Torbjörn Tännsjö

Torbjörn Tännsjö (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtuːrbjœɳ ˈtɛnˈɧøː]; born 1946 in Västerås) is a Swedish professor of philosophy and public intellectual. He has held a chair in Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University since 2002 and he is Affiliated Professor of Medical Ethics at Karolinska Institute. Tännsjö was Associate Professor of Philosophy at Stockholm University from 1976 to 1993 and Research Fellow in Political Philosophy at the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences between 1993 and 1995. Thereafter, he was a professor of Practical Philosophy at Göteborg University 1995-2001.

Tännsjö has been a member of the medical ethics board of the faculty of medicine at Göteborg University and the ethical committee of Karolinska Institute. He is a member of the medical ethics committee of The National Board of Health and Welfare (the Swedish Government agency responsible for the supervision, evaluation and monitoring of social services, health care and medical services, dental care, environmental health, and control of communicable diseases). Furthermore, he is a member of the editorial board of Monash Bioethics Review, Tidskrift för politisk filosofi (The Journal of Political Philosophy), Philosophical Papers, the ethics section of the web psychiatric journal Psychomedia, and Bioethics.

Tännsjö is one of the few Swedish philosophers who is frequently heard in the public debate. His distinctly utilitarian ethical views have made him a controversial figure, notably within the medical establishment and for the Swedish Christian Democrats.[1]

Tännsjö has been a member of the Left Party since 1970, and was involved in writing the first party programme after the party dropped the communist label in 1990.

Tännsjö's most recent work in political philosophy is "Global Democracy: The Case for a World Government" (Edinburgh UP) written in connection with the research project Democracy Unbound supported by the Swedish Research Council. The royalties from the sales of the book are being donated to Oxfam. His most recent book is Taking Life. Three Theories on the Ethics of Killing (Oxford UP).

In 2001, he debated analytic philosopher and Christian apologist William Lane Craig on the subject, "If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?".[2]

Publications

References

  1. Helle Klein (2005-06-08). "Vill Karolinska ha ett yrkesförbud?". Aftonbladet.
  2. Video on YouTube
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