In the wake of Brexit and Trump, the debate surrounding post-truth fills the newspapers and is at the center of the public debate. Democratic institutions and the rule of law have always been constructed and legitimized by discourses of truth. And so the issue of "post-truth" or "fake truth" can be regarded as a contemporary degeneration of that legitimacy. But what, precisely, is post-truth from a theoretical point of view? Can it actually change perceptions of law, of institutions and political (...) power? And can it affect our understanding of society and social relations? What are its ideological premises? What are the technical conditions that foster it? And most importantly, does it have anything to teach lovers of the truth? Pursuing an interdisciplinary perspective, this book gathers both well-known and newer scholars from a range of subject areas, to engage in a philosophical interrogation of the relationship between truth and law. (shrink)

The notion of transgenerational community is usually based on two diachronic interactions. The first interaction consists of present generations taking up the legacy (not only economic, but also institutional, artistic, cultural, and so forth) of past generations and giving it continuity, exercising a form of active agency. The second interaction occurs when present generations pass on their legacy to future generations. This is supposed to expand the boundaries of the community in a transgenerational sense (both backward- and forward-looking). In this (...) article we argue that the transgenerational community can be grounded on a different ontological insight: future generations play the role of fictional actors for present generations, i.e., present generations entertain a present-time interaction with future generations, insofar as future generations are functional for the realization of transgenerational actions. This lays the foundations for more solid community-based bonds of intergenerational justice. (shrink)

If societies, like institutions, are built to endure, then the bond that exists between generations must be considered. Constructing a framework to establish a philosophy of future generations, Tiziana Andina explores the factors that make it possible for a society to reproduce over time. Andina's study of the diachronic structure of societies considers the never-ending passage of generations, as each new generation comes to form a part of the new social fabric and political model. Her model draws on the anthropologies (...) offered by classical political philosophies such as Hobbes and Macchiavelli and the philosophies of power as discussed by Nietzsche. She confronts the ethics and function of this fundamental relationship, examines the role of transgenerationality in the formation and endurance of Western democracies and recognizes an often overlooked problem: each new generation must form part of social and political arrangements designed for them by the generations that came before. (shrink)

It is more difficult to feel emotions for future generations than for those who currently exist, and this seems to be one of the reasons why we struggle to care for the future. According to a number of authors, who have recently focused on the psychological flaws that prevent us from dealing with transgenerational issues, the main problem is “future discounting”. Challenging this common view, we argue that the main reason we struggle to care about future generations lies in two (...) features of our daily emotions: the «identified victim effect» and the decrease in empathy for people who are different from us. These traits give rise to two puzzles we call the problem of the indeterminateness of future persons and the problem of dissimilarity. After having analyzed these problems of our moral psychology, we show how they allow us to account for some differences in affectivity towards a number of entities that do not currently exist, such as future generations, past generations and fictional characters. Bearing in mind the real limits of our emotions when dealing with future people, we sketch an alternative proposal on how to develop emotions to provide citizens of liberal democracies with a motivation to act in favor of future generations. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThe Imperative of Responsibility, by the German philosopher Hans Jonas, is a work that aspires to a re-foundation of ethics based on an analysis of the contemporary world as well as on a prediction about the fate of globalized humanity. Through a discussion of the fundamental concepts of Jonas’ work, the essay shows that the central themes of his research, which are still very relevant today, should be addressed by moving from the ethical level to that of ontology and social (...) ontology in particular. To this end, the paper offers a definition of transgenerational action that aims to replace Jonas’ use of prevision. The transgenerational action is here considered as a particular type of social action: that which enables societies to exist over time. Finally, the essay proposes an essential taxonomy of transgenerational actions, showing how working on this notion might lead to a consciously utopian and positive social model. (shrink)

The Domain of Social Ontology -- Theories -- State and Justice -- A Cross-Section of Power.

Why should one take action to move toward a greener world if doing so will cause the birth of a totally different group of future people? This chapter starts from the metaphysical evidence that many collective climate actions imply a change in the identity of future generations, as opposed to a counterfactual laissez-faire attitude. The climatic fallout from the non-identity paradox introduced by Derek Parfit is examined to determine if and how a principle of transgenerational responsibility can be defended against (...) this metaphysical complexity. The paradox is divided into a moral argument, based on the person-affecting view of harm, and a metaphysical premise, treating non-identity as a result of variations in timing and pair combination of a person’s conception. Three strategies to circumvent the moral argument are explored: non-consequentialist accounts of harm, moral thresholds, and impersonal ethics. However, it is argued that all three strategies fall short or come with too high a cost. The metaphysical premise is then examined through the introduction of transgenerational actions in relation to the climate crisis. A principle of transgenerational responsibility applicable to climate change mitigation is inferred from the hypothetical consent to be obtained from those who will continue transgenerational actions in the future. (shrink)

“What is art?” All in all it sounds like a fairly trivial question: art is so ingrained in our world that intuitively we believe everyone is able to answer it. If we look at this question closely, however, we realize that things are not so simple. Among the first who tried to clarify the issue was Plato, one of the most ardent Western philosophers for definitions. In the 10th book of the Republic he drew a long lasting distinction: the objects (...) that make up our universe are divided among the most perfect ones, the ideas, after which everything is shaped, the less perfect ones, the material things, which are modeled after the ideas, and at the bottom of the hierarchy there are the works of art, which are more flawed, imperfect, useless and even dangerous than material things in general. It has been written that the history of philosophy is ‘nothing but a series of footnotes to Plato’. As far as the philosophy of art is concerned that is certainly true until the 20th century, when - at least since Modernism - the elegant Platonic thesis began to show signs of aging and it was no longer able to provide a good answer to the question with which we began. The talk develops the idea that the works of art are a kind of higher order objects; in particular, they are semantics vehicles, namely objects that carry meanings, which are the product of human representations. (shrink)

The research Lucia Pizzo Russo carried out all over her academic and scientific career is focussed on a the following idea: human mind and behaviour make up a cognitive device from whose complexity stems an evolutionary advantage. Hence, the psychological study of mind should take into account all those cognitive functions that underlie man’s ability of perceiving structures and affordances in the visual world as much as of solving problems, where perception and thought deeply interact, and of giving shape to (...) representations, be they artistic forms or scientific theories. But for an adequate psychological account to obtain that complexity must be traded off against the assumption that mind and behaviour are a psychophysical unity. That means that cognition does imply a neurobiological basis, and at the same time that a phenomenological stance is required just as that instanced by Gestalt psychology. In this interview a picture of a piece of life is meant to be given as it goes along with a research whose reference are issues in psychology, psychology of arts and such figures as Brandi, Piaget, Gombrich, Arnheim, Bozzi. (shrink)

In this volume edited by Tiziana Andina and the contributors addresses some of the most compelling philosophical questions today, offering an exhaustive companion to Western philosophy through the past fifty years that bridges the Analytical Continental divide.

Is judgement still possible in art? The present paper tries to answer this question, exploring the two-main forms of judgement in the domain of art: the ontological-artistic judgment (regarding the identity of works of art) and the aesthetic judgement (regarding their aesthetic properties). Arguing that the most philosophically interesting cases are those in which judgment seems impossible, the article explores the elements necessary for the formulation of the two judgements that make up the domain of art.

The multidimensional nature of climate change makes it a complex matter, on both the theoretical and practical planes. The urgency and centrality of the issues and problems it poses are of key importance for our species and its survival. In this paper, we propose pairing the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities – the cornerstone of climate talks over the last thirty years – with the criterion of transgenerational responsibility. Such a criterion seeks to focus particular attention on the issues (...) of diachronic justice and, in particular, intergenerational justice. (shrink)

Ever since the last century art seems to be characterized by a powerful metareflective vocation. The works of Mimmo Paladino represent an effective barrier in this deconstructive movement and allow art to preserve the memory of its own narrative vocation.

Abbozzando nel Fedro una indagine genealogica sull’origine dell’arte, Platone coglie un tratto fondamentale. Si tratta del legame assai profondo che unisce l’arte alla regina delle proprietà estetiche, la bellezza. L’arte è portata a ricercare costantemente la bellezza, questa la tesi, poiché alla sua origine vi sarebbe una tensione erotica che trova nella bellezza, insieme, una via privilegiata di espressione e un elemento di attrazione. Una seconda e non meno autorevole genealogia dell’orig...

Intanto, chi è Testadura? Nel 1964 Arthur C. Danto pubblica sul “Journal of Philosophy” un saggio destinato a diventare un punto di riferimento importante per l’estetica analitica del Novecento: The Artworld. Testadura è il personaggio – dal simpatico nome italiano – che incarna il punto di vista opposto a quello sostenuto da Danto. Il problema che incuriosisce il filosofo americano, spingendolo a elaborare una filosofia dell’arte per molti versi originale è, in realtà, una questione tipicame...

The concepts of embodiment and medium lie at the core of Arthur Danto's philosophy. As Danto underlines in Connections to the World, one speaks of embodiment when describing a state in which two objects with different properties constitute a single object, as the mind and body together constitute the human being. Humans are basically entes rapresentantes as their representative ability, their ability to process thoughts and incorporate them in language and, ultimately, their willingness to produce and enjoy art, are key (...) elements to their nature. The chapter explores, drawing on Danto's account of embodiment, how some of the properties that are attributed to a representation depend on how it is embodied. Danto deals with the visual arts in a particular way, although he always believed that his philosophy of art was essentialist and universally applicable to any form of art. (shrink)

Estetica, ermeneutica e ontologia sono le tre parole chiave utili per comprendere il percorso teorico di Maurizio Ferraris. Utilizzando una cifra narrativa di carattere autobiografico, l’articolo ripercorre taluni momenti della filosofia ferrarisiana cercando di evidenziare alcune cifre caratteristiche.

Il 1964 è una data importante per la filosofia di Arthur C. Danto. Durante la tarda primavera di quell’anno i responsabili della Stable Gallery di New York esposero una gran quantità di scatoloni, di dimensioni diverse e del tutto simili a quelli che si potevano vedere negli scaffali dei supermercati americani. Danto dice spesso di intendere quell’evento come la sua personale rivoluzione copernicana. Non dobbiamo dimenticare che ancora durante gli anni Sessanta del secolo scorso i filosofi an...

The essay has two main aims: (a) to provide an explanation of the ontology on which is based the concept of the “art world”; and, on the basis of that account, (b) to inquire whether the so-called Institutional Theories of Art are well founded. I will argue that it is not possible to consider the art world as a social institution and that, because of this, the so-called Institutional Theories of Art lack a secure foundation.

That’s my whole philosophy of art in a nutshell, finding the deep difference between art and craft, artworks and mere thing, when members from either class look exactly similar. What serves the purposes of ontology also serves the purpose of criticism. When you have found a similarity, avert your eyes and look for the explanation of how different artistic expression can look like affines of one another. Provo a iniziare con un indovinello: quale filosofo potrebbe avere nel salotto di casa, (...) a... (shrink)

In its mainstream analysis, social ontology seems to make use of the modern idea of subjectivity. Margaret Gilbert, and David Lewis in his previous book on conventions, consider the subject as an auto transparent postulate. The thesis I will discuss in this paper is based on the idea that the ethical position outlined by Friedrich Nietzsche, which remains problematic in its positive outcomes, becomes a useful instrument for the comprehension of the pre-institutional components of the social world when applied to (...) an entirely different and more articulate framework such as those offered by contemporary social ontologies. (shrink)

It is known how much of the work that Arthur Danto has dedicated to the philosophy of art has concerned the concept of representation and, specifically, the concept of artistic representation. The basic thesis that Danto developed starting from The Artworld (1965) consists in the idea that art should be considered as a particular type of representation, as opposed to what Plato had suggested, who considered it as a form of mimesis of reality. The article will show how this Dantian (...) thesis, which is based on the notion of artistic representation exhibited by Friedrich Nietzsche in the Birth of Tragedy, firstly hides a partial misunderstanding of Nietzsche's theses, and secondly reveals a philosophical error equal to and contrary to that made by Plato. We will also show how art is often a form of mimesis and how different types of mimesis are in fact compatible with artistic representation. Finally, we will show how mimesis and representation offer different forms of knowledge that belong to the art of all times. (shrink)

Our intuitions related to art are generally associated to ideas such as creativity, freedom of expression, experimentation. The fact that so many artists (especially writers, but also musicians, painters, performance artists) are or have been people with training in legal disciplines should be taken into account when considering the apparently extrinsic relationship between art and law. The question we have to answer is the following. When we make a judgment of taste looking, say, at the Mona Lisa, what does that (...) mean exactly? What do we mean when we say that “the Mona Lisa is beautiful and an absolute masterpiece of Western art”? This statement contains a judgment of taste (Mona Lisa is beautiful) and an artistic judgment (it is a masterpiece of Western art). In what follows I will show that: i) the two judgments are different, ii) both judgments have normative nature, but the normativity of the judgment of taste refers to different elements from the artistic judgment and, finally, iii) contemporary visual arts require the formulation of an artistic judgment rather than a judgment of taste. (shrink)

Il 1964 è una data importante per la filosofia di Arthur C. Danto. Durante la tarda primavera di quell’anno i responsabili della Stable Gallery di New York esposero una gran quantità di scatoloni, di dimensioni diverse e del tutto simili a quelli che si potevano vedere negli scaffali dei supermercati americani. Danto dice spesso di intendere quell’evento come la sua personale rivoluzione copernicana. Non dobbiamo dimenticare che ancora durante gli anni Sessanta del secolo scorso i filosofi an...

«Everything is what it is, and not another thing»: Roberta De Monticelli avrebbe forse potuto servirsi dell’epigrafe che George Moore pose come incipit dei Principia Ethica, nel 1922, per intitolare il suo nuovo libro. Sceglie invece un titolo che richiama Nietzsche e ciò che il suo pensiero ha rappresentato, per porre l’accento su un disegno teorico che percorre tutto il libro: tornare al di qua del nietzschianesimo, del suo scetticismo epistemologico e assiologico, per riprenderci non solo...

Institutions are naturally seen as the stable and relatively fixed backbone of the social world. While the structural role of institutions is usually discussed in social ontology, the temporal implications of this regulation are often overlooked. It is indeed tempting to take a present-centred approach to institutions. The latter clearly are instrumental in stabilizing and structuring the social coordination between a number of actors. But it is all too easy to focus only on their role in syn...

Pop Art is one of the most prominent artistic movement of the Nineteenth century whose legacy is very influent also in this century. After a brief historical reconstruction of the origins of Pop Art in Great Britain and in the United State, the paper will offer a comparison between the Warholian way of interpreting Pop Art — a realistic way — the Lichtensteinian way, which is fantastic, and the personal interpretation offered by Ugo Nespolo whose Pop is fabulist and fabulous.