Harald Ofstad(1920-1994)

Harald Ofstad, born 1920 in Bergen, dead 1994, was a Norwegian moral philosopher. He was Professor in Applied Philosophy at Stockholm University for more than 30 years. Ofstad's interest in philosophy arose out of his encounter with Nazism during World War II, when Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany. He interpreted Nazism as a manifestation of the human tendency to feel contempt for weakness, a viewpoint which he developed in his 1971 book "Vår forakt for svakhet" (Our Contempt for Weakness). Like many of his generation, influenced by American social scientists and such thinkers as Theodor W. Adorno, he sought the origins of authoritarianism and nationalism. Harald Ofstad was a prominent guest in a large number of talk-shows and debate forums. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Knight of the Swedish Order of the Polar Star (Nordstjärneorden).