Earlier this year the norwegian philosopher Arne Naess passed away. Today the Philosophers Zone, a podcast by the ABC, dedicated their show to his memory.
Being a member of the Vienna Circle in the 1930’s he founded the Oslo School, a forerunner of the today so popular experimental philosophy. He understood the philosophy of language as a kind of social science where the thoughts, views and use of language among ordinary people had an important role to play. As a student of philosphy in Sweden, where several generations has read his paper on empirical semantics as course literature, this is the Naess I first came into contact with.
Later on in the 1960’s Naess, spending a great amount of time in the mountains, came to develop the philosophy known as deep ecology. Influenced by Spinoza his philosophy was founded on a view of nature and the environment as something of supreme importance for the human existence. Deep ecology has had a great impact on enivronmental movements throughout the world and has a strong following among philosophers in Australia.
Rest in peace Arne Naess.
Virtual Vagabond 