Indice Presentazione Giuseppe Lissa Introduzione dell'autore Capitolo I: Gran questione e vanitas scientiarum tra via Aristotelis e natural magia 1. Vanitas scientiarum e via Aristotelis 2. Riforma del sapere e natural magia Capitolo II: Scolastica medica, esperienza dei sensi, nettare della riflessione, volontà della natura 1. Labirinto delle scienze razionali e rocca della verità 2. Autorità, esperienza dei sensi e volontà della natura nel De Balneis 3. Brancaleone e la “gran questione” Capitolo III: Gran questione e (...) natural magia nella “Napoli alunna di tutte le scienze” 1. Alumbradismo e riforma religiosa 2. Natural magia, esperienza interiore, scienza perfetta 3. Infinità dell’intelletto: il Peretto e le femminelle Capitolo IV: Un tentativo di conclusione " 93 Appendice GianFrancesco Brancaleone, Breve Discorso di Giovan Francesco Brancaleone de la immortalità de l’anima con una stupenda visione sovra di ciò a lui apparsa Indice dei nomi. (shrink)

Este trabajo se propone mostrar quela concepcíón de magia de Pico della Mírandola,de un lado, es la propia de un humanista; de otro,responde más de lo que se suele creer a llneastradicionales. Para ello, y después de determinarla significación precisa de algunos términos aemplear, en primer lugar, examina aspectos de laposición agustlniana sobre el tema. En segundotérmino, estudia el tratamiento de las tesis piquianasen tres etapas, constituídas por la Oratiocon las Conclusiones, la Apologia, y las Disput.ationes.En tercer lugar, refuta (...) la interpretaciónque ve en estas últimas una retractación de Picorespecto de sus primeras posiciones sobre lamagia. Por último, muestra que las divergenciasentre ambos autores obedecen, sobre todo, a unacuestión terminológica y de matices, destacando,no obstante la relevancia de éstos. (shrink)

El presente artículo tiene como objeto de estudio la interpretación que Marsilio Ficino ha propuesto del poema Donna me prega de Guido Cavalcanti. A través del examen de la exégesis ficiniana, el texto muestra que, a pesar de la presencia de equivalencias formales entre ambos filósofos, el análisis de Ficino supone una ruptura teórica con el averroísmo de Cavalcanti. Al mismo tiempo, Ficino produce una profunda transformación de la filosofía del amor de Cavalcanti al cambiar su trasfondo desde la perspectiva (...) del amor heterosexual del dolce stil nuovo hacia el simposio platónico de cuño homoerótico. Este desplazamiento se acompaña de una exégesis alegórica del poema de parte de Ficino quien moviliza entonces referencias propias del neoplatonismo, la teología cristiana y la magia natural. En este último aspecto, la figura de Zoroastro cobra una relevancia fundamental como priscus theologus y garante de la magia astral del amor. (shrink)

Marcel Mauss claims in his work A General Theory of Magic that the best way to work with the concept of magic is discussing it in comparison to religion or comparing it to religion. Thus, first this paper aims at presenting a theoretical study with a primary nature, whose central focus consists in Marcel Mauss’s studies on the theme of magic, through the elements that constitute it, which are, according to the author: the magician, the acts, and the magical representations. (...) In the second moment, it proposes to conceptualize the term religion. When addressing the definition of religion's constituents as a phenomenon, a discussion of belief and religious ritual is emphasized. Finally, the relation between religion and magic is introduced through a basic comparative exercise and its impacts are interpreted according to the contemporary religious sense. (shrink)

Neste trabalho, analisamos a argumentação de Girolamo Cardano presente em De subtilitate, no Livro II, em que o autor questiona a teoria dos quatro elementos. Conforme Cardano, o fogo não deveria mais ser considerado um elemento, mas apenas o ar, a água e a terra. Consideramos a maioria dos argumentos discutidos, mas nosso foco está naquele argumento de que Cardano lançou mão do processo de destilação para negar ao fogo um lugar entre os elementos. Para atingir nossos objetivos consideramos também (...) outras duas obras de Cardano: De rerum varietate e De secretis. Em De rerum varietate, encontramos estudos sobre o fogo e sobre a destilação que são relevantes para nossa análise. Por sua vez, em De secretis, identificamos considerações de Cardano sobre a forma com que investigava questões de filosofia natural. Entre outras discussões, procuramos destacar que Cardano unia em suas investigações teoria e prática, o que refletia um contexto bem determinado de uma “ciência” de caráter mais operativo, marcada pela magia natural. (shrink)

En el presente artículo se analiza la última relección teológica de Francisco de Vitoria dedicada al problema de la magia. Vitoria se pregunta por la licitud del uso del arte mágico, diferenciando entre magia natural, que se basa en causas naturales (desconocidas para la mayor parte de la gente) y magia preternatural, que implica la intervención de agentes espirituales. Vitoria acepta la existencia de ambos tipos, pero considera que la magia preternatural es moralmente ilícita, ya (...) que busca manipular o controlar lo que está más allá de la capacidad natural humana, atentando contra la virtud de la religión. El estudio se centra en la relación entre causalidad, religión y moralidad en el contexto de la magia. (shrink)

The relationship between Francis Bacon's Sylva sylvarum and Giovan Battista Della Porta's Magia naturalis has previously been discussed in terms of sources and borrowings in the literature. More recently, it has been suggested that one can read these two works as belonging to a common genre: as collections of recipes or books of secrets. Taking this as a framework, in this paper I address another type of similarity between these two works, one that can be detected by looking at (...) the methods of reading, research, and enacting and recording recipes one can find in Bacon and Della Porta. I show that essential to the two approaches was the complex interplay of practices associated with enacting recipes, and that these influenced the ways in which Della Porta and Bacon recorded their experiments. Creative manipulation of the recipes transformed them into something new. In the case of Della Porta's second edition of the Magia naturalis, this new format is something I call “technologies,” that is, ways of recording the enacting of recipes with the intention to ensure repeatability and predictability of results. In the case of Bacon, the enactment aims at something different: to display and “bring to light” the hidden motions and processes of nature. (shrink)

Este artículo investiga la historia de algunos de los mitos y supersticiones sobre la mandrágora (Mandragora spp.) que estaban en circulación en el mundo árabo-islámico entre los siglos X al XVII y analiza los usos mágicos de la planta en ese contexto. Más concretamente, se analiza cómo y para qué era utilizada la mandrágora en el marco de las operaciones de magia blanca o natural (al-sīmiyāʾ), relacionando sus usos con las diferentes ciencias o artes (ʿulūm) que intervienen en (...) la definición y práctica de esta forma de magia. Los resultados de la investigación indican que la mandrágora ocupó un lugar muy destacado en la farmacopea vegetal utilizada en las prácticas de magia blanca, tal y como muestran los ungüentos, amuletos, talismanes, sahumerios, fumigaciones, inhalaciones y filtros de mandrágora documentados en las fuentes árabes y que estaban destinados a muy diferentes fines. Los resultados también indican que las creencias mágicas sobre la planta presentes en la tradición árabo-islámica tienen su origen en los mitos y supersticiones de la Antigüedad grecolatina y oriental; al mismo tiempo, muestran un estrecho paralelismo con el complejo de creencias y prácticas vigentes en la Europa cristiana del período objeto de este estudio. (shrink)

El objetivo del estudio fue sistematizar y analizar el pensamiento filosófico de Bruno sobre la concepción de magia en el renacimiento. La importancia de la investigación fue entender la cosmovisión bruneana que sigue vigente en el desarrollo del avance de la ciencia. Siendo la conclusión que el concepto de mago es equivalente a sabio, y se manifiesta a través de los tipos de magia: Divina, Física, Matemática y en función del vínculo entre el mago y la naturaleza: (...) class='Hi'>magia natural, fantasmagórica, magia natural por virtud, magia matemática, de los desamparados, nigromancia, maléfico, adivinación y profecía. (shrink)

La historiografía de la ciencia ha tendido abusivamente a identificar la Revolución Científica con las decisivas aportaciones realizadas en el siglo XVII, subestimando así la importancia de las contribuciones renacentistas. Pero la reevaluación de la tradición mecánica y artesanal que habría de conducir con posterioridad a un espectacular desarrollo tecnológico arrancó, de hecho, en el siglo XVI de la mano de la magia natural. Un atento análisis de la obra de Francis Bacon, el gran ideólogo de la ciencia (...) moderna y el máximo valedor de la recuperación de las artes mecánicas por parte de la tradición erudita, evidencia con claridad cuán profunda y determinante fue esta deuda contraída con la pujante tradición mágica del pensamiento renacentista. (shrink)

Muitas sociedades africanas dizem que Deus só faz o que é bom e não criou o mal. Cada sociedade tem costumes, tradições, comportamentos e relações interpessoais estabelecidos que mantêm a boa ordem na comunidade. Contudo, as relaçães intensas também criam animosidades e as pessoas tentam fazer-lhes frente através da feitiçaria, bruxaria e magia. Os indivíduos usam os poderes "escondidos" ou "secretes" para fazer mal aos vizinhos e colegas, ou aos seus bens e actividades. Nalgumas sociedades, as pessoas pensam que (...) os espíritos são a origem e/ou os agentes do mal. Contudo, os espíritos das pessoas falecidas são ainda pane das suas famíias humanas, e de muitos modos actuam coma guardiães do bem-estar familiar. É sobretudo nas relações humanas que as pessoas identificam o que é mau, tentam evitá-lo, e lidam com ele através do castigo, tabus, proibições, leis e força de vontade humana. A administração dajustiça é confiada aos mats velhos, tanto homens coma mulheres e governantes tradicionais. Outra forma de combater o mal é encorajar o que é bom, tal como a amizpde, respeito (para com as pessoas e a natureza), hospitalidade, harmonia, paz, justiça, atenção mútua ou ajuda e outros valores que são ensinados nasfamílias e nas comunidades. /// Many African societies say that God does only what is good and did not create evil. Each society has established customs, traditions, behaviour and interpersonal relations that uphold good order in the community. However, the intense relationships also creates tensions and people try to cope with them through witchcraft, sorcery and magic. Fellow persons use the "hidden "or "secret" powers to do evil to the neighbors and colleagues, or their property and activities. In some societies, people think that spirits are the origin and/or agents of evil. However, family spirits of the departed are still part of their human families, and in many ways act as guardians of family welfare. It is largely in human relationships that people identify what is evil, try to prevent it, and deal with it through punishment, taboos, prohibitions, laws and human will power. The elders, both men and women and traditional rulers, are entrusted with administering justice in the community. Another way of combating evil is to foster what is good, such as friendship, respect (towards persons and nature), hospitality, harmony, peace, justice, mutual care or helpfulness and other values that are taught in families and communities. (shrink)

In Book 6 of Apuleius’Metamorphoses, Lucius contemplates his possible death at the hands of the robbers. After one robber threatens to throw him off a cliff, he remarks to himself how easily such an act would kill him (Met.6.26):‘uides istas rupinas proximas et praeacutas in his prominentes silices, quae te penetrantes antequam decideris membratim dissipabunt? nam et illa ipsa praeclara magia tua uultum laboresque tibi tantum asini, uerum corium non asini crassum, sed hirudinis tenue membranulum circumdedit. quin igitur masculum (...) tandem sumis animum tuaeque saluti, dum licet, consulis?’‘Do you see that ravine nearby and the sharp rocks jutting into it which will impale you before you hit the bottom and tear you limb from limb? For that wondrous magic of yours gave you only the appearance and hardships of an ass, but in truth it surrounded you not with the thick hide of an ass but with the thin little membrane of a leech. Why not, therefore, take up your manly spirit at last and seek your safety while you can?’Lucius seems to contradict the description of his metamorphosis at 3.24:pili mei crassantur in setas, et cutis tenella duratur in corium, ‘my hair thickens into bristles and my thin skin hardens into hide’.Met. 6.26 suggests that Lucius’ metamorphosis may not be as complete as it initially seemed: his skin is not the thick hide of an ass but the delicate membrane of a leech. This passage is further complicated by a textual dispute: where all modern editions and most translations readhirudinis, ‘leech’, our earliest and best manuscripts havehirundinis, ‘swallow’. I propose that we should restore ‘swallow’ on the testimony of these manuscripts and because it better reflects Lucius’ initial desire for an avian rather than an asinine transformation. My examination of this passage will also highlight the liminal nature of Lucius’ metamorphosis. Despite his apparent physical transformation, he remains caught between the human and the animal worlds in both mind and body. (shrink)

A partir da leitura dos escritos de Ficino dedicados à melancolia, a presente investigação considera o modo como, combinando elementos de diversas fontes, o filósofo florentino contribuiu decisivamente para compreensão dessa condição e para a constituição de um medium terapêutico diferenciado. O enquadramento do De Vita Libri Tres na longa sucessão de teorias médico-‑filosóficas relativas à constituição melancólica revela a sua participação na dimensão incremental de uma densa semântica, mas também, de modo decisivo, a ausência de uma evolução unívoca das (...) ideias de melancolia. Assim o demonstra a recuperação de uma vertente favorável do temperamento melancólico, combinando Ficino a ortodoxia médica relativa ao equilíbrio humoral com a possibilidade, enunciada no Problema XXX, de uma forma superior de equilíbrio. O eclodir da genialidade contemplativa, tida como característica central dos maiores feitos humanos, em particular no domínio dos estudos académicos, tem lugar na forma de êxtase, adaptando Ficino traços da mania [furor] platónica. O papel de Ficino na evolução das conceções de melancolia é também evidenciado na sua exploração das suas formas amorosa e religiosa, indicando uma sensibilidade às condições sociais da individuação, mas também a tentativa de compreender e mitigar as tribulações existenciais associadas ao seu próprio temperamento. Já no que se refere ao manancial terapêutico proposto pelo filósofo florentino, o aspeto mais inovador reside na sua mobilização da astrologia e da magia, pro- curando demonstrar que as mesmas são um recurso natural baseado num conceito de simpatia entre os elementos da hierarquia cósmica e, como tal, distintas da necromancia e da demonologia. (shrink)

This special issue brings to the attention of the scholarly community some of the common features and some of the subtle, but important, differences between Francis Bacon's and Giovan Battista Della Porta's ways of dealing with the reading, selecting, enacting, and recording of recipes. Focusing on questions of genre, intellectual and material context, strategies of research, and strategies of performing recipes, the four papers of this special issue address two major issues. First, they shed new light on the relationship between (...) Della Porta's Magia naturalis and Francis Bacon's Sylva sylvarum. Second, they show that in the recording of their experimental practices, Bacon and Della Porta depart from the traditional “recipe format” and discover new avenues of experimental research. (shrink)

This volume contains essays that examine the optical works of Giambattista Della Porta, an Italian natural philosopher during the Scientific Revolution. Coverage also explores the science and technology of early modern optics. Della Porta's groundbreaking book, Magia Naturalis, includes a prototype of the camera. Yet, because of his obsession with magic, Della Porta's scientific achievements are often forgotten. As the contributors argue, his work inspired such great minds as Johanes Kepler and Francis Bacon. After reading this book, researchers, (...) historians, and students will have a better appreciation of this influential scientist. They will also gain a greater understanding of an important period in the history of optics. Readers will learn about Della Porta's experimental method, a process governed by the protocols, aims, and theoretical assumptions of natural magic. Coverage also discusses the material properties and limitations of optical technology in the early 17th century, based on a recently discovered Dutch spyglass. It also demonstrates how diagrams were instrumental in the discovery of the sine law of refraction. In addition, the book includes an in-depth analysis of previously untranslated Latin sources. This makes the material useful to historians of optics unfamiliar with the language. More than 70 illustrations complement the text. (shrink)

In his Paralipomena Johannes Kepler reported an experimentum that he had seen in the Dresden Kunstkammer. In one of the rooms there, which had been turned in its entirety into a camera obscura, he had witnessed the images formed by a lens. I discuss the role of this experiment in the development and foundation of his new theory of optical imagery, which made a distinction between two concepts of image, pictura and imago. My focus is on how Kepler used his (...) report of the experiment inside the camera obscura to criticize the account of image formation given in Giovanbattista Della Porta's Magia naturalis . I argue that this experiment allowed Kepler to sort out the confusion between images 'in the air'—referring to the geometrical locus of images in the perspectivist tradition of optics—and the experimentally produced 'projected images', which were empirically familiar but conceptually alien to perspectivist optics. (shrink)

Pese a la estricta contextualización de lomágico como demoníaco en el tejido dela narrativa de El asno dorado de Apuleyo,una corriente que se ha descuidado enla academia moderna explora su legadopagano –r et i ene el al cance par a unahi pót esi s fact i bl e en l a forma de unacoalición paradigmática entre su progeniei nevi tabl e, l as bruj as desesperadas aligual que una comunidad distinguida detaumaturgos, los teúrgos, cuya identidaden el discurso intelectual proporciona elejemplo (...) más fino de las formas politeistasde adivinación. En Sobre los misterios deJamblico, se clarifica la representación deotra tipología de magia, la natural, queavala un notable paralelo en una premisacompartida –los niveles de motivación.Deseo proponer, que en tanto arroja luzsobre una clasificación dual de la magiac omo demoní ac a y nat ur al , t ambi énrefleja de manera fascinante los grados deunidad entre las brujas desesperadas ylos teúrgos en cuestión –las operacionesde l os pri meros a menudo sust ent ans us pl a n t e a mi e n t o s pa r a o c ul t a r e lconocimiento y su potencial no es inferiora l as preocupaci ones el evadas de l ossegundos.Despite the strict contextualization ofmagic as demonic within the fabric ofnar r at i ve i n Aput ei us ’ Go l de n As s , aneglected current in modern academia itspagan legacy - retains scope for a feasiblehypothesis in the form of a paradigmaticcoalition between its inevitable progeny,desperate witches as well as a distinguishedc o mmu n i t y o f t h a u ma t a u r g o i , t h etheurgist, whose identity in intellectualdi scour se, chi ef l y t he f i nest possi bl ee x e mpl um of pol yt he i s t i c f or ms ofdi vi nat i on I ambl i chus’ De Myst eri es,clarify their representation of anothertypology of magic, natural, endorsinga striking parallel in a shared premise -levels of motivation. I wish to propose,that in as much as it throws light on twofold classification of magic as demonic andnatural it also fascinatingly reflects degreesof unity, though not without reserve insome areas, between the desperate witchesand theurgists in question - the formerwhose operations often underpin theirclaims to occult knowledge and whosepotential is no less inferior to the elevatedconcerns of the latter. (shrink)

Segundo Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941), a mente humana evolve desde a magia, passando pela religião, até à ciência. Para Wittgenstein, magia e ritual constituent urn elemento essencial do homem, o qual não pode ser abolido mediante qualquer progresso da ciência. Acções rituals não se baseiam na crença Mediante a sua firmeza, a fé religiosa difere da crença numa hipótese. O fenómeno religioso resiste a toda e qualquer explcação. Quando ordenamos os factos numa representação abrangente, caímos na conta (...) da comum disposição que conecta os seres humanos da moderna civilização ocidental com os assim chamados primitivos. Gragas aos ritos, o ser humano entra em relação com a natureza, especialmente com os fenómenos da morte, do nascimento, e da vida sexual, numa atitude de surpresa, de admiração e de adoração. O artigo mostra porque é que os seres humanos que fazem parte da civilização ocidental necessitam de aprender o que e a admiração e a adoração das culturas primitivas. /// According to Sir James George Frazer (1854-1941), human mind develops from magic via religion to science. For Wittgenstein, magic and rite are an essential traite of human nature that cannot be abolished by any progress of science. Ritual actions are not based on belief By its firmness, religious faith differs from believing a hypothesis. The religious phenomenon resists any explanation. When we order the facts in a perspicuous representation, we see the common disposition that connects human beings of modern western civilization with the primitives. Rites express the attitude of astonishment, admiration, and worship to the phenomena of nature, first of all to death, birth, and sexual life. Men and women of modern western civilization have to learn admiration and worship from primitive cultures. (shrink)

Regarding the influence of Francois Rabelais on the Giordano Bruno’s works, up to now the criticism have only taken into consideration the lexical and thematic analogies. This article individualizes, in a passage of the "Oratio Valedictoria", a literal quotation from the Gargantua et Pantagruel , showing that Rabelais was adirect source of inspiration for Bruno. The protagonist of the passage is the pythagorean Apollonius of Tyana, a character well known from the Nolan, who mentioned him in many occasions. He represents (...) theideal medium with the oriental wisdom, that had so much influence on the thought of Bruno. Besides, heembodies the model of the "natural magician" in which the philosopher repeatedly identified himself, both inhis works and life. (shrink)

Natural Law and Natural Rights is widely recognised as a seminal contribution to the philosophy of law, and an essential reference point for all students of the subject. This new edition includes a substantial postscript by the author responding to thirty years of comment, criticism, and further work in the field.

From a leading authority in artificial intelligence, this book delivers a synthesis of the major modern techniques and the most current research in natural language processing. The approach is unique in its coverage of semantic interpretation and discourse alongside the foundational material in syntactic processing.

(1979). William Whewell, natural theology and the philosophy of science in mid nineteenth century Britain. Annals of Science: Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 493-516.

In Section 1, I outline the history of natural law theory, covering Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Aquinas. In Section 2, I explore two alternative traditions of natural law, and explain why these constitute rivals to the Aristotelian tradition. In Section 3, I go on to elaborate a via negativa along which natural law norms can be discovered. On this basis, I unpack what I call three 'experiments in being', each of which illustrates the cogency of this (...) method. In Section 4, I investigate and rebut two seminal challenges to natural law methodology, namely, the fact/value distinction in metaethics and Darwinian evolutionary biology. In Section 5, I then outline and criticise the 'new' natural law theory, which is an attempt to revise natural law thought in light of the two challenges above. I conclude, in Section 6, with a summary and some reflections on the prospects for natural law theory. (shrink)

Abbott replies to each of Hauser's arguments. Problem solving by chimpanzees and evidence of recursion in the thought of a feral human being suggest that natural language is not necessary for productive thought. Communication would be trivial if the inner language were the outer language, but it is not. The decryption analogy Hauser uses is flawed, and it is not clear which way Occam's razor cuts.

The paper introduces a new type of rules into Natural Deduction, elimination rules by composition. Elimination rules by composition replace usual elimination rules in the style of disjunction elimination and give a more direct treatment of additive disjunction, multiplicative conjunction, existence quantifier and possibility modality. Elimination rules by composition have an enormous impact on proof-structures of deductions: they do not produce segments, deduction trees remain binary branching, there is no vacuous discharge, there is only few need of permutations. This (...) new type of rules fits especially to substructural issues, so it is shown for Lambek Calculus, i.e. intuitionistic non-commutative linear logic and to its extensions by structural rules like permutation, weakening and contraction. Natural deduction formulated with elimination rules by composition from a complexity perspective is superior to other calculi. (shrink)

In “Spandrels,” Gould and Lewontin criticized what they took to be an all-too-common conviction, namely, that adaptation to current environments determines organic form. They stressed instead the importance of history. In this paper, we elaborate upon their concerns by appealing to other writings in which those issues are treated in greater detail. Gould and Lewontin’s combined emphasis on history was three-fold. First, evolution by natural selection does not start from scratch, but always refashions preexisting forms. Second, preexisting forms are (...) refashioned by the selection of whatever mutational variations happen to arise: the historical order of mutations needs to be taken into account. Third, the order of environments and selection pressures also needs to be taken into account. (shrink)

There have been many attempts to determine what makes a natural kind real, chief among them is the criterion according to which natural kinds must be mind-independent. But it is difficult to specify this criterion: many supposed natural kinds have an element of mind-dependence. I will argue that the mind-independence criterion is nevertheless a good one, if correctly understood: the mind-independence criterion concerns the unification principles for natural kinds. Unification principles determine how natural kinds unify (...) their properties, and only those natural kinds that have a mind-independent unification principle should be considered real. (shrink)

Most automated theorem provers are clausal-form provers based on variants of resolutionrefutation. In my [1990], I described the theorem prover OSCAR that was based instead on natural deduction. Some limited evidence was given suggesting that OSCAR was suprisingly efficient. The evidence consisted of a handful of problems for which published data was available describing the performance of other theorem provers. This evidence was suggestive, but based upon too meager a comparison to be conclusive. The question remained, “How does (...) class='Hi'>natural deduction compare with resolution-refutation?” In the ensuing seven years, OSCAR has evolved in important ways, and other developments have made it possible to collect more accurate comparative data. Specifically, the creation of the TPTP library of problems for theorem provers,1 and the availability of important theorem provers on the world wide web, make objective comparisons easier. These developments recently inspired Geoff Sutcliffe, one of the founders of the TPTP library, to issue a challenge to OSCAR. At CADE-13, a competition was held for clausal-form theorem provers.2 Otter was one of the most successful contestants. In addition, Otter is able to handle problems stated in natural form (as opposed to clausal form), and Otter is readily available for different platforms.3 Sutcliffe selected 212 problems from the TPTP library, and suggested that OSCAR and Otter run these problems on the same hardware. This “Shootout at the ATP corral” took place, with the result that OSCAR was on the average 40 times faster than Otter. In addition, OSCAR was able to find proofs for 16 problems on which Otter failed, and Otter was able to find proofs for 3 problems on which OSCAR failed. Taking into account that Otter was written in C and OSCAR in LISP, the speed difference of the algorithms themselves could be as much as an order of magnitude greater. Apparently, natural deduction has some advantages over resolution-refutation.. (shrink)

Moving from a behavioral definition of intelligence, which describes it as the ability to adapt to the surrounding environment and deal effectively with new situations (Anastasi, 1986), this paper explains to what extent the performance obtained by ChatGPT in the linguistic domain can be considered as intelligent behavior and to what extent they cannot. It also explains in what sense the hypothesis of decoupling between cognitive and problem-solving abilities, proposed by Floridi (2017) and Floridi and Chiriatti (2020) should be interpreted. (...) The problem of symbolic grounding (Harnad, 1990) is then addressed to show the problematic relationship between ChatGPT and the natural environment, and thus the impossibility for it to understand the symbols it manipulates. To explain the reasons why ChatGPT does not succeed in this task, an investigation is carried out and a possible solution to the problem in the artificial domain is proposed by making a comparison with the natural ability of living beings to ground their own meanings from some basic cognitive-sensory aspects, which, it is explained, are directly related to the emergence of self-awareness in humans. Thus, the question is raised whether a possible and concrete solution to the Symbol Grounding Problem would involve in the artificial domain the development of cognitive abilities fully comparable to those of humans. Finally, I explain the difficulties that would have to be overcome before such a level could be reached, since human cognitive capacities are intimately linked to intersubjectivity and intercorporeality. (shrink)