Volume 15, Issue 4, December 2024, Page 464-481.

This volume is the second part of a project which hosts an interdisciplinary discussion about the relationship among law and language, legal practice and ordinary conversation, legal philosophy and the linguistics sciences. An international group of authors, from cognitive science, philosophy of language and philosophy of law question about how legal theory and pragmatics can enrich each other. In particular, the first part is devoted to the analysis of how pragmatics can solve problems related to legal theory: What can pragmatics (...) teach about the concept of law and its relationship with moral, and, in particular, about the eternal dispute between legal positivism and legal naturalism? What can pragmatics teach about the concept of law and/or legal disagreements? The second part is focused on legal adjudication: it aims to construct a pragmatic apparatus appropriate to legal trial and/or to test the tenure of the traditional pragmatics tools in the field. The authors face questions such as: Which interesting pragmatic features emerge from legal adjudication? What pragmatic theories are better suited to account for the practice of judgment or its particular aspects? Which pragmatic and socio-linguistic problems are highlighted by this practice? (shrink)

The work defines the sigh as a type of breath expressing or communicating specific physical or mental internal states. To investigate the meanings of the sigh, the paper presents analyses of written and oral corpora, finding out that it may express different emotions like boredom or frustration, but also positive meanings like self-encouragement; then it focuses on the use of sighs in political debates. Finally a perception study shows participants’ agreement on the meanings of sighs in terms of valence and (...) arousal. These results lay the bases for future studies to set a clearer distinction between sighs and other vocalisations as well as other effects on its meaning caused by the combination with other body signals like rolling eyes or shaking head. (shrink)

This essay investigates the applicability of Grice’s theory of conversational implicatures to legal interpretation, in order to highlight some of its characteristics. After introducing the notions of language and discourse, and briefly explaining the most salient aspects of Grice’s theory, I will analyse the interpretation of two types of legal acts; authoritative legal acts and acts of private autonomy. Regarding the first class, exemplified by statutes, I will argue against the applicability of Gricean theory due to the conflictual behaviour of (...) the addressees and, above all, to the insurmountable indeterminacy of the contextual elements. As far as acts of private autonomy are concerned, exemplified by contracts, I will argue that the cooperative principle is applicable, at least in those legal systems that include the principle of bona fides among the interpretative regulations of such acts. (shrink)

The relationship between legal interpretation and ordinary understanding has raised growing interest among legal scholars. According to the mainstream view, law is a communicative phenomenon and, therefore, the best theory of ordinary communication should also explain and guide legal interpretation. Certainly, it is very controversial which theory is the best one, but, even if there are many candidates, Grice’s conversation model has attracted a lot of attention. Some legal scholars claim that Grice’s theory of conversational maxims should be applied in (...) legal domain, while others dispute this claim. Izabela Skoczeń’s book, Implicatures within legal language provides an original contribution to this ongoing debate. Through an interdisciplinary approach that engages with the most recent advances in Pragmatics as well as with the most popular legal approaches, Skoczeń recasts Grice’s theory of conversational implicatures in order to explain the mechanisms behind court decisions. This review article provides a critical examination of Skoczeń’s book, highlighting its strengths as well as its problems. (shrink)

This paper presents a model of persuasion in terms of goals and beliefs. Among the various ways to influence people, that is, to raise or lower the likelihood for them to pursue some goal, ranging from threat to suggestion, persuasion is viewed as a case of communicative non-coercive goal hooking. A persuader leads a persuadee to pursue some goal out of a free choice, i.e., by convincing him/her that the proposed goal is useful for some other goal that the persuadee (...) already has. It is argued that the Aristotelian persuasive strategies of logos, ethos and pathos (rational argumentation, the speaker¿s credibility and reliability, and the appeal to emotion) are always present in every persuasive discourse, and that they are exploited to raise the value of the goal proposed and to strengthen the believability of the link between it and the persuadee¿s previous goals. The paper proposes an analysis of discourse in terms of a hierarchy of goals as a tool to single out these strategies within the discourse structure. By applying this model to different kinds of persuasive messages (political discourse, advertising, dialogues in the health domain), it shows how, in the fragments presented, this kind of analysis allows to clarify the relationships between the persuader¿s and the persuadee¿s goals and to elucidate how much and how directly the persuader appeals to logos, ethos and pathos in his/her discourse. (shrink)

Este ensayo pretende analizar críticamente la llamada teoría comunicativa de la interpretación jurídica: una teoría, muy popular hoy en día, que sostiene que no existe una diferencia relevante entre la conversación ordinaria y la interpretación jurídica, pues ambas son formas de entender una comunicación intencional. En particular, según esta teoría, al igual que el contenido de una conversación ordinaria está constituido por la intención comunicativa de su emisor, el contenido de la ley está determinado por las intenciones comunicativas de los (...) legisladores. Después de delinear brevemente la teoría comunicativa y las razones que la sustentan (§2), examinaré las críticas teóricas que se han formulado en contra de ella (§3), cómo sus partidarios reaccionan ante tales críticas modificando algunos elementos de la teoría y si estos ajustes son suficientes para superar las críticas (§4). Después formularé una crítica de carácter empírico en contra de varias versiones de la teoría comunicativa: argumentaré que esta teoría es falsa con respecto a algunos ordenamientos jurídicos –en concreto, a los sistemas jurídicos constitucionalizados–, por no proporcionar una verdadera descripción de la práctica interpretativa jurídica (§5). Finalmente, mencionaré brevemente las consecuencias que la falsedad de esta teoría produce con respecto a algunos valores esenciales de los estados democráticos (§6). (shrink)

It was plain long before the 20th century that both the act of translation and the translator’s task were quite complex: it became clear and evident during the Enlightenment, within the République des Lettres, with the emergence and gradual affirmation of national languages. In this general framework, the French translation of John Locke’s Essay concerning Humane Understanding is one of the main protagonists of the circulation of texts and ideas: Pierre Coste’s solutions follow the strategy adopted by Jean Le Clerc (...) in his Extrait of the Essay published in the “Bibliotheque universelle et historique” in 1688 and, in primis, by Locke himself, as a theorist of communication/translation : the French translation is thus the exemplar par excellence and the embodiment of Locke’s theories of language, communication, and communicative ethics, all axed on the concepts of “agreement” and “consensual rationality.”. (shrink)

Based on a Spanish version derived from a French translation of a Japanese work.

In this highly readable and compact introduction to Durkheim's thought, Gianfranco Poggi examines all of Durkheim's central works and assesses their significance today, a century after his death. Poggi's analyses includes a study of what Durkheim meant by 'society' and an evaluation of Durkheim's contributions to both political sociology and the sociology of law. Poggi's clear and concise reappraisal of one of the most important modern thinkers will be essential reading for students of sociology and an invaluable (...) guide for anyone studying the ways modern societies function. (shrink)

Volume 15, Issue 4, December 2024, Page 464-481.

Como se deduce por el subtítulo, esta reflexión no se ocupa de la relación entre la utopía, mística y revolución desde un punto de vista general. Entre los tres conceptos – cada uno de los cuales ha sido tratado por una literatura infinita- los nexos siguen estando muy vinculados y en absoluto casuales. Dichos vínculos han sido estudiados muy ampliamente, remontándose a la historia de las ideas filosóficas, teológicas y políticas. Sin embargo, me voy a enfocar en nuestra época y (...) en un momento muy peculiar y importante de la historia de Europa. Voy a examinar algunos aspectos de la relación entre la utopía, la mística y la revolución en la Alemania de los primeras dos décadas del siglo XX. Para esto es imprescindibile un prólogo, breve, pero tampoco tanto.Como se deduce por el subtítulo, esta reflexión no se ocupa de la relación entre la utopía, mística y revolución desde un punto de vista general. Entre los tres conceptos – cada uno de los cuales ha sido tratado por una literatura infinita- los nexos siguen estando muy vinculados y en absoluto casuales. Dichos vínculos han sido estudiados muy ampliamente, remontándose a la historia de las ideas filosóficas, teológicas y políticas. Sin embargo, me voy a enfocar en nuestra época y en un momento muy peculiar y importante de la historia de Europa. Voy a examinar algunos aspectos de la relación entre la utopía, la mística y la revolución en la Alemania de los primeras dos décadas del siglo XX. Para esto es imprescindibile un prólogo, breve, pero tampoco tanto. (shrink)

A major representative of the German sociological tradition, Georg Simmel (1858-1918) has influenced social thinkers ranging from the Chicago School to Walter Benjamin. His magnum opus, The Philosophy of Money, published in 1900, is nevertheless a difficult book that has daunted many would-be readers. Gianfranco Poggi makes this important work accessible to a broader range of scholars and students, offering a compact and systematically organized presentation of its main arguments. Simmel's insights about money are as valid today as they (...) were a hundred years ago. Poggi provides a sort of reader's manual to Simmel's work, deepening the reader's understanding of money while at the same time offering a new appreciation of the originality of Simmel's social theory. (shrink)

The intricate and difficult relationship between Romanticism and Idealism played a pivotal role in the development of psychic investigation during the last century, particularly as far as all the questions of psychopathology are concerned. In this respect, the interplay between scientific research and philosophical reflection seems of particular relevance. After a sketch of some aspects of the neurological work of the leading German romantic physiologist K.F. Burdach, the paper develops some general considerations about the "psychic anthropology" of C.G. Carus and (...) ends with an appraisal of the attention devoted by Hegel to the problem of psychology as a science. (shrink)

The phenomenon of defeasibility has long been a central theme in legal literature. This essay aims to shed new light on that phenomenon by clarifying some fundamental conceptual issues. First, the most widespread definition of legal defeasibility is examined and criticized. The essay shows that such a definition is poorly constructed, inaccurate and generates many problems. Indeed, the definition hides the close relationship between legal defeasibility and legal interpretation. Second, this essay argues that no new definition is needed. I will (...) show that from an interpretative standpoint, there is nothing special about legal defeasibility. Contrary to what some authors maintain, no unique or privileged source of legal defeasibility exists, nor are there privileged arguments to justify it. Specifically, legal defeasibility refers to interpretative outcomes deriving from interpretative arguments that, on the one hand, are very different from one another, and, on the other, are often employed to justify different interpretative outcomes. In the legal field, the problems related to defeasibility have little in common with the problems that this label covers in other areas—such as logic or epistemology—and they are nothing but the well-known problems related to legal interpretation. In conclusion, this paper argues that as far as legal argumentation is concerned, the notion of legal defeasibility lacks explanatory power, and it should be abandoned. (shrink)

Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck’s work has to be regarded as a true commonplace. Scholars were able to collect a huge amount of Proust’s loci (not only in the Recherche) where it is easy to meet with the sound echo of Maeterlinck’s pieces and poems. An additional number of hidden references to Maeterlinck was detected in Proust (and in this case mostly in the Recherche) by scholars working about the cultural context underlying the genesis of Proust’s novel. The philosophical side of (...) Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck, however, didn’t until now undergo a careful scrutiny. Through a comparative analysis of the relevant chapters of Maeterlinck Le Temple enseveli and of the last pages of the concluding section (Le Temps retrouvé) of the Recherche, the paper aims to show how such a scrutiny seems to be unavoidable and highly fruitful, in order to clarify Proust’s ideas concerning not only time and memory, but – and above all – Self and moral life. (shrink)

Futurism is famous for promoting “the art of noise” in its manifestos, serate (theatrical evenings), poetry, music, and visual art. Noise appears in Futurism as an avatar of the machine age, as a means of assaulting the senses of complacent audiences, and as a sign of the conflict inherent in matter. Beginning with the “Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” of 1909, where the noises of the street galvanize Marinetti and his friends to break out of a prison-like domestic space, to (...) early paintings representing the vibrations of music/noise by Balla, Severini, Carr , and Russolo, to Russolo's 1913 manifesto “The Art of Noises” and his invention of a series of “noise tuners,” discordant sound played a vital role in Futurist art and politics. Often it was associated with moments of rebirth or awakening to new forms of consciousness, as in Russolo's noise score “Awakening of the City,” but it could also signify the destruction of life, as in Marinetti's Zang Tumb Tuuum . It served both to shatter older forms of perception based on notions of order and harmony, and to instantiate the violence the Futurists believed was inherent in matter as well as in social life. It allowed repressed energies to be released, but also sought to re-channel these energies towards the integration of man and machine, flesh and metal, war and the universe of matter. (shrink)

Trata-se de uma investigação histórica da neurologia alemã das primeiras décadas do século XIX, representada por Burdach e Carus, e da rela- ção que manteve com pressupostos românticos de abordagem biológica. Carus acentua a necessidade de pesquisar o cérebro pelo viés anatômico e o considera um organismo total, atestando a influência do filósofo Schelling. Burdach, por seu lado, investiga a estrutura cerebral em conexão com a sensibilidade e o processo evolutivo.