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Sven Ilmari Krohn (1903-1999) |
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Philosopher and parapsychologist, the most promiment advocate
of phenomenology and philosophical anthropology in Finland in the late
20th century. During his tenure as professor at the University of
Turku, Sven Krohn focused on the main problems of philosophy, but after
retirement, he felt more free to talk about out of body experiences and
rebirth, both topics frowned upon in the academic world. Besides
philosophical works, Krohn published three collections of poetry. "I acknowledge with gratitude my debt to Indian Philosophy and I particularly appreciate those impulses that I have received from the profound analyses of man's basic experience to be found in the philosophy under discussion, where attention is paid to the higher transcendental states of consciousness revealead to man during his search, states of consciousness which differ from the ordinary consciousness of everyday. Of central importance, however, in the formation of my own vision of man and reality has been the influence of two methods much developed in western philosophy in our own time, namely phenomenology and hermeneutics. . . . it is to me quite evident that the great representatives of Indian philosophical thinking, people like Shankata and Rāmānuja, have in fact made skilful use of them." ('from 'Jivatman in the Context of Dayananda,' by Sven Krohn, translated into English by Anthony Landon, in World Perspectives on Swami Dayananda Saraswati by Ganga Ram Garg, foreword by Kenneth W. Jones, New Delhi: Naurang Rai, 1984, pp. 257-258) Sven Krohn was born in Helsinki, the second son of Leopold Krohn, an engineer, and Betty Pesonen. Krohn's father read widely from quantum physics to psychoanalysis and occultism. Among his friends was the Finnish Rocicrucian and theosophist Pekka Ervasti (1875-1934); he also influenced Krohn's thought in his late teens. When two of the childred died of diabetes at an early age, Leopold started to experiment with automatic writing, believing that he received messages from his deceased son. For the The Finnish Rosicrucian Society, established by Ervasti, he made an astrological horoscope. His sons Sven and Eino worked for a period at the Rosicrucian Kulmakoulu. Like a number of other well-to-do families, the Krohns had a villa in the Karelian Isthmus in the south-east of Finland, where they spent the summer. After a mystical experience, Krohn became convinced of being part of a larger cosmic consciousness. Later Krohn often returned to his first revelatory sense of oneness with the universe, which had prompted him to devote his life to philosophy. Krohn graduated from the Normal Lyceum and entered the
University of Helsinki, where he studied philosophy under Arvi
Grotenfelt and Rafael Karsten. He also attended Rolf Lagerborg's and
Erik Ahlman's (1892-1952) lectures. Krohn received his M.A. in 1929 and
then worked
as a teacher of German language, philosophy, psychology, and history at
a secondary school. In 1930, Krohn married Ruth Sigrid Sofia Grönroos;
they had five children. Throughout his career, Krohn
remained aloof from political battles; it
was the human condition which mattered to him. Krohn maintained that
humans cannot be reduced to the reality studied by the natural sciences
– human beings have a spiritual core. In the 1930s he
became a member of two parapsychological
associations, Sällskapet för psykisk forskning and Suomen
parapsykologinen tutkimusseura. With Åke Tollet he wrote a book on
parapsychology, Jälleenlöydetty sielu (1936). The text was based on their popular radio broadcasts from
1934-35. To Krohn's surprise, the work received positive reviews, in
spite of its controversial content. "Kirjoittajat ovat hyvin
perehtyneet aiheeseensa ja käyttelevät suvereenisesti melkoista
tieteellisten teosten määrää. Ilmeiseltä näyttää myös, että he ovat
pyrkineet oikealla tavalla kriitilliseen tieteelliseen esittelyyn, jota
kuka hyvänsä voi lukea, mutta joka silti paikoin on mitä oppineinta
tekstiä." ('Salatieteilijöitä ja selvänäkijöitä' by
Mo., Valvoja-Aika, Nos. 8-9,
1937, pp. 371-372) During the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, Krohn was exempted from military service, but in the Continuation War (1941-44) he served in the artillery for some time and was discharged in 1942. Compared to his friend Erik Ahlman, who had introduced phenomenology
to academic discussion in
Finland, Krohn started his academic career relatively late: he was not a
"natural born philosopher," said the physiologist and philosopher
Yrjö Reenpää. ('Sven Krohn – terveen järjen
puolustus,' in Päin nousevan Suomen
rantaa: tutkijaprofiileja Turun yliopistosta by Timo Tarmio,
Turku: Kirja-Aurora, Turun yliopisto, 2000) Krohn's doctoral
dissertation, Der logische Empirismus:
eine kritische Untersuchung (1949-50),
published in two volumes, was a criticism of the concepts of logical empiricism. Among the primary
targets were Moritz Schlick, Otto Neurath, Rudolf Carnap, and Eino
Kaila. At the time of the publication, logical positivism was already losing its appeal outside Finland. Krohn
criticized strongly the premise that the task of philosophy is to
analyse language, but the physicist K. V. Laurikainen, sitting in the
audience, was not convinced when Krohn discussed physics. Krohn's most prominent adversary, Eino Kaila (1890-1958), was a logical empiricist and highly influential opinion leader, who in general dismissed metaphysical statements as meaningless. Kaila argued that philosophy as a method is logical analysis. According to an anecdote, he threw Krohn's dissertation out of the window after reading only a few pages of it. Krohn also sent Der logische Empirismus to Bertrand Russell, who answered with a polite letter, saying that he found himself in broad agreement with Krohn's conclusions. Erik Ahlman supervised Krohn's doctoral thesis. With his brother Eino he edited Ahlman's book Ihmisen probleemi (1953, The problem of man); for decades, this introduction to philosophical anthropology was a textbook at the Jyväskylä Institute of Pedagogics (the University of Jyväskylä). In 1951, Krohn became a lecturer at the University of Helsinki. Although Krohn was never appointed professor there, he substituted for G. H. von Wright (1916-2003) in 1954, 1958, and 1960. When Krohn applied for the professorship of theoretical philosophy at the University of Helsinki, von Wright regarded Oiva Ketonen, a student of Eino Kaila, more qualified for the job; Ketonen was appointed Kaila's successor in 1951. Krohn also applied for the professorship in moral and social philosophy in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Eino Kaila and Oiva Ketonen submitted reports on the scholarly merits of the applicants. The Faculty declared all applicants (Sven Arne Runeberg, Sven Krohn, and Kaarle Laurentius Sorainen) to be unqualified for the post. Rafael Karlsten stated in his report, that Krohn presented the philosophy of Bertrand Russell "in a two-faced manner against logical empirism." When Jaakko Hintikka was appointed to the chair in 1959, Krohn had lost for the second time to a representantive from the analytic school. Before S. Albert Kivinen's (1931-1921) studies, parapsychological interests were largely treated with suspicion in academic circles. In 1953, Krohn participated the First International Utrecht Conference on Parapsychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. There he met Dr. Hans Bender, whose work at the Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene impressed him deeply. Efforts to investigate scientifically paranormal phenomena gave Krohn additional evidence that mechanistic-materialistic worldview was false. ". . . there exists, outside the sense modalities, genuine knowledge of individual facts beyond the limits of these modalities, such as a telepathic connection between two friends which did not cease with the death of one." ('Methodical Sensualism and Parapsychology' by Sven Krohn, in Proceedings of the First International Conference of Parapsychological Studies, introduction by Gardner Murphy, New York: Parapsychology Foundation, 1953, p. 119) – It has been claimed, that Hans Bender's most famous case, the Rosenheim poltergeist which he investigated in 1967, was an elaborate fake. From
1960, Krohn held the chair of philosophy at the
University of Turku, succeeding J. E. Salomaa. He was a respected,
well-liked teacher, and an exceptionally good conversationalist. The
philosopher Lauri Rauhala, Krohn's disciple, who visited him many times at his home,
recalled that there were always a couple of students sitting at their
dinner table. "He tarjosivat näille ehkä varattomille opiskelijoille
tilaisuuden saada tällaista konkreettista tukea taloudellisissa
vaikeuksissa. Tämä oli voimakas elämys, kun näin miten filosofia eli
Sven Krohnissa." ('Keskustelu Lauri Rauhalan kanssa' by
Tapio Koski, niin&näin,
Vol. 49, No. 2 Summer 2006, p. 24) During Krohn's tenure, phenomenologico-hermeneutical research dominated at the Faculty of Arts, but he was also interested in Marx's more ethically oriented early writings. Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), the founder of phenomenology, was the philosopher who had the greatest influence on his own thinking. Krohn's stand was that the phenomenological starting point is essential for all philosophical investigation. Differing from the majority of his colleagues, Krohn published several of his major works in the German language. Die normative Wertethik in ihren Beziehung zur Erkenntnis und zur Idee der Menschheit (1958) was not at all a self-help book, but it gave some advices, how to free our intuitive capacities. Krohn retired in 1970. His follower was Risto Hilpinen, an analytical philosopher. "Ihminen on kulttuurillaan jo nyt tuhonnut tahtoen ja tahtomattaan epälukuisen määrän hänen ympäristöönsä kuuluvia elimistöjen lajeja. Suunnitellessaan omaa tulevaisuuttaan tietämättä tarkalleen, mitä sivuvaikutuksia esiintyy hänen toteuttaessaan tavoitteitaan, hän levittää ympärilleen myrkyllistä saastaa ja kuolemaa, ja hän alkaa syvästi tajuta myös niitä tekijöitä itsessään, jotka hänen luonnon hallitsemiseksi kehitettyyn tekniikkaan liittyvinä uhkaavat häntä itsetuholla. Yksityinen ihminen saattaa usein kevytmielisen tietämättömänä keskellä hyvinvointiyhteiskuntaa valita itsemurhan. Samoin ihmiskuntaa kokonaisuudessaan näyttää uhkaavan tämänkaltainen itsetuho yhtenä niistä mahdollisuuksista, jotka tulevaisuuden näköalat sille paljastavat." (from 'Sfinksin arvoitus,' in Totuus, arvo ja ihminen by Sven Krohn, Porvoo: Werner Söderström, 1967, p. 43) Krohn's last major work was Ihminen, luonto ja logos
(1981),
in which he anticipated rising interest in metaphysics and
philosophical anthropology. In his retirement, Krohn also started to
discuss more freely about parapsychology. Krohn
believed in reincarnation and argued in the essay 'Jälleensyntymisen
oppi elämää ja kuolemaa, itää ja
länttä yhdistävänä' (Ydinihminen,
1989), that there is documented evidence that support the hypothesis of
rebirth memories. Astronautti (1987), Krohn's first collection of poems, was followed by other Newplatonic works, Planeetan uni (1992) and Vaellus maassa ja tähdissä (1996). A central theme through this trilogy, and especially in Planeetan uni, is that man, as a microcosm, is a picture of the macrocosm. Some of the poems Krohn had originally written for his essays or speeches. "On luonto olevaisen alkusyvyys / ja logos, järki, kauneus ja hyvyys / ja ihminen on vapaus ja tie." ('Sfinksin arvoitus,' in Totuus, arvo ja ihminen, p. 44) A selection
of lectures, speeches, and articles was collected in Etsin
ihmistä
(1996), Krohn's 12th book on philosophy. Due to his poor eyesight, the
book had an editor, who helped to organize and proofread the
material, and contributed (?) to the end an anynymous, imaginary
interview of the emeritus professor, entitled 'Kosketukseni parapsykologiaan' (My
encounter with parapsychology). Krohn emphasized that we are timeless beings whose existence
do not
begin at birth and end in death. The universe is governed by logos, but
the soul of man expresses itself as reason and love. In the essay
'Vieraantunut nykyihminen' (1970) Krohn warned of the dehumanizing
effects of modern value-free rationality and the concept of man as a
machine. The way out of the Sinnverlust (loss of meaning) is a radical
change of attitudes, placing spiritual values before material. In the 1990s, Krohn delivered several speeches dealing with spiritual growth and philosophy of life. Like Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the Austrian founder of anthroposophy, Krohn believed in spiritual beings who exist in higher planes. Sven Krohn died at home in Tampere on June 26, 1999. The first major evaluation of Krohn's work was made by Mikko Salmela in his dissertation about cultural philosophy in Finland, Suomalaisen kulttuurifilosofian vuosisata (1998). In 2004, four Krohn's books were included in an exhibition at the Helsinki University Library presenting Finnish philosophers in the world and world's philosophers in Finland. For further reading: Studia philosophica in honorem Sven Krohn, septuagesimum annum complentis 9.V.1973 (1973); Kohti elämän tarkoitusta: kahdenkymmenen tunnetun suomalaisen näkemys elämän ja maailman syvemmästä todellisuudesta, edited by Osmo Lahdenperä (1982); Suomalaisen kulttuurifilosofian vuosisata by Mikko Salmela (1998); 'In memoriam: Sven Krohn (1903-99)' by Ilkka Niiniluoto, in Ajatus, 56 (1999); 'Sven Krohn in memoriam' by Mikko Leinonen, in niin&näin, 3 (1999); 'Sven Krohn – terveen järjen puolustus,' in Päin nousevan Suomen rantaa: tutkijaprofiileja Turun yliopistosta by Timo Tarmio (2000); Ajatuksen kulku: suomalaiset filosofit maailmalla - maailman filosofit Suomessa = Tankens vägar: finländska filosofer i världen - världsfilosofer i Finland = Trains of thought: Finnish philosophers in the world - the world's philosophers in Finland, ed. by Inkeri Pitkäranta (2004); Tieteellinen ajattelu ja filosofian rikkaruohot: filosofian indentiteetistä suomalaisen filosofian ongelmana ja filosofiakäsitykset Eino Kailan ja Erik Ahlmanin tuotannossa by Mikko Leinonen (2008); 'Filosofi Sven Krohn ja ihmisyyden pitkä tie,' in Tien päällä ja taivaan alla: kirjoituksia etsijän polulta by Erkki Lehtiranta (2011) Selected works:
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