Philosopher Mark Mäki died of a sudden illness at home in Oulu on December 23, 2023. He was 82 years old, born in Liedo on January 30, 1941.
Mäki graduated from Turku Classical Lyceum in 1959 and began studying mathematics at the University of Turku. Mathematics changed to philosophy and logic when Mäi moved to study and teach at the University of Tampere. The licentiate thesis completed in 1982 dealt with GWF Hegel.
Hegel's understanding philosophy and conveying ideas to students and the philosophy community was Mäki's almost lifelong mission and passion. He moved to Oulu and the University of Oulu as a lecturer in the early 1990s and collaborated with Hegel researchers from Oulu. At the beginning of the 21st century, he found a significant research object in Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Working as a university lecturer in the history of philosophy and logic postponed the writing of the dissertation from one year to the next. Mäki's unyielding thoroughness is well described by the dissertation Republican political philosophy as legal philosophy graduating in 2013 with excellent grades.
Hill was a left-wing committed critical thinker and social debater. He firmly defended the ideas of freedom, equality and fraternity of the Enlightenment, as well as the modern Nordic welfare state.
Mäki, chosen as lecturer of the year, encouraged and nurtured the opportunity for several thousand young philosophy students to learn to think independently for decades. Students learn to recognize a true philosopher by his ability to converse with very different people and about any burning question.
His educated way of asking Socratic questions and his ability to change the point of view could surprise the interlocutor. However, the purpose was always the same: to understand the issue as comprehensively as possible.
Mark practiced two quite dialogic sports for decades: table tennis and chess. In his hands, the technically demanding piano pieces of JS Bach were also able to bend. On the other hand, the vacuum cleaner was a foreign object to him, it sat needlessly in the middle of the living room for long periods of time. Along with his hobby of classical music, the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman were vital to Marku's soul care and understanding of the modern world.
Markku's personality was both serious and humorous. Privately, he brought up more than once that the marriage school has taught more about life than an educational library with several thousand volumes.
The article under work J.-J. Rousseau's thinking was left unfinished. It is comforting that Markku Mäki's work of building peace, civilization and social justice is continued by the thinkers who follow him.
Mark Salo
I met Laine
The authors are friends of Markku Mäki.
#Obituary #Markku #Mäki
