel Proust and Charles Baudelaire influenced his views on the nature of art from the late 1920s onwards. Vehmas is commonly regarded as the most influential art critic of post-war Finland. His writings have been referred to and cited in numerous research papers on Finnish 20th-century art. A lesser known aspect of his work is his position as the deputy director of the Ateneum Art Museum, the Finnish national gallery. Through his art museum work, his opinions also shaped the canon of modern art considered particularly Finnish following the second world war. The main emphasis of the dissertation is on studying Vehmas s writings, but it also illustrates the diversity of his involvement in Finnish cultural life through biographical documents. The long chronological span of the dissertation emphasises how certain central themes accumulate in Vehmas s writings. The aim of the dissertation is also to show how strongly certain philosophical and theoretical concepts from the early 20th century, specifically Wassily Kandinsky s principle of inner necessity and Henri Bergson s epistemology highlighting intuition and instinct, continued to influence the Finnish art discourse even in the early 1960s, in part thanks to the writings of Vehmas. Throughout his production, Vehmas contemplated the state and future of modern art and humanity. Vehmas used a colourful, vitalistic rhetoric to emphasise the role of modern art as a building block of culture and humanity. At the same time, however, he was a cultural pessimist whose art views became infused with anxiety, a sense of loss, and a desire to turn his back on the world.