Professor Knud Haakonssen FBA

History of moral, political & legal thought 1600-1800, especially natural law & rights; Enlightenment in Germany, Scandinavia & Scotland; scholarly editions of eighteenth century texts.

Elected 2012

Fellow type: UK Fellow
Year elected: 2012
Sections: Early Modern History to 1850
Website: http://knudhaakonssen.com/

Knud Haakonssen was Professor of Philosophy at Boston University 1995-2005 and held the Chair of Intellectual History at the University of Sussex 2005-2012. He has also taught in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark. In semi-retirement he is Professor of Intellectual History at the University of St. Andrews and a Fellow of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. He holds doctorates from the Universities of Copenhagen and Edinburgh and he is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. The main focus of his current work is the history of natural law and natural rights in the early-modern period. He co-directs a European project on this topic (https://www.uni-erfurt.de/projekte/natural-law-project/) and has published extensively in the field. Work on Enlightenment moral and political thought is ongoing, currently on Scottish, Danish and German material. A key feature of his work is the provision of critical editions of historical sources in intellectual history: http://www.euppublishing.com/series/EETR and http://www.libertyfund.org/search.aspx?dlCat=14

Current post

Professor of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews; Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Erfurt; Emeritus Professor of Intellectual History, University of Sussex

Past appointments

University of St Andrews Professor of Intellectual History

1970 -

University of Sussex Emeritus Professor of Intellectual History

1970 -

Other Foreign Institutions Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Erfurt

1970 -

Publications

Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754): Learning and Literature in the Nordic Enlightenment

Ed. Knud Haakonssen, Sebastian Olden-Jørgensen - Published in 2017 by Routledge

The Cambridge Companion to Adam Smith

Ed. Knud Haakonssen - Published in 2006 by Cambridge University Press

The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Philosophy

Ed. Knud Haakonssen - Published in 2008 by Cambridge University Press

Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Ed. Knud Haakonssen - Published in 1996 by Cambridge University Press

Natural Law and Moral Philosophy: From Grotius to the Scottish Enlightenment

Knud Haakonssen - Published in 1996 by Cambridge University Press

The Science of a Legislator: The Natural Jurisprudence of David Hume and Adam Smith

Knud Haakonssen - Published in 1989 by Cambridge University Press

Other Fellows of the British Academy

Professor Nicholas Jardine FBA

History of Science Early Modern History Philosophy of Science

Professor Michael Hunter FBA

Intellectual history of late 17th century Britain, especially the early Royal Society and the 'decline of magic'; editions of Robert Boyle and others; visual culture.

Professor Richard McCabe FBA

Early modern literature in its historical and intellectual contexts, especially poetry and drama; Edmund Spenser's engagement with Gaelic Ireland, the dynamics of Tudor and Jacobean patronage, the aesthetics of Renaissance tragedy.

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Professor Knud Haakonssen FBA

Current post

Professor of Intellectual History, University of St Andrews; Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Erfurt; Emeritus Professor of Intellectual History, University of Sussex

Past appointments

University of St Andrews Professor of Intellectual History

1970 -

University of Sussex Emeritus Professor of Intellectual History

1970 -

Other Foreign Institutions Fellow, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Erfurt

1970 -

Publications