Esa Saarinen
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Esa Saarinen (born July 27, 1953 in Hyvinkää, Finland) is a Finnish philosopher who is currently on a five-year appointment as professor of systems sciences at the Systems Analysis Laboratory of the Helsinki University of Technology, teaching applied philosophy, systems intelligence and creative problem solving.
Saarinen completed his Ph.D. degree in 1978 at the University of Helsinki, where he has since held docentship. His extrovert public persona - he became known as the punk doctor - was reflected in his lectures at the university, which drew increasingly large audiences until the late 1990s.
Saarinen's philosophical interests have changed dramatically, from early writings in formal logic, to concerns with existentialism and later to media philosophy. 1984 saw the publication of Saarinen's most well-known work, Imagologies: Media Philosophy, written jointly with American philosopher Mark C. Taylor. The collage of writings was based on a joint course they ran simultaneously in Finland and USA via conference telecasting - one of the first ever in university education.
Since the turn of the century Saarinen's academic lecturing has centered at the Helsinki University of Technology, but he has also continued his business as a coach for Finnish companies and organisations, promoting a doctrine of self-actualization. Saarinen is a frequent guest TV on Finnish talk shows.
Saarinen is married to Pipsa Pallasvesa and has twin boys, Jerome and Oliver, born in 1989.
One of Esa Saarinen's most notable and famous students and colleagues is the philosopher Pekka Himanen.
