Bengt Brülde

Associate Professor in Practical Philosophy

I work as an Associate Professor in Practical Philosophy at Göteborg University, Sweden, and as an Associate Professor in Philosophy at University West, Sweden. My current research projects include a book on the ethics of happiness and suffering, and articles about work ability, the goals of public health, the ethics of forensic psychiatry, and the ethics of enhancement (especially mood enhancement). The areas of research on which I have previously focused include quality of life (well-being), the concepts of health and disorder, philosophy of psychiatry, bioethics, and business ethics.

Academic history

I was an undergraduate student at Gothenburg University (GU) between 1979 and 1986, and I got my BA in 1982. Besides philosophy (7 semesters full-time study), I studied a variety of other subjects, including history (1 semester), literature (2), psychology (2), and physiotherapy (3). My graduate studies also took place at GU, where I got my Fil. Lic. degree in practical philosophy in 1992, and my Ph.D. in 1998. The title of my dissertation is The Human Good, and it deals with different theories of well-being. I was a visiting Fulbright scholar at Columbia University, New York, during the academic year 1992-93, and I did a "post-doc" at University of Toronto, Canada, during the academic year 1999-2000.

Teaching experience, appointments etc.

I got my first teaching job at the Department of Philosophy, Gothenburg University, in 1982, and with a few minor interruptions, I've been teaching here ever since (mostly as a substitute associate professor). The number of teaching hours I have done over the years is approximately 3700. I worked as a high school teacher in 1986-1987, and as a guest teacher at the Department of Philosophy, Uppsala University, in 1997. The subjects on which I have thought include the good life, the meaning of life, introductory courses in practical philosophy, basic semantics, normative ethics, metaethics, the history of moral philosophy, medical ethics, Aristotle's ethics, aesthetics, theory of rationality, existentialism, modern theoretical philosophy, philosophy of social science, critical theory, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of medicine, and theory of value. I've also had a number of research positions at Gothenburg University, the most recent of which was connected to a large project on relativism (2002-2005). Since 2001 I've also been working as an associate professor at University West, formerly known as University Trollhättan/Uddevalla. The subjects on which I have thought there include philosophy of the social sciences, ethics, history of philosophy, and health promotion. I have also given a lot of lectures on a variety of topics and in a variety of contexts over the years, including weekly appearances on the Swedish national radio (roughly for the last seven years). I have also supervised students in philosophy, psychology, health promotion, cultural studies, and medicine.

Principal publications

My list of publications consists of approximately 30 titles, most of which are in Swedish. Here is a selection:

The Human Good (dissertation). Gothenburg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 1998.

Vad är hälsa? Några reflektioner kring hälsobegreppet (What is health? Some reflections of the concept of health). Gothenburg: Philosophy department, 1998.

Measuring quality of life – some philosophical comments (together with Helge Malmgren). Gothenburg: Philosophy department, 1998.

Hume och den instrumentella rationaliteten (Hume and instrumental rationality). Glänta nr 4/1999.

Vårdens mål (The goals of medicine). Gothenburg: Philosophy department, 1999.

Värde och tid (Value and time; together with Björn Haglund). Filosofisk tidskrift nr 2/2000.

On How to Define the Concept of Health: A Loose Comparative Approach. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 3: 305-308, 2000.

More on the looser comparative approach to defining "health": A reply to Nordenfelt's reply. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 3: 313-315, 2000.

Människans handlingsfrihet (On freedom of action). Presens nr 23/24, 2000.

The Goals of Medicine: Towards a Unified Theory. Health Care Analysis Vol 9: 1-13, 2001.

Moralfilosofi i vården – någonting att satsa på? (Moral philosophy in the health care system – something worth going for?) Stockholm: Landstingsförbundet, 2002.

Lindrat lidande som den palliativa vårdens huvudmål. (Reduced suffering as the major goal of palliative care.) In: Sandman L. and Woods S. (eds.), God palliativ vård – etiska och filosofiska aspekter. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2003.

Hälsa och sjukdom – en begreppslig utredning (Health and disease – a conceptual analysis; together with Per-Anders Tengland). Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2003.

Teorier om livskvalitet. (Theories of the quality of life.) Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2003.

Bättre och bättre dag fär dag? (Om den senaste lyckoforskningen.) Tidskriften 00-tal nr 14/15, 2003.

Hur ska vi få en rättvisare fördelning av hälso- och sjukvårdens resurser? Socialmedicinsk tidskrift nr 5/2003.

The Concept of Mental Disorder. Gothenburg: Philosophy department, 2003.

Om den psykoanalytiska behandlingens mål. (The goals of psychoanalysis.) Gothenburg: Philosophy department, 2003.

Happiness theories of the good life. In: Ursus Philosophicus. Essays dedicated to Bjärn Haglund on his sixtieth birthday. Gothenburg: Philosophy department, web-series, 2004: 1-32.

Långtidsfrisk eller långtidssjukskriven? Del I: översikt och bakgrund. Tänkbara förklaringar och förslag på åtgärder. Högskolan i Trollhättan/Uddevalla, Forskningsrapport 2005:2.

Realism, Relativism, Constructivism, and Natural Kinds. In: Westerståhl D. and Tännsjö T. (eds.). Lectures on Relativism. Preprints from the Relativism Conference, Gothenburg University, September 17-18, 2004.

What is Mental about Mental Disorder? (together with Filip Radovic). Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology, Vol. 13, no. 2, 2006.

Dysfunctions, disabilities and disordered minds. Our response to the commentaries (together with Filip Radovic). Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology, Vol. 13, no. 2, 2006.

Affärsetik (together with Lars Strannegård). Malmö: Liber, 2007.

Happiness and the good life. Introduction and conceptual framework. Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol. 8, No 1, 2007: 1-14.

Happiness theories of the good life. Journal of Happiness Studies, Vol. 8, No 1: 15-49

Accepted for publication

Mental Disorder and Values. Accepted for publication in Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology.

Art and science, facts and knowledge. Accepted for publication in Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology.

Lycka och lidande: Begrepp, metod, förklaring. Accepted for publication by Studentlitteratur, Lund.

Other things

Apart from having organized a national conference in philosophy and other "administrative experiences", I have been a referee for journals like Economics and Philosophy, Philosophical Quarterly, Theoria, Journal of Happiness Studies (on a large number of occasions), Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, and Social Science & Medicine. I have also been suggested as referee for Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. Since 2002, I'm also on the editorial board of Journal of Happiness Studies, and I've recently been working as a guest editor for the same journal, to put together a special issue on Happiness and the good life.

Contact

E-mail: bengt.brylde@phil.gu.se

Phone: +46 31 773 4571

Fax: +46 31 773 4945