Background
Professor Aspelin was the son of the artist Karl Aspelin (1857–1932) and his wife Ellen Bergh. Professor Aspelin married in 1923 with Dagmar Scherstén, daughter of the physician Frithiof Scherstén and Ida Schröder.
Professor Aspelin was the son of the artist Karl Aspelin (1857–1932) and his wife Ellen Bergh. Professor Aspelin married in 1923 with Dagmar Scherstén, daughter of the physician Frithiof Scherstén and Ida Schröder.
Aspelin received his doctorate at Lund University in 1925 on the dissertation Hegels praktiska filosofi under åren 1800-1803 ("The practical philosophy of Hegel during the years 1800-1803"). The same year Aspelin became a docent in Practical Philosophy at Lund University. In his dissertation, as well as in following works, he had a marxist view of history.
In 1936 he was named a Professor at the University of Gothenburg, and in 1949 he became a Professor in Theoretical Philosophy at Lund University.
In 1953 he co-founded the Hans Larsson Society, and was its first chairman In 1968 Aspelin published his memoirs Lek och allvar ("Play and seriousness").
A common thread in Aspelin"s research was the relationship between the individual and the collective. He primarily focused on the philosophers Hans Larsson, John Locke, Karl Marx, Hegel, Bertrand Russel and Ralph Cudworth.
During his later years he became interest in the ideas of the medieval age, and also conducted research in the fields of history of ideas and sociology.
In 1958 he published the work Tankens vägar ("The paths of thought"), which is a survey of the history of philosophy in Europe.