Timo Koistinen is PI and team leader of WP2. He is a Senior University Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion and holds the Title of Docent in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Helsinki. His interests include questions concerning the nature and method of philosophy, the relationship between philosophy and theology, theological realism and anti-realism, the problem of evil, and Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion. He is currently co-editing a collection of articles on animal theology and philosophy. Koistinen served as the project leader for "Philosophy of Religion and Methods of Philosophy," funded by the University of Helsinki. He was a member of the project “Modern Philosophy of Religion,” led by Prof. Simo Knuuttila, funded by Research Council of Finland. Koistinen is the author of Philosophy of Religion or Religious Philosophy? A Critical Study of Contemporary Anglo-American Approaches and co-editor of Perspectives in Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. He is author and/or editor of several Finnish books and articles on philosophy of religion. He has published articles in such journals as Studia Theologica and Neue Zeitschrift für systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie.
Profile to be updated in 2026
Profile to be updated in 2026
Tero Massa is a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, where he is preparing a dissertation on Rush Rhees’s (1905-1989) philosophy of religion. His research interests focus especially on dialogical and contemplative approaches to philosophy and religion. Massa has published three peer-reviewed research articles about Rhees’s philosophy, the latest exploring Rhees’s philosophy of death.
His PhD research will contribute to MePhiS by exploring themes central to meliorist philosophy of suffering: how philosophy itself and suffering can be understood to coalesce and how philosophical discussion can support the meaning of life amid suffering.
In addition to his doctoral work, Massa has extensive experience of international cooperation with non-governmental organizations, academies and churches especially in Asia. He is also an organization consultant (FINOD) and a work counsellor (STOry).
Kasperi Tervonen's research interests lie at the intersections of philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and theology. He is particularly interested in topics such as free will, consciousness, self, suffering, and moral responsibility.
Tervonen's dissertation examines free will skepticism — the view that we may not be as in control of our lives as we like to think — exploring what follows from taking that idea seriously. Rather than seeing this as a bleak conclusion, he argues it can actually open up more honest and compassionate ways of thinking about human responsibility and treating fellow human beings. The goal is work that is academically rigorous as well as meaningful and approachable beyond the academia.