Arto Haapalala (born 1959) is a Finnish philosopher, aesthetician and Professor of Aesthetics at the Institute for Art Research at Helsinki University, Finland. Haapala recieved his PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London in 1985. University of Helsinki is not to be confused with Helsinki University of Technology. ... Birkbeck Birkbeck (sometimes still called Birkbeck College) is a College of the University of London. ... The University of London is a federation of colleges and institutes which together constitute one of the worlds largest universities. ...

In addition to aesthetics, Haapala also specialises in hermeneutics, especailly the philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger. Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher best known for his 1960 magnum opus, Truth and Method (Wahrheit und Methode). ... Martin Heidegger (September 26, 1889 – May 26, 1976), German philosopher, attempted to reorient Western philosophy away from metaphysical and epistemological and toward ontological questions, that is, questions concerning the meaning of being, or what it means to be. Heidegger also challenged the idea of phenomenology as defined by his teacher...

A selection of Haapala's writings in English

• Emotion, the role of experience and fiction. International Yearbook of Aesthetics. 1 (1996), pp. 27-37.
• Artistic creativity: Skills and style. Selected papers of the 15th International Congress of Aesthetics. Edited by Kiyokazu Nishimura, Ken-ichi Iwaki, Tanehisa Otabe, Ken-ichi Sasaki, and Eski Tsugami, pp. 87-96.
• Aesthetics in the Human Environment. Edited by Arto Haapala and Pauline von Bonsdorff. Taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos, Helsinki, 1999.
• Aesthetic experience and the ethical dimension: Essays on moral problems in aesthetics. Edited by Arto Haapala and Oiva Kuisma. Taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos, Helsinki, 1999.
• Truth, game and art: Heidegger and Gadamer on the ontology of the work of art. Festskrift till Johan Wrede 18.10.1995. Taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos, Helsinki, 1995.