Åsa Burman

Philosopher.

About

Åsa Burman is Reader (Docent) in Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University, Sweden, and an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies. She is President of the International Social Ontology Society and a former editor of the Journal of Social Ontology. She holds a Ph.D. from Lund University in Sweden and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

Burman works in social ontology and is especially interested in social phenomena such as class, social structures, and social power. Her new book Nonideal Social Ontology: The Power View (OUP 2023) is about these phenomena and the differences between ideal and nonideal social ontology. She taught two summer courses, one in Neuchâtel and one in Budapest last summer, and helped to organize the Social Ontology 2023 conference in Stockholm.

How to pronounce my nameÅsa

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Recent Publications

Books

Nonideal Social Ontology

2023

Burman argues for the use of nonideal theory in social ontology, claiming that a paradigm shift from ideal to nonideal social ontology is underway, and that this shift should be fully followed through.

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Buy the book

The Doctoral Student Handbook

2018

The book provides you with academic productivity and stress management techniques to finish your dissertation on time and feel good along the way.

Recent Events

Summer Courses: Social Ontology

Summer 2023

During the summer, I was very happy to teach two summer courses in social ontology together with other philosophers. The first course was in Neuchatel, and the other was in Budapest.

Conference: Social Ontology 2023 in Stockholm

16th-19th of August, Stockholm

I was part of the organizing team for the international conference Social Ontology 2023, at Stockholm University. We had over 200 philosophers joining us during August.

Teaching: Past, Present, and Future

From 2004 and onwards

I began teaching philosophy during my Ph.D. and still very much enjoy it. I have been teaching courses ranging from logic, political philosophy, and ethics to the history of philosophy and social ontology. Nowadays, I work mainly with Ph.D. students.