Eino Kaila

Eino Kaila (1890-1958) was a Finnish philosopher, critic and teacher, linked to logical positivism and the scientific philosophy of his time. He also worked in psychology, physics and theatre, and sought unifying principles that could connect the human and natural sciences.

Born in Alajärvi, he was the son of a Protestant minister who later became an archbishop. He graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1910. In the 1920s he taught at the University of Turku, working on literary criticism and psychology, and he is said to have been the first to bring Gestalt psychology to Finland. In 1930 he became professor of theoretical philosophy at Helsinki. In the 1930s he was closely associated with the Vienna Circle.

His work combined the logical rigour of empiricism with a holistic, almost pantheistic longing for a comprehensive understanding of things. In psychology he took a naturalist approach, as his book Persoonallisuus (1934) shows, stressing the biological basis of mental life. In his final years he tried to build a unified philosophical theory in Terminalkausalität als die Grundlage eines unitarischen Naturbegriffs (1956), which met with little response outside Finland.

His influence endured in Finland. He founded the psychological laboratory at Helsinki and trained a generation of psychologists. His best-known student, Georg Henrik von Wright, later succeeded Wittgenstein at Cambridge. His legacy is also marked by the political tensions of his relationships during and after the war.