Quale rapporto c'è tra una noticina di appena 30 righe e un'opera filosofica di quasi 500 pagine? A questa domanda, appassionante per chi s'interessa alla genesi delle opere del pensiero, Simone D'Agostino risponde esaminando il rapporto tra il capolavoro blondeliano del 1893, L'Action, e quella che si suole chiamare la "Première notule" del 5 novembre 1882. Il presente lavoro non è uno studio genetico del pensiero blondeliano, bensì una sua interpretazione sistematica da due punti focali e rispecchiantisi l'uno nell'altro. (...) Sotto questo aspetto, la ricerca di D'Agostino può definirsi unica nel suo genere. (shrink)

This book supports the idea that the ancient conception of philosophy as a way of life does not disappear in early modernity, but is transformed into a search for how to cure, guide, and free the human mind.

Deductive inference is usually regarded as being “tautological” or “analytical”: the information conveyed by the conclusion is contained in the information conveyed by the premises. This idea, however, clashes with the undecidability of first-order logic and with the (likely) intractability of Boolean logic. In this article, we address the problem both from the semantic and the proof-theoretical point of view. We propose a hierarchy of propositional logics that are all tractable (i.e. decidable in polynomial time), although by means of growing (...) computational resources, and converge towards classical propositional logic. The underlying claim is that this hierarchy can be used to represent increasing levels of “depth” or “informativeness” of Boolean reasoning. Special attention is paid to the most basic logic in this hierarchy, the pure “intelim logic”, which satisfies all the requirements of a natural deduction system (allowing both introduction and elimination rules for each logical operator) while admitting of a feasible (quadratic) decision procedure. We argue that this logic is “analytic” in a particularly strict sense, in that it rules out any use of “virtual information”, which is chiefly responsible for the combinatorial explosion of standard classical systems. As a result, analyticity and tractability are reconciled and growing degrees of computational complexity are associated with the depth at which the use of virtual information is allowed. (shrink)

Someone is “verballed” in the Anglo-Australian idiom if they have attributed to them statements they did not actually make and indeed have explicitly denied. We will examine the evidence that Kuhn and Feyerabend were verballed in this sense by their critics and that the role of the idea of incommensurability in their argumentation has been systematically misunderstood and -represented. In particular, we will see that neither Kuhn nor Feyerabend, despite what their critics often say about them, held that incommensurability of (...) theories implies the rational incomparability of theories. This is especially clear in the case of Feyerabend, whose argument is NOT that theories in a scientific tradition are on occasion incommensurable, but, rather, that, when the relations of theories in a tradition are represented in a particular way, they may on occasion be incommensurable according to that representation and hence incomparable if that representation is taken as providing the mechanisms of comparison. And the point of this claim is not to establish something about science, but, rather, to establish something about the representations of science which yield this result (i.e. that two theories might be incommensurable). Feyerabend in other words invokes incommensurability (according to the standards of a particular representation) as a reductio of that mode of representation. And this argument in fact depends precisely on the comparability of theories which are, according to the representation, incommensurable. Feyerabend’s argument is about the ways in which we should understand progress in science and he is concerned, in particular, to establish that a historically informed approach is superior to an approach which, if applicable, is applicable only to what he calls “abstract traditions”. Kuhn’s work, especially in the Postscript—1969, provides complementary materials, especially in relation to a collectivised and non-“algorithmic” account of theory choice across formally incommensurable paradigms. (shrink)

Today some scholars consider Descartes a virtue epistemologist. In my paper, I examine this position, making a positive contribution to his claim. After a brief clarifying premise about the meaning and scope of virtue epistemology, I present two major theoretical positions that argue, in a different way, that Descartes can be considered a virtue epistemologist: that of Ernest Sosa, usually acknowledged as virtue reliabilism; that of Richard Davies, more inclined towards a so called responsibilist virtue epistemology. Finally, I deal myself (...) directly with some specific Cartesian texts, especially from the Discours de la méthode, in order to draw elements for strengthen and deepen the previous positions, thanks mostly to the passion virtue of generosity. (shrink)

Today some scholars consider Descartes a virtue epistemologist. In my paper, I examine this position, making a positive contribution to his claim. After a brief clarifying premise about the meaning and scope of virtue epistemology, I present two major theoretical positions that argue, in a different way, that Descartes can be considered a virtue epistemologist: that of Ernest Sosa, usually acknowledged as virtue reliabilism; that of Richard Davies, more inclined towards a so called responsibilist virtue epistemology. Finally, I deal myself (...) directly with some specific Cartesian texts, especially from the Discours de la méthode, in order to draw elements for strengthen and deepen the previous positions, thanks mostly to the passion virtue of generosity. (shrink)

Using only propositional connectives and the provability predicate of a Σ1-sound theory T containing Peano Arithmetic we define recursively enumerable relations that are complete for specific natural classes of relations, as the class of all r. e. relations, and the class of all strict partial orders. We apply these results to give representations of these classes in T by means of formulas.

In this paper I discuss Kant’s philosophy of grammar in order to argue that: (a) the formal analysis of language implies that there is a structural correspondence between logical and grammatical form; (b) there is a distinction between the sense in which logic is formal and the sense in which grammar is formal; (c) universal grammar descends from the system of categorial functions that are investigated in the transcendental analytic; (d) transcendental grammar implies that the universal form of human language (...) has its ground in the universal structure of thought; (e) the concept of a grammatical norm is clarified once we combine the theory of universal grammar with how linguistic experience takes place. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to argue that logic can play an important role in the “toolbox” of molecular biology. We show how biochemical pathways, i.e., transitions from a molecular aggregate to another molecular aggregate, can be viewed as deductive processes. In particular, our logical approach to molecular biology — developed in the form of a natural deduction system — is centered on the notion of Curry-Howard isomorphism, a cornerstone in nineteenth-century proof-theory.

This paper studies the topological duality between diagonalizable algebras and bi-topological spaces. In particular, the correspondence between algebraic properties of a diagonalizable algebra and topological properties of its dual space is investigated. Since the main example of a diagonalizable algebra is the Lindenbaum algebra of an r.e. theory extending Peano Arithmetic, endowed with an operator defined by means of the provability predicate of the theory, this duality gives the possibility to study arithmetical properties of theories from a topological point of (...) view. We find topological characterization of $\Sigma_1$-sound theories and of sentences that are $\Sigma_1$-conservative over such a theory. (shrink)

Philosophy of Social Science, that social scientific investigations do not and cannot meet the liberal requirement of "neutrality" most familiar to social scientists in the form of Max Weber's requirement of value-freedom. He argues, moreover, that this is for "institutional," not idiosyncratic, reasons: methodological demands (e.g., of validity) impel social scientists to pass along into their "objective" investigations the values of the people, groups, and cultures they are studying. In this paper, I consider the implications of Root's claims for the (...) use of social scientific results in the formation of policy in a democratic society. In particular, I argue that Root's results amplify familiar "post-modernist" conclusions: there is no "neutral" and "objective" basis for policy-making. (shrink)

Within contemporary philosophy, both Hannah Arendt and Maurice Blondel are distinguished for situating action at the centre of their reflection. Investigation of their philosophical positions is facilitated by their common and constant reference to Aristotle, especially his findings on praxis. More particularly, both cite and comment on Nicomachean Ethics IX 7, where Aristotle discusses the relationship between benefactor and beneficiary. While Arendt uses the text to show how Aristotle undervalued praxis, through confusing it with poiesis, Blondel exploits the passage for (...) his phenomenology of action, which finds its elusive perfection in a friend. (shrink)

La pensée est un patrimoine discret et secret au point qu'elle n'est pas habituellement considérée comme un patrimoine au sens propre. Pourtant elle est à l'origine de tous les autres. Probablement sans l'exercice de cette faculté qui leur est propre, les êtres humains n'auraient jamais conçu leurs monuments extraordinaires ni leurs constructions admirables. Du plus petit phénomène jusqu'à la loi générale qui en coordonnerait les enchaînements, la recherche cultivée à l'intérieur de jardins divers et multiples tout le long de l'histoire (...) révèle un désir caché d'absolu. Comme si le jardinier dans l'aspiration d'élargir son horizon avait été amené à un certain moment à pousser les murs et à se retrouver chez le voisin, dans le monde et hors du monde par étapes successives. Un jeu de l'observation, de la mémoire et de l'imagination. En 2003, dans le cadre idéal de la Chartreuse de Valbonne, quelques représentants de disciplines diverses allaient reprendre ce jeu autour d'un thème aussi libre que contraignant tel que l'Espace Spirituel peut l'être. Quelques architectes, mathématiciens, musicologues, musiciens, et philosophes évoquent l'expression : Espace Spirituel chacun selon son angle de vue. L'idée d'Espace dans une cathédrale, dans le désert ou dans un chou fleur... Le Spirituel traverse les cultures du christianisme au judaïsme à l'indouisme. Le regard a l'écoulement du temps et les vignobles de la Chartreuse de Valbonne comme perspective. (shrink)

Michael Root argues, in Philosophy of Social Science, that social scientific investigations do not and cannot meet the liberal requirement of "neutrality" most familiar to social scientists in the form of Max Weber's requirement of value-freedom. He argues, moreover, that this is for "institutional," not idiosyncratic, reasons: methodological demands (e.g., of validity) impel social scientists to pass along into their "objective" investigations the values of the people, groups, and cultures they are studying. In this paper, I consider the implications of (...) Root's claims for the use of social scientific results in the formation of policy in a democratic society. In particular, I argue that Root's results amplify familiar "post-modernist" conclusions: there is no "neutral" and "objective" basis for policy-making. (shrink)

The first modern edition of the Instituzione d’ogni stato lodevole delle donne cristiane (1575), and the Ricordi di Monsignor Agostino Valier Vescovo di Verona lasciati alle monache nella sua visitazione fatta l’anno del santissimo Giubileo 1575 (1575) by Cardinal Agostino Valier (Venice, 7 April 1531 – Rome, 23 May 1606). The Instituzione includes three texts meant respectively for unmarried women, widows, and married women (Del modo di vivere delle vergini che si chiamano demesse; Della vera e perfetta viduità; Instruzione delle (...) donne maritate), while the Ricordi is a book for nuns on monastic life. The texts by Agostino Valier are an important example of conduct literature for and about women in Counter-Reformation Italy. Contents include: a historical introduction to the author and his works; the Italian texts with notes; an index of names cited in the treatises; a bibliography. (shrink)

Le professeur Gemelli a bien voulu rédiger è l'intention de ce volume un mémoire original sur la structure du langage, analysés par les mélhodes électroacoustiques modernes. Dans l'esprit de Dialectica, pour faciliter un dialogue entre ce spécialiste de l'expression vocale et le philosophe, nous avons dê renoncer è publier la première partie du mémoire, d'intérêt essentiellement technique, consacrée aux variations des voyelles, aux différences individuelles du langage, aux limites de leurs variations, ainsi qu'aux variations de l'accent tonique et de l'intensilé. (...) Les trois derniers chapitres, consacrés a l'expression significative du langage, è la structure des mots et des phrases, ainsi qu'aux conclusions géneratés de l'auteur, ont une grande valeur dialectique. Its montrent qu'è l'organisation motrice du langage correspond, chez celui qui le perçoit, une organisation acoustique adéquate. La bibliographic complète des travaux de l'auteur, è la fin du mémoire, permettra au lecteur de compléter la documentation dont il pourrait avoir besoin pour une discussion sur ce sufet. Réd. (shrink)

In identifying that the 'essential tension' is the balance between conservative and innovative approaches in the development of knowledge - tried-and tested or new directions - Kuhn pointed out that these two attitudes are both appropriate. This study adds to this picture the social and psychological dynamics that underpin any such balancing.

In this article, I focus on Johann Nikolaus Tetens’s linguistic theory to make three arguments: (a) this linguistic theory endorses a phonological (contra phonetic) approach to the acoustic sphere of language; (b) the phonological approach is based on the idea that sounds can turn into phonemes (of a properly human language) only when a minimally rational reflection on them is made; and (c) the phonological approach allows us to understand the phoneme as a differential unity, as being composed of structure (...) and function, and as giving a theoretical basis for language learning. (shrink)