WRIGHT, G(eorg) H(enrik) von 1916-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born June 14, 1916, in Helsinki, Finland; died June 16, 2003, in Helsinki, Finland. Philosopher, educator, and author. Von Wright was one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century and was known for founding the discipline of "deontic logic" and for helping preserve and publish the papers of another giant in philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Descended from Scottish nobility and strongly influenced by German culture, he grew up in Finland and graduated from the University of Helsinki, where he completed his Ph.D. in 1941 with a dissertation on induction and probability. Initially, von Wright was mainly interested in logic and was inspired by Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. He studied under Wittgenstein at Cambridge University and in 1948 succeeded him as professor of philosophy. He held that post for three years while also working as a professor at his alma mater until 1961. From 1961 to 1986 von Wright was a research fellow at the Academy of Finland and from 1965 to 1977 simultaneously worked as a professor-at-large at Cornell University. The philosopher often wrote on the subject of moral and legal obligations—deontic logic—but in his later years he ventured beyond the study of formal logic. Describing himself as an analytical philosopher, he was interested in topics such as the mind-body problem and later in life delved into human rights and political issues. He was also greatly distressed by the single-minded pursuit of science in modern times—he called this "scientism"—which he felt was not the path toward solving those social problems often caused by scientific advancement in the first place. Among von Wright's many works are Logical Studies (1957), The Varieties of Goodness (1963), Explanation and Understanding (1971), Philosophical Logic (1983), The Tree of Knowledge and Other Essays (1993), and In the Shadow of Descartes (1998). After Wittgenstein's death in 1951, von Wright also became one of the philosopher's literary executors and helped edit and publish such works as Culture and Value (1980) and Last Writings on the Philosophy of Psychology (1982). Von Wright played an important part in preserving Wittgenstein's legacy as well as contributing greatly to modern philosophy.

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PERIODICALS

Independent (London, England), June 24, 2003, p. 14.

Times (London, England), June 20, 2003.