Tertiary qualities have been studied primarily by Gestalt psychologists. My aim in this article is to revisit the theoretical assumptions regarding tertiary qualities. I start from the Galilean distinction of the qualities of experience, the Lockean subdivision of qualities, the subjectivist definition in aesthetics and the theoretical contribution of Gestalt theory, to show the theoretical value of ‘tertiary qualities’ in the current context of experimental psychological research. I conclude that tertiary qualities are a crucial keyword for an experimental psychology based (...) on the primacy of perception. Such a perspective is in favour of a neo-Gestalt Experimental Phenomenology. (shrink)

The paper studies the medieval tradition of the 9th century al-Khwarizmi’s handbook on algebra compared with its Latin translation by Gerard of Cremona, later translated in Italian vernacular by an anonymous Florentine abacus master, during the 14th century. This long journey along five centuries and three countries deals accurately with the mathematical contents; by means of analysis of explicit and implied elements in the three works, we also focus on the different historical backgrounds, the social condition of the authors, the (...) cultural, mindset-related and religious obstacles they had to take into consideration, while disseminating these calculation techniques, and, finally, their teaching style. (shrink)

The concept of natural kind is center stage in the debates about scientific realism. Champions of scientific realism such as Richard Boyd hold that our most developed scientific theories allow us to “cut the world at its joints” (Boyd, 1981, 1984, 1991). In the long run we can disclose natural kinds as nature made them, though as science progresses improvements in theory allow us to revise the extension of natural kind terms.