Esa Saarinen

Esa Jouni Olavi Saarinen, born on July 27, 1953, in Hyvinkää, Finland, is a Finnish philosopher. He served as a professor of applied philosophy at Aalto University and was the co-director of the Systems Intelligence Research Group until his retirement in 2021. Saarinen earned his PhD from the University of Helsinki in 1978 and has maintained a docentship there. He gained public recognition for his engaging lectures, earning the nickname “punk doctor.” After an unsuccessful bid for a full-time professorship at the University of Helsinki, he moved to the Helsinki University of Technology, which later became Aalto University. Saarinen's philosophical focus shifted significantly throughout his career, moving from formal logic to existentialism and subsequently to media philosophy. His notable non-academic work includes "Imagologies: Media Philosophy," co-authored with Mark C. Taylor. Alongside his academic pursuits, he has coached Finnish companies and organizations, advocating for self-actualization. He is married to Pipsa Pallasvesa and has two sons. One of his former students is philosopher Pekka Himanen. In March 2014, Saarinen was injured in a stabbing incident by a student but recovered.