Visitare il “pianeta d’argento”, conquistare il silenzioso globo che rischiara ogni notte, è stato il sogno dell’uomo di età moderna. Tra Cinque e Settecento, infatti, dall’epoca delle grandi scoperte geografiche al secolo dei Lumi, scrittori, scienziati, uomini di fede e di cultura hanno tentato in ogni modo di concretizzare questa inafferrabile visione. Grazie a un lungo e minuzioso lavoro di ricerca, Marco Ghione racconta la loro storia e illustra le soluzioni tecniche che tanti, eccezionali cittadini della Repubblica delle Lettere (...) hanno elaborato per trasformare l’impossibile in realtà, dalle macchine volanti di Cyrano de Bergerac e Francis Godwin alle creature soprannaturali fantasticate da Keplero e Kircher. Intanto, scienziati e astronomi andavano puntualmente definendo le prime riproduzioni attendibili della superficie lunare, con una nomenclatura sistematica che, a partire dall’Almagestum novum di Giovanni Battista Riccioli, è giunta fino ai giorni nostri, all’impresa dell’Apollo 11 e allo sbarco sulla luna. Completa il volume la prima traduzione italiana di due testi fondamentali della letteratura in materia: l’Iter Lunare, di David Russen (1703), e A Trip to the Moon, di Murtagh McDermot (1727). (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:"Un editore, un dotto studioso … silenzioso e costante, instancabile": con questo elogio, in occasione della presentazione del Supplementum ad Bullarium Franciscanum di P. Cesare Cenci, O.F.M., presso l'università francescana di Via Merulana , P. Sergio Pagano, B., Prefetto dell'Archivio Segreto Vaticano, tracciava il profilo umano ed intellettuale dell'autore, elogiandone l'attesa pubblicazione come opera "in cui si coniugano diverse virtù "storiche" – per dir così – come l'accortezza diplomatica (...) necessaria per la comprensione tipologica dei testi, la destrezza paleografica nella lettura delle non facili grafie delle fonti , l'erudizione che sorregge le note, la visione matura dei problemi legati all'Ordine francescano e, non ultimo, il solido possesso di uno stile latino, molto vicino alla stessa terminologia coeva curiale delle fonti, che si diffonde in tutta l'opera" , 459-60.A distanza di quasi tre anni, martedì 16 gennaio 2007, nella splendida coreografia neogotica dell'Aula "Sant'Antonio" della Pontificia Università Antonianum di Roma, in occasione della Festa dell'Università e del Gran Cancelliere, si è svolta la cerimonia di conferimento della laurea "honoris causa" in Teologia al Prof. P. Cesare Cenci, docente di Codicologia.Hanno partecipato al solenne atto accademico – il quale ha avuto un solo precedente, che risale al 17 novembre 1955, con la consegna del medesimo riconoscimento al biblista francescano P. Gabriele Maria Allegra – il Vicario della Provincia Veneta di S. Antonio di Padova , P. Vittorio Bellè, Definitori Generali dell'Ordine francescano, decani e professori dell'Antonianum, rappresentanti delle università ecclesiastiche romane, P. Servus Gieben dell'Istituto Storico dei Cappuccini, membri del Collegio "S. Bonaventura" dei PP. Editori di Grottaferrata, il nipote Luciano Cenci, accompagnato dalla gentile consorte e figlio, ed esponenti del mondo accademico romano e nazionale.L'esecuzione di brani di Bach da parte del soprano Alessandra Migliorini ha introdotto la cerimonia. Il Segretario Generale dell'Antonianum, P. Marek Wach, O.F.M., ha ricordato le tre principali virtù di P. Cenci: la fedeltà assidua allo studio, la serietà della competenza che richiede disciplina e la passione per la ricerca scientifica, uno stile di vita che gli ha consentito di coniugare la vocazione della minoritas francescana con quella del ricercatore erudito.Ha fatto seguito l'intervento del Rettore, Prof. P. Johannes B. Freyer, O.F.M., che ha riferito le partecipazioni e le felicitazioni ricevute, tramite l'invio di telegrammi, fax ed e-mail, da esponenti del mondo accademico nazionale ed internazionale, in particolare specialisti nel settore del francescanesimo, dalla Società Internazionale di Studi Francescani e dalla Conferenza mondiale dei Rettori delle Università francescane, che si sono incontrati a Denver nella settimana che ha preceduto la cerimonia di consegna del prestigioso riconoscimento accademico al dotto francescano.P. Freyer ha ripercorso le tappe salienti del percorso biografico di P. Cenci: nato a Costalunga di Monteforte d'Alpone il 5 gennaio 1925, nel 1936 entrò nell'ordine francescano nel Collegio Serafico di Chiampo . Dopo il noviziato a S. Francesco del Deserto , compì gli studi liceali a Cormons , Monselice e Chiampo ; nel biennio 1945-46 studiò teologia a S. Michele in Isola e Motta di Livenza , dove, il 25 marzo 1947, emise la professione solenne. Il 26 giugno 1949 venne ordinato sacerdote da Mons. Giuseppe Zaffonato, Vescovo di Vittorio Veneto.Dopo essere stato destinato ad un centro missionario di cultura, del quale era stata programmata l'istituzione in Egitto presso Il Cairo , chiese di partire missionario per l'America centrale . I superiori decisero diversamente: venne inviato a studiare teologia morale presso il Pontificio Ateneo Antonianum di Roma . Terminato il curriculum accademico, fu incaricato dell'insegnamento di Teologia morale nello studentato teologico di Motta di Livenza e presso lo studio teologico "S. Bernardino" di Verona, dal 1957 al 1959, anno nel quale venne aggregato ai PP. Editori del Collegio "San.. (shrink)

A critical review about these three books: M. Failla, N. Sánchez Madrid (eds), "Las raíces del sentido. Un comentario sistemático de la «Crítica del Juicio»", Madrid, Ediciones Alamanda 2020, pp. 592; S. Marino, P. Terzi (eds), "Kant’s ‘Critique of Aesthetic Judgment’ in the 20th Century", Berlin, De Gruyter 2020, pp. 381; M. Failla, N. Sánchez Madrid (eds), "Kant on Emotions", Berlin, De Gruyter 2021, pp. 190.

Bricks and boxes -- Between Scylla and Charybdis -- Lessons from the history of science -- Placeholders -- Black-boxing 101 -- History of science 'black-boxing style' -- Diet mechanistic philosophy -- Emergence reframed -- The fuel of scientific progress -- Sailing through the strait.

Sometimes, we act in concert with others, as when we go for a walk together, or when two mathematicians try to prove a difficult theorem with each other. An interesting question is what distinguishes the actions of individuals that together constitute some joint activity from those that amount to a mere aggregation of individual behaviours. It is common for philosophers to appeal to collective intentionality to explain such instances of shared agency. This framework generalizes the approach traditionally used to explain (...) individual action: a behaviour is an action just in case it causally follows from the relevant intention. Contemporary philosophers of action, as well as cognitive psychologists, however, have criticised this way of explaining individual actions, favouring instead an approach that puts “control” or “guidance” as the discerning factor: a behaviour is an action just in case the agent controls it, or just in case it is guided by the agent. In this paper, I argue that we should include talk of guidance even in cases of joint action. I first show that problems of deviant causation arise also in cases of joint action, and that therefore guidance is required to face this issue. Then, I show what a “capacity to guide” amounts to for a group and how joint guidance relates to individual guidance. Joint guidance is actually constituted by task co-representation and the sense of commitment. I argue that an approach that favours joint guidance over collective intentions eschews a lot of metaphysical problems about collective mentality and group subjects, and it is thus more explanatorily fruitful. (shrink)

This article gives a practice-based overview of the implementation aspects of Corporate Responsibility. After discussing the success factors for implementing Corporate Responsibility, the article describes a model for implementing Corporate Responsibility. Special attention is given to the success factors in the subsequent phases of implementation (sensitivity to the organizational environment, awareness of core values and clear leadership), to ensure that the most optimal results attainable for the organization can be reached. The implementation-model is clarified by looking at experiences in implementing (...) Corporate Responsibility at Chiquita. (shrink)

This volume shows how late medieval dream-poetry explored problems arising from the reception of Aristotle's philosophical work concerning human knowledge. Marco Nievergelt explores how the work of three medieval poets in the genre of allegorical fiction addressed these problems in distinctive, non-academic terms.

In the “Sala dei Mesi” of Palazzo Schifanoia the months and the zodiacal constellations go from right to left, while the decans (three for every sign) go in the opposite direction. This problem was not clarified by Aby Warburg in his well-known essay Italian Art and International Astrology in the Palazzo Schifanoia of Ferrara (1912). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons of this double direction.

In Unfit for the Future, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu present a sophisticated argument in defense of the imperative of moral enhancement. They claim that without moral enhancement, the future of humanity is seriously compromised. The possibility of ultimate harm, caused by a dreadful terrorist attack or by a final unpreventable escalation of the present environmental crisis aggravated by the availability of cognitive enhancement, makes moral enhancement a top priority. It may be considered optimistic to think that our present moral (...) capabilities can be successfully improved by means of moral education, moral persuasion, and fear of punishment. So, without moral enhancement, drastic restrictions on human freedom would become the only alternative to prevent those dramatic potential outcomes. In this article, I will try to show that we still have reason to be less pessimistic and that Persson & Savulescu’s arguments are fortunately unconvincing. (shrink)

Esse artigo parte da arte, da ficção científica e da literatura fantástica para propor uma outra cosmopolítica, divergente daquela que sustentaria, simultaneamente, realismo literário e etnocentrismo ocidental.

Questo saggio si concentra sul tema dell’ordine dell’anima ( _ ordo animae _ ) nell’etica di Alberto Magno (1200 ca.-1280). Ispirandosi a varie _ sententiae _ bibliche e integrandole con la fondamentale idea dell’ _ Etica Nicomachea _ di Aristotele per cui il fine della filosofia morale è diventare buoni ( _ ut boni fiamus _ ), Alberto concepisce l’etica non come mero “discorso filosofico”, per prendere a prestito un’etichetta da Pierre Hadot, ma come un’attività la cui preoccupazione primaria è (...) l’ordinamento – e la trasformazione e liberazione che ne seguono – di sé. Il fatto che Alberto sviluppi tale riflessione sia nei suoi commenti filosofici che in quelli biblici, affidandosi in entrambi i casi sia a fonti aristoteliche che scritturiste, testimonia poi che la sua filosofia e la sua esegesi biblica, solitamente ritratte come radicalmente separate, sono, in realtà, profondamente connesse. _ This essay focuses on the theme of the order of the soul ( _ ordo animae _ ) in the ethics of Albert the Great (1200 ca.-1280). Drawing on several biblical _ sententiae _ and integrating them with the fundamental idea of Aristotle’s _ Nicomachean Ethics _ that the end of moral philosophy is to become good ( _ ut boni fiamus _ ), Albert conceives of ethics not as a mere “philosophical discourse”, to borrow a label from Pierre Hadot, but as an activity whose primary concern is the ordering – and the consequent transformation and liberation – of the self. The fact that Albert develops such a reflection in both his philosophical and biblical commentaries, relying in either case on both Aristotelian and scriptural sources, testifies then that his philosophy and biblical exegesis, which are usually portrayed as radically separate, are, in fact, deeply connected. _. (shrink)

Plain disjunctive sentences, such as _The mystery box contains a blue ball or a yellow ball_, typically imply that the speaker does not know which of the two disjuncts is true. This is known as an ignorance inference. We can distinguish between two aspects of this inference: the negated universal upper bound part (i.e., the speaker is uncertain about each disjunct), which we call uncertainty, and the existential lower bound part (i.e., the speaker considers each disjunct possible), which we call (...) possibility. In the traditional approach, uncertainty is derived as a primary implicature, from which possibility follows. In this paper, we report on two experiments using a sentence-picture verification task based on the mystery box paradigm that challenge the traditional implicature approach. Our findings show that possibility can arise without uncertainty, and we thus call for a reevaluation of the traditional view of disjunction and ignorance inferences. Our experimental findings are related to similar results involving disjunction in embedded contexts and pave the way for alternative theories that can account for the observed patterns of inference derivation in a unified fashion. We discuss how recent implicature and non-implicature theories can account for the derivation of existential lower bound inferences without the presence of negated universal upper bound inferences. (shrink)

The paper analyses the significance of the modern concept of „symmetry“ for the understanding of the concept of „intuition“ in Kant's philosophy of geometry. A symmetry transformation or automorphism is a structure preserving mapping of the space into itself that leaves all relevant structure intact so that the result is always like the original, in all relevant respects. Hermann Weyl was the first to show that this idea can be drawn on Leibniz's definition of similarity: two figures are similar if (...) they are only distinguishable through the simultaneous perception of them ( comperceptio ): „an automorphism carries a figure into one that in Leibniz's words is ‚indiscernible from it if each of the two figures is considered by itself‘“. The author argues that, under the light of this definition, Leibniz's notion of „comperceptio“ turns out to play a similar role for the notion of „intuition“ in Kant's philosophy of space and time. Both cases are about the „difference between conceptual definition and intuitive exhibition“, as Weyl puts it. This result has on the one hand an exegetical significance: it frees Kant's notion of „intuition“ from every vague reference to the „visualisation“ of geometrical figures; on the other hand a theoretical one: it makes easy to compare Kant's philosophy of space and time with modern developments of sciences, in which as Weyl first showed, the concept of symmetry plays a fundamental role. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The paper aims to show that Rahel Jaeggi's objections to Walzer's model of internal critique are in many respects inconsistent, and above all that these objections are a sign of a political deficit in the neo-Hegelian methodology adopted by Jaeggi to develop her model of immanent critique. The same deficit concerns Jaeggi's use of Marx's model of the critique of ideology, which can be fruitfully reworked by Walzer's reinterpretation of Gramsci's theory of the struggle for hegemony.

A standard approach to examining Deleuze's concept of difference in Difference and Repetition is to follow his critique of representation through an overturning of Platonism, which Deleuze finds to be the definitive task of philosophy after Nietzsche. While engaging this largely critical project, however, there is a tendency to overlook the dimensions of Platonism that Deleuze rehabilitates in a differential and immanent register. This paper aims to recover the essential dimensions of Platonism at the very heart of Deleuze's philosophy of (...) difference. This recovery is accomplished by distinguishing Nietzsche's overturning of Platonism through his evaluation of the reactive politics of the Idea from Deleuze's own reversal of Platonism through his evaluation of the active politics of simulacra. (shrink)

The aims of this paper are threefold: To show that game-playing (GP), the discipline of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concerned with the development of automated game players, has a strong epistemological relevance within both AI and the vast area of cognitive sciences. In this context games can be seen as a way of securely reducing (segmenting) real-world complexity, thus creating the laboratory environment necessary for testing the diverse types and facets of intelligence produced by computer models. This paper aims to promote (...) the belief that games represent an excellent tool for the project of computational psychology (CP). To underline how, despite this, GP has mainly adopted an engineering-inspired methodology and in doing so has distorted the framework of cognitive functionalism. Many successes (i.e. chess, checkers) have been achieved refusing human-like reasoning. The AI has appeared to work well despite ignoring an intrinsic motivation, that of creating an explanatory link between machines and mind. To assert that substantial improvements in GP may be obtained in the future only by renewed interest in human-inspired models of reasoning and in other cognitive studies. In fact, if we increase the complexity of games (from NP-Completeness to AI-Completeness) in order to reproduce real-life problems, computer science techniques enter an impasse. Many of AI’s recent GP experiences can be shown to validate this. The lack of consistent philosophical foundations for cognitive AI and the minimal philosophical commitment of AI investigation are two of the major reasons that play an important role in explaining why CP has been overlooked. (shrink)

This paper presents two studies on the development and validation of a ten-item scale of epistemic vice and the relationship between epistemic vice and misinformation and fake news. Epistemic vices have been defined as character traits that interfere with acquiring, maintaining, and transmitting knowledge. Examples of epistemic vice are gullibility and indifference to knowledge. It has been hypothesized that epistemically vicious people are especially susceptible to misinformation and conspiracy theories. We conducted one exploratory and one confirmatory observational survey study on (...) Amazon Mechanical Turk among people living in the United States (total _N_ = 1737). We show that two psychological traits underlie the range of epistemic vices that we investigated: indifference to truth and rigidity. Indifference manifests itself in a lack of motivation to find the truth. Rigidity manifests itself in being insensitive to evidence. We develop a scale to measure epistemic vice with the subscales indifference and rigidity. The Epistemic Vice Scale is internally consistent; has good convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity; and is strongly associated with the endorsement of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Epistemic vice explains additional variance in the endorsement of misinformation and conspiracy theories over and above demographic and related psychological concepts and shows medium to large effect sizes across outcome measures. We demonstrate that epistemic vice differs from existing psychological constructs, and show that the scale can explain individual differences in dealing with misinformation and conspiracy theories. We conclude that epistemic vice might contribute to “postfactive” ways of thinking. (shrink)

What is mathematics about? And if it is about some sort of mathematical reality, how can we have access to it? This is the problem raised by Plato, which still today is the subject of lively philosophical disputes. This book traces the history of the problem, from its origins to its contemporary treatment. It discusses the answers given by Aristotle, Proclus and Kant, through Frege's and Russell's versions of logicism, Hilbert's formalism, Gödel's platonism, up to the the current debate on (...) Benacerraf's dilemma and the indispensability argument. Through the considerations of themes in the philosophy of language, ontology, and the philosophy of science, the book aims at offering an historically-informed introduction to the philosophy of mathematics, approached through the lenses of its most fundamental problem. (shrink)

In combating the ongoing global health threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, decision-makers have to take actions based on a multitude of relevant health data with severe potential consequences for the affected patients. Because of their presumed advantages in handling and analyzing vast amounts of data, computer systems of algorithmic decision-making are implemented and substitute humans in decision-making processes. In this study, we focus on a specific application of ADM in contrast to human decision-making, namely the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines to (...) the public. In particular, we elaborate on the role of trust and social group preference on the legitimacy of vaccine allocation. We conducted a survey with a 2 × 2 randomized factorial design among n = 1602 German respondents, in which we utilized distinct decision-making agents and prioritization of a specific social group as design factors. Our findings show that general trust in ADM systems and preference for vaccination of a specific social group influence the legitimacy of vaccine allocation. However, contrary to our expectations, trust in the agent making the decision did not moderate the link between social group preference and legitimacy. Moreover, the effect was also not moderated by the type of decision-maker. We conclude that trustworthy ADM systems must not necessarily lead to the legitimacy of ADM systems. (shrink)

Embodiment and embeddedness define an attractive framework to the study of cognition. I discuss whether theory of mind, i.e. the ability to attribute mental states to others to predict and explain their behaviour, fits these two principles. In agreement with available evidence, embodied cognitive processes may underlie the earliest manifestations of social cognitive abilities such as infants’ selective behaviour in spontaneous-response false belief tasks. Instead, late theory-of-mind abilities, such as the capacity to pass the (elicited-response) false belief test at age (...) four, depend on children’s ability to explain people’s reasons to act in conversation with adults. Accordingly, rather than embodied, late theory-of-mind abilities are embedded in an external linguistic practice. (shrink)

When it comes to Second and Foreign Language Teaching, the teaching of pronunciation has, for long, been neglected and it has not been given due attention in textbooks. Additionally, studies tend to focus on only some intonation patterns such as wh- questions and yes-no questions, leaving other patterns which are as important unexplored. Thus, a research gap is generated. This study aims to narrow that gap by means of exploring the effectiveness of the teaching of intonation to Spanish-speaking trainee teachers (...) at a Chilean university. The study focuses on a less familiar intonation pattern, that of utterances which express implied information, namely, implications. The study involved 9 participants who were in the process of becoming English teachers and who were enrolled in an English phonetics course. All participants took a pre-test followed by a four-session intervention on the intonation of English implications and a post-test which involved the reading of 29 prompts. In order to compare pre- and post-test results, a Wilcoxon signed-ranked test was run. The results drawn from the non-parametric test revealed that the participants were able to perform English intonation for implications better after having received training than before the treatment, Z=-2,668, p=0,008. (shrink)

The paper attempts to clarify a fundamental similarity and some relevant differences between empirical-scientific and fictional thought experiments. For this purpose, the second section of the paper provides a brief outline of a quasi-Kantian account of thought experiments (TE) in the empirical sciences from the viewpoint of a radically functional, strictly not material, a priori. On the basis of this account, a fundamental similarity and two main differences between empirical-scientific and narrative thought experiments are brought to the fore: the counterfactual (...) construction of idealised scenarios is a fundamental characteristic that is shared by scientific and fictional thought experiments (and, more generally, by science and art). The differences depend on the different intentionalities to which this construction is subordinated. Fictional TEs, instead of resolving the dimension of counterfactuality in real empirical facts or processes, use it to transpose certain cultural contents (thoughts, feelings, possible courses of action, etc.) into a dimension outside any particular space and time, which are able to produce a symbolic shelter that protects us from the particular adverse events of concrete life. This, on the one hand, generates in us the feeling of pleasure or enjoyment that tradition has so often linked to artistic enjoyment and, on the other, urges us, implicitly or explicitly, to re-enact those contents in the first person and to take an evaluative stance towards them. (shrink)

Young children interpret some acts performed by adults as normatively governed, that is, as capable of being performed either rightly or wrongly. In previous experiments, children have made this interpretation when adults introduced them to novel acts with normative language (e.g. ‘this is the way it goes’), along with pedagogical cues signaling culturally important information, and with social-pragmatic marking that this action is a token of a familiar type. In the current experiment, we exposed children to novel actions with no (...) normative language, and we systematically varied pedagogical and social-pragmatic cues in an attempt to identify which of them, if either, would lead children to normative interpretations. We found that young 3-year-old children inferred normativity without any normative language and without any pedagogical cues. The only cue they used was adult socialpragmatic marking of the action as familiar, as if it were a token of a well-known type (as opposed to performing it, as if inventing it on the spot). These results suggest that – in the absence of explicit normative language – young children interpret adult actions as normatively governed based mainly on the intentionality (perhaps signaling conventionality) with which they are performed. (shrink)

O presente artigo propõe uma interpretação deflacionista para a doutrina da essência absolutamente considerada , apresentada por Tomás de Aquino no opúsculo "De ente et essentia". O norte do trabalho é a análise das expressões reduplicativas que são constantemente utilizadas pelo Doutor Angélico para designar as EAC's. Portanto, pretendo mostrar que a EAC é a consideração dos predicados essenciais, que se predicam das expressões reduplicadas, diferentemente da noção acidental de existência. Por isso, a EAC não existe nem no intelecto nem (...) na realidade, o que, dito em outras palavras, significa apenas que "existir no intelecto" e "existir na realidade" são predicados acidentais em relação às essências apreendidas abstrativamente pela mente. This paper proposes a deflationist interpretation of the doctrine of the Nature as such, which Thomas Aquinas exposes in his work "De ente et essentia". The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of reduplicative expressions used by Aquinas to refer nature as such. Hence, I will show that the nature as such is the consideration of the essential properties predicated by the reduplicative expressions, diverse from the accidental notion of 'existence'. Consequently, nature as such does not exist in the intellect and do not exist in reality, for in other words 'existing in the intellect' and 'existing in the reality' are accidental predicates when attributed to essences grasped by the mind. (shrink)

Debates on the moral status of human embryos have been highly and continuously controversial. For many, these controversies have turned into a fruitless scholastical endeavor. However, recent developments and insights in cellular biology have cast further doubt on one of the core points of dissent: the argument from potentiality. In this article we want to show in a nonscholastical way why this argument cannot possibly survive. Getting once more into the intricacies of status debates is a must in our eyes. (...) Not merely intellectual coherence but the standing and self-understanding of current stem cell research might profit from finally taking leave of the argument from potentiality. (shrink)

Recent accounts of mindreading—i.e., the human capacity to attribute mental states to interpret, explain, and predict behavior—have suggested that it has evolved through cultural rather than biological evolution. Although these accounts describe the role of culture in the ontogenetic development of mindreading, they neglect the question of the cultural origins of mindreading in human prehistory. We discuss four possible models of this, distinguished by the role they posit for culture: the standard evolutionary psychology model, the individualist empiricist model, the cultural (...) empiricist model, and the radical socio-cultural constructivist model, which we favor. We motivate model by arguing that many forms of mental state ascription do not serve the function of simply describing inner states causally responsible for the behavior of a cognitive agent; rather, they relate the agent to her environment by characterizing her practical commitments. Making these practical commitments explicit has an important regulatory function in that it supports action coordination and alignment on joint goals. We propose a model of how the ascription of mental states may have evolved as a linguistic device to perform exactly this function of making agents’ practical commitments explicit. (shrink)

Il volume raccoglie una settantina di testi di Norberto Bobbio - filosofo, storico, politologo, grande maître à penser del Novecento - definibili come "scritti d'impegno civile": quelli cioè in cui con maggior nettezza emerge il problematico rapporto tra l'etica e la politica. Frutto di una selezione estrema, i testi si dispongono secondo uno schema binario, per coppie dilemmatiche o contigue, secondo un caratteristico modo di procedere del suo pensiero. La scelta dei testi e la ricca curatela sono (...) firmate da Marco Revelli, noto storico, sociologo, professore "antiaccademico" e saggista. (shrink)

- Biological and cognitive systems have the capa- bility of developing new goals during phylogenesis of species or during ontogenesis of single individuals. On the other hand, current artificial cognitive systems focus on how achieving a given fixed set of hard-wired goals. They search an optimal solution of a problem, given a set of goals and a set of optimiza- tion criteria. They look for “how” to achieve a given goal. Natural agents develop new goals in order to cope with (...) par- tially unknown and ever changing environment. They must find “what” they want to achieve and not only “how”. The development of new goals on the basis of the interaction with the environment is here defined the “what” problem. The de- velopment of a collection of goals permits to redefine the con- cept of Umwelt in what could be considered the teleological Umwelt of an agent. The objective of this paper is twofold: i) to outline the “what” problem and ii) to describe a robotic archi- tecture capable of addressing it. (shrink)