The 'Enciclopedia Filosofica' is an encyclopaedia of philosophical topics promoted by the Centre for Philosophical Studies of Gallarate and published, in its third and last edition in 2006, by the Bompiani publishing house in Milan. The first edition of the 'Enciclopedia Filosofica' was promoted by the Centre for Philosophical Studies of Gallarate in the 1950s, seeing the light in 1957-58. A second edition, published by the Sansoni publishing house in Florence, was published in 1968-69 and reprinted in 1979. The third (...) and last edition, published by Bompiani in 2006, is intended to cover the whole of philosophical knowledge and related disciplines with over ten thousand entries edited by about a thousand academics, both Italian and non-Italian, and distributed in twelve volumes for a total of 12,496 pages. (shrink)

Inspired by the literature on extended/scaffolded mind, a debate concerning the contribution of extra-bodily resources to our (extended) emotions is recently gaining traction. Within this debate, inspired by the literature on cognitive artifacts introduces the notion of “affective artifacts”, indicating those objects that exert persistent effects on our feelings, possibly altering our self. However, by focusing on feelings, this notion neglects other facets of emotional episodes. Following Scarnatino’s tripartition between feeling, appraisal, and motivational theories of emotion, I present three varieties (...) of affective artifacts: Feeling, Evaluative and Motivational Artifacts. (shrink)

Debates on situated affectivity have mainly focused on tools that exert some positive influence on affective experience. Far less attention has been paid to artifacts that interact with the expression of affect, or to those that exert some negative influence. To shed light on that shadowy corner of our affective social lives, I describe the workings of an atypical socio-affective artifact, namely, sunglasses. Drawing on insights from psychology and other social sciences, I construe sunglasses as a social shield that helps (...) us block spontaneous emotional expressions, as well as affecting other social processes that heavily depend on the eye region: gaze direction detection, identity recognition, and the sense of intimacy afforded by eye contact. (shrink)

In this paper, in the first place, I aim to enquire into Bernard Stiegler’s critical appropriation of his mentor Jacques Derrida’s notion of différance, emphasizing how Stiegler’s philosophy of technology stems from an original interpretation of the main tenets of deconstruction. From this perspective, I will investigate Stiegler’s definition of technology as tertiary retention, i.e., exosomatized, artificial memory interrelating with biological memory, testing its hermeneutic strengths as well as possible weaknesses. In the second place, I aim to contrast Stiegler’s understanding (...) of technology with the concept of multistability brought forward by postphenomenological philosophies of technology such as those elaborated by Don Ihde and Peter-Paul Verbeek. This investigation will enable me to submit that Stiegler’s approach represents a peculiar and innovative way to conceive of technology. On the one hand, indeed, it does not seem to fall prey to the criticisms raised by postphenomenology against traditional philosophies of technology such as Martin Heidegger’s or Jacques Ellul’s, deemed to be overly deterministic, abstract and pessimistic in their understanding of technology. On the other, it retains important methodological precautions from deconstruction, thereby pointing at some possible blind spots of postphenomenology, especially concerning the vexed question of the empirical-transcendental divide, which Stiegler aims to develop beyond both Derrida’s and postphenomenology’s stances. (shrink)

Munch-Jurisic’s book thoroughly describes several cases of severe distresses reported and expressed by perpetrators of tremendous acts such as mass murders. Arguing against a simplistic reading according to which these signs of distress are straightforward manifestations of some innate moral nature, and against the optimistic reading according to which they will lead to prosocial behaviors, Munch-Jursic offers compelling reasons to adopt a more complex theory of emotion. In this commentary, I aim to stress the implications of her book for the (...) debate on moral enhancement and for emotion theory in general. However, while I concur with Munch-Jurisic that emotion theory must make room for complexity and indeterminacy, I challenge her claim that motivational theories of emotion are ill-equipped to face the challenges she poses. (shrink)

In Beyond Nature Maurizi tackles the animal question from an unprecedented perspective: strongly criticizing the abstract moralism that has always characterized animal rights activism, the author proposes a historical-materialistic analysis of the relationship between humans and non-humans. By contrasting the thinking of Hegel, Marx and the Frankfurt School with classical authors in the field of animal rights (such as Singer, Regan, and Francione) this text offers an alternative, social and dialectical theory of animality and a different practical approach to the (...) problem of animal suffering. The hopes for change placed in veganism, liberationism and animal activism are here assumed in a political, revolutionary perspective, in which human and animal liberation finally cease to oppose each other. (shrink)

Communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as reduced access to material resources and increased exposure to adverse weather conditions, are intimately tied to a considerable amount of cultural and biological diversity on our planet. Much of that diversity is bound up in the social practices of Indigenous groups, which is why these practices have great long-term value. Yet, little attention has been given to them by philosophers. Also neglected have been the historical conditions and contemporary realities (...) that constrain these practices and devalue the knowledge of their practitioners. In this essay, we make the case for preserving a diverse range of social practices worldwide, and we argue that this is possible only by strengthening the communities of practitioners who enact them in the contexts in which they are adaptive. By concentrating on Indigenous communities, we show how focusing on practices can transform how Indigenous and other local communities are represented in global climate-change conversations and policy as a matter of justice. More specifically, we argue that practice-centered thinking and local practices provide critical insights for determining the extent to which climate policies protect and enable transformative change. (shrink)

In discussions on moral responsibility for actions, a commonly discussed case is one in which an agent is manipulated into performing some action. On some views, such agents lack responsibility for those actions partly because they issue from attitudes that were acquired in an inappropriate way. In this paper, it is argued that such views are in need of revision. After introducing a new problematic case of a manipulated agent, revisions are offered for specific views. The paper concludes with a (...) discussion of the views in a broader context, as well as some potential implications of the revisions. (shrink)

The paper argues that Frege’s primary foundational purpose concerning arithmetic was neither that of making natural numbers logical objects, nor that of making arithmetic a part of logic, but rather that of assigning to it an appropriate place in the architectonics of mathematics and knowledge, by immersing it in a theory of numbers of concepts and making truths about natural numbers, and/or knowledge of them transparent to reason without the medium of senses and intuition.

We reconstruct essential features of Lagrange’s theory of analytical functions by exhibiting its structure and basic assumptions, as well as its main shortcomings. We explain Lagrange’s notions of function and algebraic quantity, and we concentrate on power-series expansions, on the algorithm for derivative functions, and the remainder theorem—especially on the role this theorem has in solving geometric and mechanical problems. We thus aim to provide a better understanding of Enlightenment mathematics and to show that the foundations of mathematics did not, (...) for Lagrange, concern the solidity of its ultimate bases, but rather purity of method—the generality and internal organization of the discipline. (shrink)

The concept of »transcendental« is undoubtedly one of the most important terms in Kantian philosophy. For over one hundred and fifty years major Kantian scholars have debated its origin and set out various interpretations. The Kant-Forschung has recently established four different possible sources: 1) Schulmetaphysik 2) Ch. Wolff; 3) A. G. Baumgarten; 4) J. H. Lambert. The aim of this essay is to suggest a different origin and genesis of the Kantian concept of »transcendental« by the methodologies of Quellengeschichte and (...) Begriffsgeschichte, investigating the philosophical and historical background of Königsberg from the beginning of the seventeenth century to Kant and to show reasons for the shift of the concept of »transcendental« from metaphysics to logic. The doctrine of transcendentals was very much alive in Königsberg and already in Scholastic philosophers the »transcendentals« shifted its interest from being to the knowable, from ontology to logic. However, up to 1763, Kant accepts the Wolffian doctrine of transcendentals and the concept of »transcendental« is synonymous to »metaphysical«. In the second half of the Sixties, probably in the wake of the preparatory works to the Beweisgrund, Kant goes deeply into the interpretation of Baumgarten and the »transcendental« becomes synonymous with »essential« in opposition to »metaphysical«. In the wake of Crusius' reflections, instead, »transcendental« becomes »logical« in contrast with »metaphysical«. Beginning in the Seventies, in the preparatory fragments to the Kritik der reinen Vernunft, the »transcendental« establishes itself as a synonymous of »logical« and »essential« in opposition to »metaphysical« and »real«, and it concerns the object of knowledge in general without any reference to the experience. From this conception derives the concept of »transcendental« of the Kritik der reinen Vernunft as an examination of the condition of the possibility of an a priori knowledge. In the conclusion I argue that Kant did not deduce the doctrine of transcendentals from his logic, but that both doctrines are developed simultaneously and that Kant always tried to integrate them with each other. Fragments of the second half of the Seventies show a progressive attempt of this integration, which was doomed to fail. (shrink)

Uma reflexão filosófica sobre a fenomenologia representada pela magia e pelos poderes mentais extraordinários deveria envolver uma consideração sobre a história da filosofia, em particular sobre os filósofos que estavam familiarizados com o paranormal e que investigaram sobre ele. O presente trabalho propõe uma leitura sobre a investigação de Schopenhauer acerca dos fenômenos paranormais a qual envolve três aspectos: uma análise das estratégias argumentativas propostas por Schopenhauer; uma contextualização do tratamento dado por Schopenhauer à magia e ao espiritismo; uma tentativa (...) de interpretação desse tratamento como um vínculo entre a interpretação tradicional do paranormal e a nova abordagem científica através da pesquisa psíquica do final do século XIX. (shrink)

The aim of this comment is to discuss tentatively one way of understanding, for the study of legal phenomena, some of the implications of recognising the existence of peculiar entities which Celano calls pre-conventions. This comment speculates that, if Celano is right, then so-called paradigm cases of law lose some of their philosophical centrality. To study pre-conventions, one needs to collect accounts of situations in which relevant agents use criteria for identifying legal phenomena that only approximate valid sources of law. (...) To provide such accounts, the traditional informational focus of a philosophical analysis of law also needs, this comment further speculates, substantial broadening: if pre-conventions are in the body, then that is where we need to look if we want to study them. (shrink)

This paper proposes a new reading of Nicomachean Ethics I 2 1094a18-22 with a view to solving the problem that the argument this passage contains would be invalid because it apparently commits a quantifier shift to reach its conclusion. On the reading advocated in this paper, no fallacy is committed, and the argument is sound provided one reads the conclusion at 1094a21-22 in the way the manuscript Marcianus 213 invites us to do. Grammatical considerations are produced to shore up the (...) logical validity of the argument. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to relate the debate about the status of S4 and S5 as modal logics for metaphysical modality to the debate about the identity of propositions. The necessary truth of the characteristic axioms of S4 and S5 (when interpreted in terms of metaphysical modality) is derived from a view about the identity of propositions, the view that necessarily equivalent propositions are identical.

Belief Revision addresses the problem of rationally incorporating pieces of new information into an agent’s belief state. In the AGM paradigm, the most used framework in Belief Revision, primacy is given to the new information, which is fully incorporated into the agent’s belief state. However, in real situations, one may want to reject the new information or only accept a part of it. A constructive model called Selective Revision was proposed to meet this need but, as in the AGM framework, (...) focused on belief sets. In this paper we adapt the selective revision operators, that were proposed for belief sets, to the belief base context, obtaining a model in which an agent’s epistemic state is represented by a belief base and that allows the acceptance of only part of the new information. We present several representation theorems for selective base revision operators based on different base revision operators. (shrink)

This essay will discuss how the Theory of Communicative Action incorporates the systemic complexification process and the Systems and Life World duality. Part of this process will be carried out with the discussion of communicative action, as a space for dialogue between people seeking understanding. The process of new forms of understanding and construction of knowledge is possible through the integrative structure of the lifeworld, such as semantic dimension, social space, and historical time. However, there is the other side, the (...) Systems, where the manifestations of crisis and disturbances, the pathologies of society, which in cultural reproduction appear as a loss of meaning of culture, loss of legitimacy of society and in personality, there is a crisis of belonging. (shrink)

A questão fundamental dessa investigação será mostrar quais bases sustentam a ideia do poder soberano no interior do chamado Estado Moderno e como nele se manifesta a relação com seus membros. Para alcançar esse objetivo pretendemos inicialmente mostrar a busca destas bases que o pensamento de Jean-Jacques Rousseau persegue desde o Discurso sobre as ciências e as artes (1749), passando pelo Discurso sobre a Origem e os Fundamentos da Desigualdade entre os Homens (1755) até alcançar sua formulação mais completa em (...) Do Contrato Social (1762), considerado o estudo mais influente da vida intelectual do autor. Nesta última obra, a legitimidade do comportamento se torna necessária para organizar os integrantes da sociedade, tornando coeso o corpo político. Para isso, os cidadãos se submetem a uma lei inviolável, a qual será validada pelos próprios membros do Estado. Portanto, delegam seu poder particular em direção à vontade geral, sendo cada homem considerado parte do poder soberano do Estado. (shrink)

Over the last few decades climate change has been gaining importance in international scientific and political debates. However, the social sciences, especially in Latin America, have only lately become interested in the subject and their approach is still vague. Scientific understanding of global environmental change and the process of designing public policies to face them are characterized by their complexity as well as by epistemic and normative uncertainties. This makes it necessary to problematize the way in which research efforts understand (...) ‘the social’ of climate change. How do ‘the climate’ and ‘the social’ interpenetrate as scientific objects? What does the resulting field look like? Is the combination capable of promoting reflexivity and collaboration on the issue, or does it merely become dispersed with diffuse boundaries? Our paper seeks to answer these and other related questions using Chile as a case study and examining peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic. By combining in-depth qualitative content analysis of each paper with a statistical meta-analysis, we were able to: characterize the key content and forms of such literature; identify divisions and patterns within it; and, discuss some factors and trends that may help explain these. We conclude that the literature displays two competing trends: while it is inclined to become fragmented beyond the scope of the ‘mitigation’ black box, it also tends to cluster along the lines of methodological distinctions traditionally contested within the social sciences. This, in turn, highlights the persistence of disciplinary divisions within an allegedly interdisciplinary field. (shrink)

There are many cases in which the “direction” of architecture seems to be indifferent to the architect who designs it. Among these, the Guggenheim Museum in New York by Frank Lloyd Wright is highly emblematic: through the long and troubled project’s phases it shows a surprising “reversibility”, horizontal and vertical. In most cases, however, the “direction” of architecture is determined by factors which are situated outside of it, as are existing buildings, or the circumstances of the site and the factors (...) of exposure, lighting and ventilation. In this sense, architecture not only reveals the existence of differences but it builds them, becoming itself a system of differences. (shrink)

Tanto frente al avance de los medios electrónicos y las teletransmisiones del siglo XX como frente a la digitalización cibernética del siglo XXI, los diversos campos epistémicos se han encargado de problematizar la relación entre lo perceptivo, lo estético (espacio-tiempo) y los cambios tecnológicos que imponen nuevas prácticas intersubjetivas, comportamientos y modos de subjetivación. En muchos autores surge el uso de un concepto puntual: el sensorium. Ya sea que se proponga un enfoque cultural o una perspectiva específicamente gnoseológica, suele repetirse (...) una referencia de dicha categoría en relación con los cambios de la velocidad y la aceleración de las imágenes, los textos y las comunicaciones; primero en la era de la electrónica analógica y luego en la época digital. El objetivo de este trabajo es exponer una breve sistematización del concepto de sensorium en vistas de una posible definición en tanto unidad de análisis estético-política. Dicha categoría permite, por un lado, pensar la disciplina Estética como pensamiento político; y por el otro, pensar lo político en clave estética. Para ello el texto repasa los diversos sentidos que ha tenido la categoría a lo largo de la historia, según su emergencia en diferentes epistemes. La primera parte recorre ciertos discursos puntuales identificando autores en los cuales se pueden encontrar usos específicos (Newton, Simmel, Benjamin, McLuhan, Kittler, etc.), delineando así una serie de sentidos relacionados con el espacio y el tiempo desde lo estético, lo perceptivo, lo gnoseológico, lo sociológico y lo técnico. A partir de dicho esquema, en la segunda parte se presenta la idea de un “giro sensorial” en los estudios sociopolíticos contemporáneos, donde la idea de sensorium cobra una nueva importancia. Por último, se hace foco en las relaciones conceptuales que se derivan del uso que propone Rancière en torno a la categoría. En base a dicho recorrido el texto busca delinear una serie de elementos para abrir la posibilidad de definir la Estética como el pensamiento del sensorium común; se trata de una unidad de análisis estético-política que funciona como marco teórico para una morfología de lo social en tanto analítica del orden de lo sensible. (shrink)

Greek ancient and early modern geometry necessarily uses diagrams. Among other things, these enter geometrical analysis. The paper distinguishes two sorts of geometrical analysis and shows that in one of them, dubbed “intra-confgurational” analysis, some diagrams necessarily enter as outcomes of a purely material gesture, namely not as result of a codifed constructive procedure, but as result of a free-hand drawing.

El presente artículo analiza el concepto de Diferencia en la filosofía de Gilles Deleuze. Se constata, en este sentido, que la dicotomía inmanencia-trascendencia juega un papel protagónico en la articulación de dicha propuesta. Si bien un plano de composición inmanente no entra en una dialéctica negativa de tipo hegeliano respecto a un plano de organización trascendente, la primacía del primero resulta evidente en la conceptualización de la diferencia. Así, analizaremos las tensiones generadas por dicho enfoque en lo concerniente al despliegue (...) de la diferencia como razón suficiente en un plano inmanente, lo cual nos llevará a problematizar este concepto desde un plano diferente; a saber, un plano inminente que emerge de forma silenciosa en el último trabajo de Gilles Deleuze. (shrink)

Politicians around the globe wrangle about how to deal with trade imbalances. In the Eurozone, members running a trade deficit accuse members running a surplus of forcing them into deficit. Yet pol...

Nel suo intento di rinnovare il nostro modo di comprendere l’esistenza e questa stessa comprensione, Morin spiega una retorica affatto singolare che si contraddistingue per il ricorso ‘disinvolto’ a concetti filosofici e scientifici già consolidati, ma reinterpretati nel suo quadro concettuale, ed a termini da egli stesso coniati. Per tali ragioni, oltre che per le parole non italiane e quando è specificato altrimenti, mi servirò del corsivo tutte le volte che riferisco un concetto originale del filosofo francese. Ciò non solo (...) per mantenermi il più possibile fedele alla lettera dei suoi scritti ma anche e soprattutto per rendere l’intenzione locutoria, ovvero l’enfasi e a tratti la ‘drammaticità’ del suo discorso. Per tutte le citazioni, non solo di Morin, uso le virgolette doppie e tra parentesi quadre inserisco eventuali miei interventi. Le virgolette singole intendono il senso lato di un termine. Quando invece impiego concetti scientifici o filosofici nel significato tecnico che hanno acquisito all’interno del loro orizzonte disciplinare (quindi non nell’interpretazione di Morin, per intenderci), mi servo dei caporali. Una precisazione ulteriore merita il concetto di complessità organizzazionale che rientra tra quelli che hanno guadagnato a Morin la critica di abusare di neologismi. Tale concetto si propone di mettere in rilievo il carattere attivo e creativo della complessità. In francese questa differenza emerge chiaramente perché egli cambia organisation con organisaction. In italiano essa può rendersi per iscritto con organizz-azione ma nel parlato si può apprezzare meglio nell’attributo appunto organizzazionale. La messe di note a corredo del testo si propone, oltre che fornire ulteriori approfondimenti, confronti e una puntuale fonte bibliografica, di mettere in rilievo la coerenza che au fonde il «sistema» di idee elaborato da Morin mantiene al suo interno e, forse a dispetto delle sue stesse intenzioni, con il pensiero filosofico occidentale (fin dalla sua denominazione come metodo). (shrink)

Bank customers are not financial experts, and yet they make high-stakes decisions that can substantively affect personal wealth. Sooner or later, every individual has to take relevant investment decisions. Using data collected from financial advisors, bank customers and university students in Italy, this paper aims to reveal new insights about the decision processes of average non-expert investors: their investment goals, the information sets they consider, and the factors that ultimately influence decisions about investment products. Using four portfolio choice tasks based (...) on data collected directly from financial advisors and their clients, we find that most subjects used a limited set of information, ignoring factors that conventional economic models usually assume drive investor behavior. Furthermore, we suggest that non-compensatory decision-tree models, which make no trade-offs among investment features, are parsimonious descriptions of investor behavior useful for improving the organization of financial institutions and in policy contexts alike. (shrink)