I am a University Researcher at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. I hold the Title of Docent in Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Helsinki, the title of Docent in Philosophy at the University of Jyväskylä and the title of Docent in Greek Philology at the University of Turku. I lead this project which is funded by the Kone Foundation in 2025-2028.
I am co-editing two books with Henrik Lagerlund, Aristotelian Induction and The Reception of Aristotelian Induction (under contract with Cambridge University Press), which re-evaluate the research methodology Aristotle and his followers developed and applied in their studies. These books, along with my research project Epistemic Priorities in Aristotle’s Thought at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, provide a solid methodological foundation for the present project on Aristotelian zoology.
In this project, my task is to support the team that translates Aristotle's zoological treatises into Finnish, and to participate in composing commentaries to the Finnish translations. In addition, I am writing a monograph on Aristotle's thought in Finnish. I am co-authoring with Erja Salmenkivi an article on textual issues in Aristotle's zoological works, and translate into Finnish and comment upon with Tua Korhonen the Academy of Turku dissertations De anima vivente brutorum (1704) and De anima bestiarum (1725), which are evidence of the reception of Aristotelian zoology in Finland.
M.A., Doctoral Researcher, Greek Language and Literature
Working periodically in this project between 2025 and 2027, my main task is to translate The History of Animals (Tōn peri ta zōia historiōn, 486a5–638b). I aim to provide Finnish-speaking audiences with a readable and well-contextualised version of Aristotle’s magnum opus, which initially laid the foundations for zoology, and shaped both cultural and scientific notions of animals for centuries.
My academic background is in classical philology (Greek), folklore, and animal studies. I have previously translated Greek drama and philosophy, eg. Porphyry’s On abstinence (Sielullisten vahingoittamista vastaan, Tutkijaliitto 2022). While animality – both human and non-human – has always been my principal area of interest, I remain convinced that a more thorough understanding of the historical & conceptual roots of how we relate to the living world today is sorely needed both within and outside academia.
PhD, Docent of Greek Literature, University of Helsinki
I work in this project from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2027. I will translate Aristotle's work On the Movement of Animals (De incessu animalium, 704a5–714b24) and write two research articles:
1) ”Observing Variety and Constructing Animality: ‘Animal’ in Aristotle’s Zoological Works”, which examines the formation of Aristotle's image of animals and the concept of "animality" in his zoological works;
2) ”Animal machine: Arguments against the Cartesian Notion of Animals at the Royal Academy of Turku during the 17th and 18th Centuries”, in which I examine neo-Aristotelian arguments to refute the Cartesian concept of animals; the research material for the article is mainly dissertations from the Academy of Turku (1640–1827).
The subject of my PhD thesis (2004) was the so-called Humanist Greek texts (cf. Neo-Latin), primarily from the 17th century, a period when the scientific paradigm was characterized by neo-Aristotelianism. I have edited and translated Humanist Greek texts for international publications and published a monograph on the subject in 2022. In addition to Humanist Greek, my research interests include the history of Greek philosophy and the human-animal relationship in antiquity, on which I have written several international articles and co-authored a book with Docent Erika Ruonakoski (London, 2017). Together with Docent Raija Mattila, I organized the first animal history course at the University of Helsinki in 2015.
PhD, Greek Language and Literature
I work in this project from March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2027. I will translate two of Aristotle's zoological works, On the Parts of Animals (De partibus animalium, 639a1–697b31) and On the Generation of Animals (De generatione animalium, 715a1–789b20). In addition, I will write a research article on textual issues that arise during the translation work together with Mika Perälä.
My background is in papyrology, and I defended my PhD thesis in 2002. My Cartonnage Papyri in Context is bipartite, the first part dealing with ancient recycling methods and the manufacture of so-called mummy cartonnages as well as German archaeological excavations of cartonnages in a village called Abu Sir al-Malaq. The second part comprises an edition of 20 previously unpublished Greek papyrus documents. As for zoology, I am an utter beginner, but I have always had a soft spot for philosophy, perhaps because I have had the privilege to have professional philosophers around me all my life.
DPhil, College Lecturer, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford
I am a (fixed-term) Lecturer in Philosophy at Merton College and a Lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 2023-24 I was a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. I graduated with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oxford in 2022.
My research focuses on Aristotle’s philosophy of action and agency, particularly his philosophy of nature and metaphysics. My dissertation (“Aristotle on Action and Agency”) examines Aristotle’s understanding of the nature of change and action, and how action and change are caused and explained. I argue that his philosophy constitutes a unique approach to the philosophy of action. Aristotle’s philosophy of action can be understood as a “bottom-up” approach: by observing the different agents around us, we can compare and thus understand the specific features of different forms of action, be they rational, animal, elemental, astronomical, or divine.
As a member of the project, I participate in writing commentaries to the Finnish translations together with others.