Doc. Niklas Forsberg, PhD

Head of Research

E-mail: Niklas.Forsberg@upce.cz 

Location: 06 023, building G

 

Research Interests
Philosophy and Literature, Philosophy of Language, Iris Murdoch, Ludwig Wittgenstein, J. L. Austin, Philosophical Methodology, Ordinary Language Philosophy, Conceptual Change, Philosophy of Love, Søren Kierkegaard, Philosophy and Film, Moral Perfectionism, Stanley Cavell 

Forsberg’s areas of expertise are placed where logic and metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics intersect. Central themes of Forsberg’ research are questions about what carries philosophical conviction and of how our most fundamental beliefs are to be reconsidered or even expressed and elucidated.

Forsberg is Docent in Theoretical Philosophy at Uppsala University, and a Docent in Philosophy at the University of Helsinki. Former positions include Erik Allardt Research Fellow, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (HCAS), September 2016 – May 2017; Researcher at Åbo Academy University (2009-2010), and Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the University of Chicago (2012-2013).

 

Education and Degrees (Academic)
1.    Docent (Associate Professor) in Philosophy, The University of Helsinki (2016).
2.    Docent (Associate Professor) in Theoretical Philosophy, Uppsala University (2013).
3.    PhD in Theoretical Philosophy. Uppsala University (2005).
4.    Master of Arts, Uppsala University (1999).
 

Publications

Books (Monographs)

  1. Lectures on a Philosophy Less Ordinary: Language and Morality in J. L. Austin’s Philosophy (New York: Routledge, 2022).
  2. Language Lost and Found: On Iris Murdoch and the Limits of Philosophical Discourse (New York: Bloomsbury 2013 [paperback 2015]).
  3. Philosophy, Literature and the Inheritance of Language (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 2004).

 

Books (Anthologies)

  1. The Dissident: Six Readings of “The Power of the Powerless” by Václav Havel, special issue of Filosofický časopis, eds. Niklas Forsberg and Ulrika Björk (Prague: Filosofický ústav Akademie věd České republiky, 2021).
  2. Language, Ethics and Animal Life: Wittgenstein and Beyond, red. Niklas Forsberg, Mikel Burley and Nora Hämäläinen (New York: Bloomsbury, 2012 [paperback 2014]).
  3. Making a Difference: Rethinking Humanism and the Humanities, red. Niklas Forsberg & Susanne Jansson (Stockholm: Thales, 2011).
  4. Acknowledging Stanley Cavell, with commentaries by Stanley Cavell, red. Niklas Forsberg & Susanne Jansson (Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies 56, 2009).
  5. Tankar tillägnade Sören Stenlund, red. Niklas Forsberg, Sharon Rider och Pär Segerdahl (Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies 54, 2008).

 

Articles

Scientific Articles (Peer-reviewed)

  1. “The Concept Forming Words We Utter: Extremism and the Formation of a Political ‘We’,” (forthcoming) in Ethical Inquiries After Wittgenstein and Ethics, eds. Nora Hämäläinen, Ondrej Beran and Salla Peltonen (New York: Springer, 2022).
  2. “Two Historical Periods in One Human Breast,” (forthcoming) in Moral Change, eds. Nora Hämäläinen and Cecilie Erikssen (New York: Berghahn Books, 2022).
  3. “Thinking, Language, and Concepts,” (forthcoming) in The Murdochian Mind, eds. Silvia Caprioglio Panizza and Mark Hopwood (London: Routledge, 2022).
  4. “Among the Onions and Carrots: The ‘Dissident’ and the Countersignature of Post-Totalitarianism,” in The Dissident: Six Readings of “The Power of the Powerless” by Václav Havel, special issue of Filosofický časopis, eds. Niklas Forsberg and Ulrika Björk (Prague: Filosofický ústav Akademie věd České republiky, 2021).
  5. “Att filosofera genom livets alla skikt” [”To Philosophize Through all Registers of Life]”, in Filosofisk tidskrift, 2:42, 2021.
  6. “Unintentional Investigations: Truth in drama and ‘all that ‘ordinary’ in the phrase ‘ordinary language philosophy’ means,” Policy Futures in Education, November 2020.
  7. “The Freedom that Comes with Love,” in Love, Justice, Autonomy, eds. Rachel Fedock, Michel Kühler, and Raja Rosenhagen (London: Routledge, 2020).
  8. “Perception and Prejudice: Perception and Prejudice: Attention and Moral Progress in Iris Murdoch’s Philosophy and C. S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed,” in Partial Answers, 18/2, 2020, 259–279.
  9. “Unity and Art in a Mood of Scepticism,” in Reading Iris Murdoch’s Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, eds. Nora Hämäläinen and Gillian Dooley (Palgrave MacMillan, 2019).
  10. “Philosophy, Literature and the Burden of Theory: Reflections on Toril Moi’s Revolution of the Ordinary: Literary Studies after Wittgenstein, Austin and Cavell” (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017),” Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal, New School for Social Research, Volume 39, Number 2, 2019.
  11. “Inheriting Wittgenstein: James Conant in Conversation with Niklas Forsberg, Part 2,” Nordic Wittgenstein Review 7(2), 2018.
  12. “Narrativity in Variation: On Merleau-Ponty and Murdoch Literary and Philosophical Narratives,” Palgrave Macmillan Handbook of Philosophy and Literature, eds. Michael Mack and Barry Stocker (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018).
  13. “Taking the Linguistic Method Seriously: On Iris Murdoch on Language and Linguistic Philosophy,” Murdoch on Truth and Love, ed. Gary Browning (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2018).
  14. “Carver, Cavell and the Uncanniness of the Ordinary,” New Literary History, Volume 49, No. 1, 2018.
  15. “Review of Wittgenstein’s Moral Thought, edited by Reshef Agam-Segal and Edmund Dain (New York: Routledge, 2018),” Philosophical Investigations, 2018.
  16. “M and D and Me: Iris Murdoch and Stanley Cavell on Perfectionism and Self-Transformation,” Iride. Journal of Philosophy and Public Debate (2017:2).
  17. “Thinking about a Word – Love, for Example,” Metaphilosophy, Vol. 48, Nos. 1–2, January 2017.
  18. “&c.: On Linguistic Regularity, Normativity and Language Acquisition,” A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education: Pedagogical Investigations, red. Michael A. Peters & Jeff Stickney (Springer, 2017).
  19. “Iris Murdoch on Love,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Love, red. Cristopher Grau & Aaron Smuts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
  20. “From Self-Reliance to that which Relies: Emerson and Critique as Self-Criticism,” Educational Philosophy and Theory Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51:5, 498-507, 2017.
  21. “Where’s the Disagreement? J. L. Austin and A. J. Ayer on the Significance of the Ordinary,”  Language and Communication, 49, 2016.
  22. Review of Action, Decision-Making and Forms of Life, red. Padilla Gálvez, Jesús, in Notre Dame Philosophical Review (NDPR), (2016).
  23. “The Grammar of Pain,” Sats: Northern European Journal of Philosophy, Volume 16, Issue 2, 2015.
  24. “A New Conception of Original Sin?” The Heythrop Journal, vol. 56, issue 2, 2015.
  25. “The Categorical and the Everyday: On Coetzee, Murdoch and Cavell and the Presence of Philosophy in Novels,” Philosophy and Literature, Volume 39, No. 1A, September 2015.
  26. “From Positivist Rabbi to Resolute Reader. James Conant in Conversation with Niklas Forsberg, Part 1,” Nordic Wittgenstein Review, 2 (2013).
  27. “R. G. Collingwood on Philosophical and Literary Language,” Collingwood and British Idealism Studies, Vol. 18, No, 1, 2012.
  28. “Knowing and Not Knowing What a Human Being Is,” SATS: Northern European Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 12, 1/ 2011.
  29. “Dogma: Vi är alla stygga barn”, Norsk filosofisk tidsskrift, vol. 44, nr 3–4, 2009.
  30. “Smärtans grammatik” in Att tänka smärtan, ed. Marcia Sá Cavalcante Schuback and Hans Ruin (Södertörn: Södertörn Philosophical Studies, 2009)

 

Scientific Articles (not Peer-reviewed)

  1. “Editorial: Resounding the Powerless,” in The Dissident: Six Readings of “The Power of the Powerless” by Václav Havel, special issue of Filosofický časopis, eds. Niklas Forsberg and Ulrika Björk (Prague: Filosofický ústav Akademie věd České republiky, 2021
  2. “Review of Three Chapters on Iris Murdoch,” with Nora Hämäläinen, in Iris Murdoch Review, No. 8 (2017).
  3. Recension av Stiglöshet, Göran Torrkulla, Kate Larson och Babis Carabeidis (Lejd Essä, 2015), Nya Argus, No. 4, 2015.
  4. “Different Forms of Forms of Life: A Philosophical Introduction,” in Language, Ethics and Animal Life: Wittgenstein and Beyond, edited by Niklas Forsberg, Mikel Burley and Nora Hämäläinen (New York: Bloomsbury, 2012)
  5. “A Philosophy Less Ordinary,” pp. 123—146 in Acknowledging Stanley Cavell, red. Niklas Forsberg and Susanne Jansson, including a commentary by Stanley Cavell (Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies 56, 2009).
  6. “Filosofins ordblindhet eller Dyslexin som filosofins början” pp. 261—285 in Tankar tillägnade Sören Stenlund, eds. Niklas Forsberg, Sharon Rider and Pär Segerdahl (Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies 54, 2008)
  7. “Den ensamma tankens tyngd. Ensamhet och språklig gemenskap” pp. 187—208 i Den moderna ensamheten, red. Sharon Rider och Maria Karlsson (Stockholm: Symposion, 2006).
  8. “A Philosophy Less Ordinary,” Acknowledging Stanley Cavell, red. Niklas Forsberg and Susanne Jansson, including a commentary by Stanley Cavell (Uppsala: Uppsala Philosophical Studies 56, 2009).

 

Publications Aimed for a Wider Audience

  1. “The Uncanniness of the Ordinary,” Aeon Magazine, aeon.co/magazine (forthcoming), July 2022.
  2. “Quick Fixes and Slow Cures | Centre for Ethics,” Blog post, https://centreforethics.upce.cz/en/quick-fixes-and-slow-cures.
  3. ”Ledare”, i Ikaros: Tidskrift om människan och vetenskap, 1-2/2016.
  4. ”Ledare”, i Ikaros: Tidskrift om människan och vetenskap, 3/2015.
  5. ”Otillgänglighetens rot i den förlorade frågan om relevans” i Ikaros: Tidskrift om människan och vetenskap, 4/2015.  
  6. “Universitetets långsamma död”, i Ikaros: Tidskrift om människan och vetenskap, 3/2015. Translation of Terry Eagleton’s “The Slow Death of the University, originally published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 6 2015.
  7. ”Ledare”, i Ikaros: Tidskrift om människan och vetenskap, 3/2015.
  8. “Högerpolitisk språkpolis och den delade socialdemokratin” (Recension Aron Etzler, Reinfeldteffekten. Hur Nya Moderaterna tog makten i Sverige och skakade Socialdemokratin i grunden, Karneval förlag, 2013, Ny Tid, 23/2014.
  9. ”Cavell och filmens utmaning till filosofin”, Ny Tid 35/2011
  10. ”Nytta, makt och Sven-Eric Liedman”, Ny Tid 22/2011
  11. “Ondskan banaliserad”, Ny Tid 46/2010.
  12. ”Den ofrivillige turisten och vansinnets habitat” Ny Tid, 17/2010.
  13. ”Moralen som en inre motsättning,” recension av Hannes Nykänen’s Samvetet och det Goda, i Ny tid 5/2010
  14. ”Svar till Hannes Nykänen”, Ny Tid 10/2010
  15. ”Lyotard och det postmoderna tillståndet” Ny Tid 51-52/2009.
  16. ”Att fånga det väsentliga genom att inte ringa in”, Ny Tid 46/2009.
  17. ”Kan man vara vän med en krokodil?” Ny Tid 36/2009
  18. ”Två vägar åt vänster?”, Ny Tid, 07.05.2009.
  19. “Filosofins tillstånd i Sverige idag”, i Ikaros, 1/2006, Åbo, Finland.

 

Podcasts

  1. CORA DIAMOND and JAMES CONANT (Hosted by Niklas Forsberg) - Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, http://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/1044706-niklas-forsberg-talks-with-cora-diamond-and-james-conant.
  2. ANNA BERGQVIST (Hosted by Niklas Forsberg) - Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, forthcoming, May 2020. https://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/4001186-anna-bergqvist-hosted-by-niklas-forsberg
  3. RAIMOND GAITA (Hosted by Niklas Forsberg and Kamilla Pacovská) - Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, June 2020. https://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/4537040-raimond-gaita-hosted-by-kamila-pacovska-and-niklas-forsberg.
  4. PHILOSPHY AT THE CENTRE - Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, November 2020. (In this episode, the Centre for Ethics as Study in Human Value senior researchers Niklas Forsberg, Kamila Pacovská, Nora Hämäläinen, and Ondřej Beran share their thoughts on what makes the Centre for Ethics special, what philosophy is like at the Centre, what their personal academic influences are, and what they are personally working on. https://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/6420595-philosophy-at-the-centre.)
  5. PHD AT THE CENTRE - Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, November 2020. (In this episode, senior researcher Niklas Forsberg hosts eight of the Centre for Ethics' PhD students to discuss what doing a PhD at the Centre for Ethics is like, what makes the Centre special, what the various cultural backgrounds bring to the discussion, the nature of philosophical thinking and practical applications of academic philosophy etc. https://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/6441046-phd-at-the-centre.)
  6. ON VERNER HERZOG, DOCUMENTARY AND TRUTH IN FILM Philosophy Voiced, Centre for Ethics Podcast, November 2020. (In this episode, senior researcher Niklas Forsberg hosts a conversation with Hugo strandberg (Centre for Ethics), and Antony Fredriksson (Centre for Ethics), on philosophical aspects on Truth in Film and the notion of a documentary, in relation to the works of Verner Herzog. https://www.buzzsprout.com/231047/7720102-philosophy-of-werner-herzog-with-niklas-forsberg-antony-fredriksson-and-hugo-strandberg.)

 

Key Note Addresses & Invited Talks

  1. Invited speaker at Vardagsspråkfilosofi och skönlitteratur (Ordinary Langauge Philosophy and Literature), 26-28 oktober 2020.
  2. Invited Speaker at 43rd International Wittgenstein Symposium 2020, Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, August 9–15, 2020 (postponed to 2022, due to Corona).
  3. Invited speaker at The Modalities of the Good, Czech Academy of Science, August 2019 (postponed to 2022, due to Corona).
  4. Invited Speaker at The XIV Prague Interpretation Colloquium: Fiction and Pretense, April 8—10, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.
  5. Invited Speaker at Animal Minds and Ethics, University of Hertfordshire, UK, April 23—25, 2019.
  6. Keynote speaker at Winter PhD seminar with Niklas Forsberg: “Iris Murdoch, Moral Perception and Virtue Ethics,” University of Genoa, DAFIST, Philosophy Section - Aretai Center on Virtues, Genoa, January 28-29, 2019.
  7. Invited Lecture at Engaging Vulnerability, Uppsala University, “Moral (im-)perfectionism,” November 16, 2018.
  8. Invited Lecture at the Department of Philosophy, Olomouc, Czech Republic, April 25, 2018. “What is the Point of Talking about Performatives?”
  9. Invited Speaker at The XIII Prague Interpretation Colloquium: Fiction and Pretense, 23–25, 2018, Prague Czech Republic. Talk presented: “Try Walking in My Shoes: On the Limitations of Empathetic Readings of Literature.”
  10. Invited speaker at the workshop: Moral Perception in Iris Murdoch, University of Oxford, April 28, 2018. Talk presented: “Perception and Prejudice.”
  11. Invited speaker at the workshop: Inner/Outer, Södertörn University, Stockholm, August 21—22, 2017. Talk presented: “Thinking about Other Minds.”
  12. Keynote speaker at the conference What’s Wrong (and What’s Right) with Ordinary Language Philosophy? May 5—6, 2017, Åbo Akademi, Finland. Talk presented: “In Pursuit of the First Word and the Ethics as Speech, or, There Is No Ordinary Ordinary Language Philosophy, and that is what’s so good about it, I mean ‘it’.”
  13. Invited speaker at VitForum (Vitenskapsteoretisk forum [Forum for Theory of Science”]) NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, January 31, 2017.
  14. Keynote speaker at Literature, Philosophy, Ethics: The 2016 PAL (Philosophy, Art, Literature) Young Scholars Workshop, Duke University, USA. February 2016. Talk presented: “Carver, Cavell, and the Uncanniness of the Ordinary.”
  15. Invited speaker at the conference: Why Murdoch Matters: Truth and Love, at Oxford 13-14th November 2015. Talk presented: “Taking the Linguistic Method Seriously.”
  16. Invited speaker at the workshop Love’s Passion: Philosophical Perspectives on Love, The Department of Philosophy, the University of Hertfordshire, UK. September 2014. Talk presented: “Thinking about a Word: Love for Example.”
  17. Invited speaker at the workshop Wittgenstein and Philosophical Authorship, the University of Helsinki, October 3-4, 2008. Talk presented: “The Indirect Communication of What?”
  18. Invited speaker, “Philosophy and / or / as literature,” Philosophical Association, Uppsala University, February 2006). Talk presented: “Richard Rorty on Literature.”
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