"Knowledge matters - it matters if we are to achieve our goals, individually or communally, and it matters to a well functioning democracy."
Åsa Wikforss is Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at Stockholm University, and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Building on her innovative work in the intersectional space between philosophy of mind, language, and epistemology, she published her book Alternative Facts in 2017 to nationwide acclaim in Sweden. The book stems from Asa's belief that a sound basis for knowledge is essential to the functioning of democracy, and equips citizens with the tools to resist propaganda, fake news, and conspiracy theories in a post-truth world.
Asa frequently participates in public debate in Sweden, in print as well as on television and radio, with over a hundred public appearances in 2018 alone. In 2019 Asa was elected to be one of the eighteen members of the Swedish Academy, the highest authority on the Swedish language and the group that chooses the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Literature.