A long historiographical tradition has claimed that the famous Pietro Pomponazzi’s Tractatus de immortalitate animae had been inspired by Tommaso de Vio’s Commentary on De anima – whose basic thesis was that, according to the principles of Aristotelian philosophy, the human soul was mortal – even though Pomponazzi in his entire work never mentioned Caietanus as a model. Firstly, this article frames the status quaestionis focusing on affinities and divergences between the two books and on the possible relationship and (...) exchange between the two authors, especially on the topic of the Aristotelian psychology. Secondly, the present study shows what emerges from a cross-reading of the sources which includes the collection of the Opuscula published in 1519 by the Dominican friar Bartolomeo Spina, who explicitly accused Caietanus of having paved the way for the scandalous and anti-Christian Pomponazzi’s position. The important gain of this collation of texts is the discovery of an unseen moment of debate with Caietanus inside Pomponazzi’s Tractatus. (shrink)

Il presente contributo indaga la trasformazione della definizione di “giustizia” da Tommaso d’Aquino (analogica) a Tommaso De Vio (univoca). Esaminando la connessione fra logica e filosofia morale si considera il tema della virtù e l‘interpretazione del pensiero dell’Angelico da parte del Gaetano. Si intende approfondire il rapporto fra la giustizia e il bene comune attraverso l’uso dell’analogia (Tommaso) o in altri termini (Gaetano). Il lavoro fa riferimento anche alla tesi di S. Hofstadter, secondo cui l’analogia è quasi (...) un a priori cognitivo con cui l’uomo concettualizza il mondo e progredisce nella conoscenza, tenendo presente il ruolo fondamentale che l’analogia svolge nella filosofia e nella teologia del Gaetano. Partendo dal presupposto che la nozione analogica di giustizia esprima più chiaramente il pensiero dell’Angelico sul rapporto con il bene comune, si osserva che il Gaetano fa uso di uno strumento diverso, interpretando la stessa virtù secondo una concettualizzazione di carattere univoco. E ciò, precisamente, per il suo modo di concepire l’analogia. Appaiono, quindi, due nozioni di giustizia in relazione al bene comune e a tutte le altre virtù morali. Come influisce tutto ciò sul discorso etico e sulla riflessione politica? Qual è il rapporto con la suprema potestas, il governo ecc.? Emergono chiaramente due diversi modi di argomentare e di rappresentare il mondo e le sue relazioni, cioè di costruire percorsi diversi sulla base dello stesso oggetto di studio. This paper investigates the definition of “justice” and its transformation, from Aquinas (analogical) to Cajetan (univocal). Through the commentaries of Cajetan to the S. Th., this contribution also deeps into the connection between Logic and Moral Philosophy. We intend to deepen the relationship between justice and the common good using the analogy (Aquinas) or not (Cajetan). This work also refers to the thesis of S. Hofstadter according to which the analogy is almost a cognitive a priori with which man conceptualizes the world and progresses in knowledge, bearing in mind the role that analogy played in Cajetan’s thought. If the analogical notion of justice renders much better the teaching of Aquinas, it is observed that Cajetan interpretates the same virtue according to univocity, because of his previous conception of the analogy. Therefore, we have two notions of “justice” related to the common good and the rest of the moral virtues. How could this affect the Ethics and the political reflections? What is the relationship between the suprema potestas, the government, etc.? Again, we have now two different ways of arguing and representing the world and its relations. (shrink)

Résumé — Cet article se propose de fournir une contribution au débat interprétatif sur le principe de la limitation de l’acte par la puissance dans la démonstration de l’infinité de Dieu de la Summa theologiae de Thomas d’Aquin à travers une enquête à caractère historique qui expose quelques-unes des étapes capitales de l’histoire de cette preuve. Le désaccord qui divise les interprètes contemporains à propos du rôle joué par le principe susdit hérite, en réalité, d’une opposition séculaire parmi les commentateurs (...) de Thomas qui remonte à la discussion qui suivit l’intervention de Tommaso de Vio et de Francesco Silvestri. D’autre part, l’incontestable présence chez certains commentateurs classiques de Thomas, Jean de Saint-Thomas in primis, d’une position qui sépare la preuve de la Summa du principe de la limitation de l’acte par la puissance réceptive, loin d’exprimer une orthodoxie par rapport à la tradition la plus ancienne, constitue un renversement par rapport à la lecture de Cajetan et de Silvestre de Ferrare, qui s’était affirmée comme l’interprétation canonique du texte de Thomas.— Questo articolo si propone di fornire un contributo al dibattito interpretativo sul principio della limitazione dell’atto attraverso la potenza nella dimostrazione dell’infinità di Dio nella Summa theologiae di Tommaso d’Aquino attraverso un’indagine di carattere storico che espone alcune delle tappe capitali della storia di questa prova. Il disaccordo che divide gli interpreti contemporanei sul ruolo giocato dal principio suddetto eredita, in realtà, un’opposizione secolare fra i commentatori di Tommaso che risale alla discussione che seguî gli interventi di Tommaso de Vio e di Francescio Silvestri. D’altra parte, la presenza, incontestabile, in alcuni commentatori classici di Tommaso, primo fra tutti Giovanni di san Tommaso, di una posizione che separa la prova della Summa dal principio della limitazione dell’atto attraverso la potenza recettiva, lungi dal configurarsi nei termini di una posizione ortodossa rispetto alla tradizione più antica, costituisce un ribaltamento della lettura di Cajetano e di Silvestro da Ferrare, che si era affermata come l’interpretazione canonica del testo di Tommaso. (shrink)

This paper considers philosophical approaches that are relevant to the intertwinement of logic, metaphysics, and psychology proposed by the Aquinas commentator Tommaso de Vio Cardinal Cajetan, the humanist Petrus Ramus, the pure Aristotelian Cornelius Martini, the Semi-Ramist Bartholomaeus Keckermann, and the lexicographer Rudolf Goclenius. Mostly, however, it is about Ramus and his followers, the Ramists, because of the role they played in exacerbating a discussion on the constitution of objectivity during the Renaissance that was to have an impact on (...) Cartesian andpost-Cartesian theories of subjectivity. Finally, keeping in mind that Kant was familiar with the secunda Petri, i.e., with the second part of Ramus's logic, namely the theory of judgment, some common ground is recognizable between Ramus and Kant as well. (shrink)

In this article I argue that although the prevailing interpretation within the Thomistic contemporary critical literature, claiming the inaccessibility of God’s quid sit, is faithful both to Saint Thomas and to John Capreolus’s account of Aquinas’s doctrine, it is far from being uncontroversial in the first steps of the history of Thomism. A central step in this history is marked by the Parisian Condemnation of 1277, which is at the origin of relevant debate within the Dominican Order on the question (...) of the knowledge of God’s quid sit. Aquinas’s contemporaries, indeed, interpreted the condemnation of Proposition 214 as a measure taken against Saint Thomas’s negative theology, as confirmed by John Capreolus’s testimony. Capreolus defends Aquinas, claiming that Saint Thomas’s doctrine is not a radical negative theology; in spite of this, he maintains that we cannot know God’s quiddity. In the following history of the debate, however, two influential representatives of the Dominican Order, Tommaso de Vio and Francesco Silvestri will affirm the accessibility of God’s quid sit, restoring an old doctrine by Durand of Saint Pourçain and Hervé of Nédellec. (shrink)

Il volume contiene i testi più significativi relativamente alla nascita e allo sviluppo della dottrina dell'analogia dell'essere. I passi sono riportati a fronte con traduzioni originali annotate e sono raccolti in due sezioni: quella di filosofia antica e tardoantica e quella di filosofia medievale araba e latina. La prima sezione comprende i principali testi aristotelici che della dottrina dell'analogia dell'essere hanno costituito l'origine, e i passi fra i più rilevanti della tradizione commentaristica antica e tardoantica, da Alessandro di Afrodisia (II-III (...) sec. d.C) a Simplicio di Cilicia (VI sec. d.C.), nei quali è possibile individuare le prime fasi dello sviluppo di tale dottrina. La sezione di filosofia medievale araba e latina comprende passi scelti dei filosofi che rappresentano le tappe essenziali dello sviluppo della dottrina dell'analogia dell'essere nel medioevo arabo e latino, da al-Fārābī (m. 950 c.) a Tommaso d'Aquino (XIII sec.) a Tommaso de Vio, il “Gaetano” (XV-XVI sec.)--Back cover. (shrink)

Summary Habituation mechanisms play a pivotal role in enabling organisms to filter out irrelevant stimuli and concentrate on essential ones. Through repeated exposure, the brain learns to disregard stimuli that are irrelevant, effectively ceasing to respond to potentially distracting input. Previous studies have demonstrated that the orienting response to visual distractors disrupting visual detection tasks habituates as tasks progress and distractors are encountered repeatedly, as their initial interference diminishes. Theoretical models posit that this reduction is contingent upon the establishment of (...) an internal representation of external stimuli. Moreover, further studies have indicated that habituation can be context- specific, suggesting that the mechanisms involved incorporate information about features of irrelevant stimuli that extend beyond their discrete characteristics. In this contribution, we further delved into the question of whether the context in which habituation occurs retains a general habituative capacity when a new, to-be-ignored stimulus is introduced. We discuss evidence indicating that the context in which habituation has already taken place facilitates the habituation process for a new stimulus. This suggests that it becomes easier to ignore new stimuli in contexts where we have already learned to disregard other stimuli, underscoring the intricate interplay between habituation, context, and attentional processes. (shrink)

This article proposes an original analysis of the international debate on climate change through the use of digital methods. Its originality is twofold. First, it examines a corpus of reports covering 18 years of international climate negotiations, a dataset never explored before through digital techniques. This corpus is particularly interesting because it provides the most consistent and detailed reporting of the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Second, in this paper we test an original approach to (...) text analysis that combines automatic extractions and manual selection of the key issue-terms. Through this mixed approach, we tried to obtain relevant findings without imposing them on our corpus. The originality of our corpus and of our approach encouraged us to question some of the habits of digital research and confront three common misunderstandings about digital methods that we discuss in the first part of the article. In addition to reflecting on methodology, however, we also wanted to offer some substantial contribution to the understanding of UN-framed climate diplomacy. In the second part of the article we will therefore introduce some of the preliminary results of our analysis. By discussing three visualizations, we will analyze the thematic articulation of the climatic negotiations, the rise and fall of these themes over time and the visibility of different countries in the debate. (shrink)

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of visual aesthetic perception on event-related potentials . Eight subjects assigned an aesthetic judgment and a 10-step beauty estimation to the target stimuli, consisting of famous artistic pictures and geometric shapes. In a further task, the subjects performed a motor response to the previously judged pictures and geometric shapes. ERPs were recorded through 54 scalp electrodes during both tasks. The P3b amplitude was increased during the categorization of the geometric shapes (...) compared to the artistic figures and during the vision of the beautiful targets preceding the motor response. The categorization of the aesthetic qualities of geometrical shapes seems to induce a higher level of attention, while a higher arousal variation was elicited by the recognition of beauty, in any form that was presented. (shrink)

John Locke's account of personal identity is one of his most discussed theories. Opposing the Cartesian ontology of mind, Locke argued that the soul does not always think - for thinking is simply one of its operations, but not its essence -, and that personal identity consists in consciousness alone. Against Locke, an anonymous commentator published the Remarks upon an Essay concerning Humane Understanding charging Locke's view with possible immorality. Catharine Cockburn rebuffed the Remarker's objections, in her Defence of Mr. (...) Locke's Essay, depicting his view as more dangerous for morality than Locke's. This paper shifts the focus from Cockburn's defence of Locke's moral thought, to her apology for his theory of personal identity, including his probabilistic arguments in favour of the immortality of the soul. This shift of focus yields an alternative account of Cockburn's originality: first, because she offered a non-substance interpretation of Locke's theory of personal identity, that, for its time, was unusual, and remains relevant for contemporary philosophical debates over Locke; and second, because, following Kristeller, in the very act of defending and articulating anew Locke's theory, Cockburn in some sense appropriated it. (shrink)

Although excluded from the standard account of the history of philosophy, Catharine Trotter Cockburn avoided the 17th-century bias against female intellectual skills and was an active contributor to the early modern philosophical discourse. In her Defence of Mr. Locke’s Essay, she defended Locke from several criticisms by Thomas Burnet. By analysing three of Burnet’s main arguments, such as the theory of natural conscience, his anti-voluntarism, and his belief in the immateriality of the soul, Trotter showed that he often misinterpreted John (...) Locke’s principles, especially those concerning his moral epistemology. Moreover, beyond her apologetic aim, she also presented her own moral philosophy, arguing that the true ground of morality is the rational and social nature of human beings. Although Trotter was clearly inspired by John Locke, her Defence was not simply a vindication, and she was not his mere handmaiden, for her thought was original and independent in many respects. (shrink)

Catharine Trotter Cockburn (1679- 1749) fu poetessa, drammaturga e filosofa. La vivacità intellettuale e la forte determinazione le permisero di aggirare il pregiudizio di genere e di sottrarsi alle dinamiche di marginalizzazione femminile tipiche dell’età moderna. Pur celandosi dietro l’anonimato, Cockburn prese parte attiva al dibattito filosofico del tempo, intervenendo soprattutto in materia di morale. Le sue opere filosofiche, scritte in difesa di Locke o di Clarke, custodiscono, nonostante il dichiarato intento apologetico, tratti di originalità e indipendenza, particolarmente evidenti nella (...) teoria dell’obbligo morale, nell’interpretazione modale della dottrina lockeana d’identità personale, nell’ipotesi di una natura ontologica dello spazio. (shrink)

In February 1676, one of Leibniz's main concerns is with the problem of the seat of the soul and its relationship with the body, to which, in two very short papers, he provides two different solutions: the doctrine of the flos substantiae and the vortex theory. By analyzing the former, I suggest that, despite what other scholars claim, it is far from being an earlier exposition of the notion of monad. I argue that this doctrine is entertained by Leibniz only (...) for a period, but is rejected later on and excluded from the final monadic system. This hypothesis seems to be supported by the shift to the notion of a vortex, which – despite having some evident pantheistic and monistic implications – offers a different solution to the problem of mind-body union, by identifying the soul as the only cement of matter. In this article, by following the progress of such a shift, we discover some fascinating nuances in the young Leibniz's development. (shrink)

Catharine Trotter Cockburn (1679–1749) was a versatile, learned lady, whose intellectual activity, both as a dramatist and as a philosopher, has been increasingly analysed by scholars in the last d...

The volume provides the first book-length study of Chrysostomus Javelli’s philosophical works. An Italian university professor and a prominent figure in the intellectual landscape of sixteenth-century Europe, Javelli (ca. 1470-1540) was the author of insightful commentaries on both Plato and Aristotle as well as of original works in which he laid the foundations of a new Christian philosophy. In this volume, a group of leading scholars from around the world guide readers through the many facets of Javelli’s philosophical corpus, showing (...) the long-term impact of his ideas on Western philosophical thought. The twelve essays of this volume shed light on an understudied yet central figure of Renaissance culture, revealing new connections and unexplored influences. This book is a valuable tool for students and scholars of early modern philosophy, classical tradition, and Christian theology, contributing to the understanding of a neglected chapter of Western intellectual history. (shrink)

Catharine Trotter Cockburn Catharine Trotter Cockburn was an active contributor to early modern philosophical discourse in England, especially regarding morality. Her philosophical production was primarily in defense of John Locke and Samuel Clarke. Nevertheless, her thinking was original and independent in many respects. Cockburn’s moral philosophy combines elements of Locke's epistemology with Clarke’s fitness … Continue reading Cockburn, Catharine Trotter →.

Este trabajo incluye algunas reflexiones sobre los desafíos a los derechos que derivan del populismo, de la tecnología y de la geopolítica.

The first study, along with edition and translation, of Chrysostomus Javelli’s epitome of the _Liber de bona fortuna_ (1531), a work permitting insight into the early modern understanding of fortune, fate, and free will.

El presente trabajo se propone sintetizar y valorar críticamente los puntos más salientes del recientemente publicado libro Objetividad y ciencia en Cayetano. Una prefiguración de la Modernidad. Como podrá verse, se trata de una obra de gran relevancia para el campo ya que analiza y demuestra el carácter disruptivo que presentan algunas tesis de Tomás de Vio con respecto al pensamiento de Tomás de Aquino, a quien pretende estar comentando. Estos descubrimientos implican importantes consecuencias para el modo de comprender el (...) devenir de la escuela tomística fundada en torno a su legado. (shrink)

En este artículo respondo a las consideraciones incluidas en el fórum dedicado a mi libro La ley de la confianza, deteniéndome en particular en el rol de la filosofía del Derecho y en los ulteriores posibles desarrollos de la reflexión entre Derecho y confianza.