Alastair Hannay

Robert Alastair Hannay (2 June 1932 – 8 December 2024) was a British-born Norwegian philosopher and academic who was a professor emeritus at the University of Oslo.

Life and career Hannay was born in Plymouth, England on 2 June 1932. He was educated in Edinburgh and London, where he studied under A. J. Ayer and Bernard Williams, and was a resident of Norway from 1961.

Hannay wrote extensively on the writings of Søren Kierkegaard. His book "The Public" (2004) as well as examining the roles of the 'public' as audience and political participant, brings several Kierkegaardian insights to bear on contemporary political life. Hannay wrote a novella (2020) and several pocket books on philosophical themes, as well as a memoir (2020). From 2006 to 2020, he was a member of the team translating Kierkegaard's complete journals and notebooks.

He was inducted into the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1991.

Hannay died in Horten, Vestfold, Norway on 8 December 2024, at the age of 92.