The global age is distinguished by disobedience, from the protests in Tiananmen Square to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the anti-G8 and anti-WTO demonstrations. In this book, Raffaele Laudani offers a systematic review of how disobedience has been conceptualized, supported, and criticized throughout history. Laudani documents the appearance of "disobedience" in the political lexicon from ancient times to the present, and explains the word's manifestations, showing how its semantic wealth transcended its liberal interpretations in the 1960s and (...) 1970s. Disobedience, Laudani finds, is not merely an alternative to revolution and rebellion, but a different way of conceiving radical politics, one based on withdrawal of consent and defection in relation to the established order. (shrink)

Forums, I extensively analysed Tartaglia’s corpus: science of weights, geometry, arithmetic, mathematics and physics–trajectories of the projectiles, fortifications, included its intelligibility science in the military architecture. The latter is exposed in Book VI of the Quesiti et invention diverse. In Quesiti there is La Gionta del sesto libro—a kind of appendix to the Book VI containing drawings of the geometric shape of the Italian fortifications. It is based on Euclidean geometry and other figures where a scale is displayed. The interest—included (...) intellectual history and cultural foundations of science—is: what is the role–played by La Gionta del sesto libro in the Quesiti? Is it independent booklet/speeches? If yes, when Tartaglia did write it? In this paper, I present an historical–philological–foundational hypothesis on the Tartaglia’s fortifications corpus, as exposed in the Book VI and La Gionta del sesto libro; with respect to dates of editions of Quesiti. This goal is important to make historically clear both the editorial role–played by Curzio Troiano Navò in the Tartaglia’s corpus before—after Tartaglia’s death and the particular interest and development of subject of fortifications by Tartaglia between 1537–1546 and 1554. (shrink)

Is shame social? Is it superficial? Is it a morally problematic emotion? Researchers in disciplines as different as psychology, philosophy, and anthropology have thought so. But what is the nature of shame and why are claims regarding its social nature and moral standing interesting and important? Do they tell us anything worthwhile about the value of shame and its potential legal and political applications? -/- In this book, Julien Deonna, Raffaele Rodogno, and Fabrice Teroni propose an original philosophical account (...) of shame aimed at answering these questions. The book begins with a detailed examination of the evidence and arguments that are taken to support what they call the two dogmas about shame: its alleged social nature and its morally dubious character. Their analysis is conducted against the backdrop of a novel account of shame and ultimately leads to the rejection of these two dogmas. On this account, shame involves a specific form of negative evaluation that the subject takes towards herself: a verdict of incapacity with regard to values to which she is attached. One central virtue of the account resides in the subtle manner it clarifies the ways in which the subject's identity is at stake in shame, thus shedding light on many aspects of this complex emotion and allowing for a sophisticated understanding of its moral significance. -/- This philosophical account of shame engages with all the current debates on shame as they are conducted within disciplines as varied as ethics, moral, experimental, developmental and evolutionary psychology, anthropology, legal studies, feminist studies, politics and public polic. (shrink)

Based on our research regarding the relationship between physics and mathematics in HPS, and recently on Geneva Edition of Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1739–42) by Thomas Le Seur (1703–70) and François Jacquier (1711–88), in this paper we present some aspects of such Edition: a combination of editorial features and scientific aims. The proof of Proposition XLIII is presented and commented as a case study.

This paper is divided into two parts, this being the first one. The second is entitled ‘Historical and Epistemological Reflections on the Culture of Machines around Renaissance: Machines, Machineries and Perpetual Motion’ and will be published in Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum in 2015. Based on our recent studies, we provide here a historical and epistemological feature on the role played by machines and machineries. Ours is an epistemological thesis based on a series of historical examples to show that (...) the relations between theoretical science and the construction of machines cannot be taken for granted, a priori. Our analysis is mainly based on the culture of machines around 15th and 17th centuries, namely the epoch of Late Renaissance and Early Modern Age. For this is the period of scientific revolution and this age offers abundant interesting material for researches into the relations of theoretical science/construction of machines as well. However, to prove our epistemological thesis, we will also exploit examples of machines built in other historical periods. Particularly, a discussion concerning the relationship between science theory and the development of science art crafts produced by non-recognized scientists in a certain historical time is presented. The main questions are: when and why did the tension between science give rise to a new scientific approach to applied discipline such as studies on machines and machineries? What kind of science was used for projecting machines and machineries? Was science at the time a necessary precondition to build a machine? In the first part we will focus on the difference between Aristotelian-Euclidean and Archimedean approaches and we will outline the heritage of these two different approaches in late medieval and Renaissance science. In the second part, we will apply our reconstructions to some historical and epistemological problems concerning the relations of science/technology/constructions of machines. The problem of perpetual motion will play an important role in this context. (shrink)

Medical, psychological, educational and social interventions to modify the behaviour of autistic people are only justified if they confer benefit on those people. However, it is not clear how ‘benefit’ should be understood. Most such interventions are justified by referring to the prospect that they will effect lasting improvements in the well-being and happiness of autistic people, so they can lead good lives. What does a good life for an autistic person consist in? Can we assume that his or her (...) well-being is substantively the same as the well-being of non-autistic individuals? In this paper, we argue that, as it stands, the current approach to the study of well-being is for the most part unable to answer these questions. In particular, much effort is needed in order to improve the epistemology of well-being, especially so if we wish this epistemology to be ‘autism-sensitive’. Towards the end of the paper, we sketch a new, autism-sensitive approach and apply it in order to begin answering our initial questions. (shrink)

In the history of science, the birth of classical chemistry and thermodynamics produced an anomaly within Newtonian mechanical paradigm: force and acceleration were no longer citizens of new cited sciences. Scholars tried to reintroduce them within mechanistic approaches, as the case of the kinetic gas theory. Nevertheless, Thermodynamics, in general, and its Second Law, in particular, gradually affirmed their role of dominant not-reducible cognitive paradigms for various scientific disciplines: more than twenty formulations of Second Law—a sort of indisputable intellectual wealth—are (...) conceived after 1824 Sadi Carnot’s original statement and a multitude of entropy functions are proposed after 1865 Clausius’ former definition. Furthermore, at the end of nineteenth century, thermodynamics extended its cognitive domain to chemistry. Mainly thanks to Gibbs, a brand new discipline—chemical thermodynamics or physical chemistry—gradually affirmed its role inside the scientific community. This paper reports the former results of collaborative research program in the History and Epistemology of Science as well as Nature of Science Teaching aimed at retracing the foundations of the physical chemistry. Specifically, the research is structured in three parts: historical-epistemic reflections on fundamental thermodynamic concepts and principles—such as reversible process, heat, temperature, thermal equilibrium and Clausius’ Second Law—that play a structural role inside modern physical chemistry; panoramic overview on the entropy, whose polysemy makes it one of the most demanding concepts for scholars, teachers and students while approaching thermodynamics; conceptualization of chemical equilibrium as complex entity according to the dual epistemological approach offered by Gibbs’ thermodynamic model and the kinetic standpoint by Guldberg and Waage. In particular, the present work details an original reading of thermodynamic principles with the aim of setting forth a rationalized multidisciplinary substrate whereon the foundational concepts of reversible process and thermal equilibrium can be set. (shrink)

The recent discovery of a fragmentary manuscript of Utpaladeva’s long commentary (Vivṛti or Ṭīkā) on his own Īśvarapratyabhijñā-kārikā (ĪPK) and Vṛtti enables us to assess the role of this work as the real centre of gravity of the Pratyabhijñā philosophy as a whole, though the later Śaiva tradition chose instead Abhinavagupta’s Vimarśinī as the standard text. This brilliant, and more compact and accessible, text was copied and copied again during the centuries and became popular in south India too, where a (...) number of manuscripts in the principal southern scripts are still available. The success of a particular commentary is very often the indirect cause of the decline of the others, which are less and less read and, consequently, copied, until their complete or almost complete loss. Of the lengthy and difficult Vivṛti by Utpaladeva—corresponding to the extent of 8,000 ślokas (hence the traditional denomination of Aṣṭasāhasrī)—the fragmentary śāradā manuscript that has come to light covers only the section ĪPK I.3.6 through I.5.3. Although the portion of the recovered text is comparatively short (33 folios), it proves to be particularly important in the economy of Pratyabhijñā philosophy due to the crucial points being dealt with there at great length, always in a hard-fought debate with the logical-epistemological school of Buddhism. (shrink)

Developments in fields as diverse as biotechnology, animal cognition, and computer science have cast serious doubt on the common belief that human beings are unique and that only they should have dignity and basic rights. A movement referred to as ‘new dignitarianism’ has recently reclaimed human dignity to fend off the threats to human uniqueness that it perceives to arise from these developments. This ‘new’ dignitarianism, however, is not new at all. Drawing on a debate between two Enlightenment philosophers, this (...) article shows that dignitarianism has already surfaced in the eighteenth century as the negative image of another movement: naturalism. Building on this historical account, I propose to understand dignitarianism and naturalism as opposing ideal-types on a normative spectrum. Doing so allows us to see a thus-far neglected problem, which I call the Zero-Sum Problem: any gains a concrete theory makes by approximating one ideal-type, it loses by moving away from the other. I end by showing how accepting this fact is a first step to more practically viable theories that attempt to find a middle ground between the two ideal-types. (shrink)

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of his passing, this special book features studies on Alexandre Koyré, one of the most influential historians of science of the 20th century, who re-evaluated prevalent thinking on the history and philosophy of science. In particular, it explores Koyré’s intellectual matrix and heritage within interdisciplinary fields of historical, epistemological and philosophical scientific thought. Koyré is rightly noted as both a versatile historian on the birth and development of modern science and for his interest in philosophical (...) questions on the nature of scientific knowledge. In the 1940s and 1950s his activities in the United States established a crucial bridge between the European historical tradition of science studies and the American academic environments, and an entire generation of historians of science grew up under his direct influence. The book brings together contributions from leading experts in the field, and offers much-needed insights into the subject from historical, nature of science, and philosophical perspectives. It provides an absorbing and revealing read for historians, philosophers and scientists alike. (shrink)

In 1824 Sadi Carnot published Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu in which he founded almost the entire thermodynamics theory. Two years after his death, his friend Clapeyron introduced the famous diagram PV for analytically representing the famous Carnot’s cycle: one of the main and crucial ideas presented by Carnot in his booklet. Twenty-five years later, in order to achieve the modern version of the theory, Kelvin and Clausius had to reject the caloric hypothesis, which had influenced a few (...) of Carnot’s arguments. Relying on the possibility of studying the history of science by means of logical investigation, in this paper I shall propose an historical/epistemological research on Sadi Carnot’s original thermodynamics theory in which the French scientist presents more than two principles, all of which are expressed by double negated sentences (generally speaking) within non-classical logic. (shrink)

The point of departure of this paper is the recently emphasised distinction between psychological theories of happiness, on the one hand, and normative theories of well-being, on the other. With this distinction in mind, I examine three possible kinds of relation that might exist between (psychological) happiness and (normative) well-being; to wit, happiness may be understood as playing a central part in (1) a formal theory of well-being, (2) a substantive theory of well-being or (3) as an indicator for well-being. (...) I note that, in the relevant literature, happiness is mostly discussed in terms of either (1) or (2). In this paper, I attempt to motivate a shift of focus away from such accounts of happiness and towards (3), i.e. its epistemic role. When examined in connection to (normative) well-being, (psychological states of) happiness and unhappiness should be understood as psychological states that inform individuals about the contribution of various activities, pursuits, or situations to their well-being or ill-being. (shrink)

La città, risultato della storia, della cultura e della civiltà, si presenta a noi, a un primo impatto, come un’esaltazione dell’edificare in un gioco delle forme e dei volumi, o come una glorificazione dell’architettura; in un secondo momento viene percepita anche come un segno delle comunità e dell’appartenenza di cui le forme sono il riflesso. Si profila, a ben ragionare sul suo significato, dall’antichità alla modernità, un composito fare umano, il disegno straordinario dell’azione collettiva e dei singoli, l’effetto di un’arte (...) dello spazio esteso. Esso interagisce con ciò che si chiama l’arte del paesaggio, perché propone elementi della cura, dell’immaginazione e della progettazione, i segni della fantasia e le creazioni della necessità. Allo stesso modo di un’attività dove l’uomo è creatore di coltivazioni, si può dire infatti che esista un’arte della città come prodotto delle comunità e dei singoli, degli architetti e degli artisti, dei progettisti e dei semplici lavoratori, dei cittadini e dei loro rappresentanti politici: risultato di uno sforzo ideale e civile, ma anche di un concreto, sfaccettato manifestarsi delle tecniche nello spazio, modellato anche, volta a volta, da quel certo gruppo sociale o dalle ideologie. (shrink)

In the face of the most recent developments in digital and visual art, the Internet, the latest frontiers and currents, the new languages and technologies, Souriau’s schema does not work, but his reflections on the aesthetic notions of instauration and skeuopoetics do, and they pertain both to classical painting and to future perspectives. In fact, we note strong connections with research that the philosopher had had conducted on feelings, relations, forms, and processes, in terms of synaesthesia and structural correspondences. On (...) the basis of his thinking, we can still argue the importance of these concepts and these relations as they relate to physical and phenomenal existence, to materiality and transcendence: a conceptual and imaginative universal that is considered to be eternal. Art is seen as the producer of things capable of performing actions that are purely physical. He makes this claim because these actions expressly and intentionally create things whose existence is their sole purpose. (shrink)

The well-replicated observation that many people maintain mental health despite exposure to severe psychological or physical adversity has ignited interest in the mechanisms that protect against stress-related mental illness. Focusing on resilience rather than pathophysiology in many ways represents a paradigm shift in clinical-psychological and psychiatric research that has great potential for the development of new prevention and treatment strategies. More recently, research into resilience also arrived in the neurobiological community, posing nontrivial questions about ecological validity and translatability. Drawing on (...) concepts and findings from transdiagnostic psychiatry, emotion research, and behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, we propose a unified theoretical framework for the neuroscientific study of general resilience mechanisms. The framework is applicable to both animal and human research and supports the design and interpretation of translational studies. The theory emphasizes the causal role of stimulus appraisal (evaluation) processes in the generation of emotional responses, including responses to potential stressors. On this basis, it posits that a positive (non-negative) appraisal style is the key mechanism that protects against the detrimental effects of stress and mediates the effects of other known resilience factors. Appraisal style is shaped by three classes of cognitive processes – positive situation classification, reappraisal, and interference inhibition – that can be investigated at the neural level. Prospects for the future development of resilience research are discussed. (shrink)

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716) has a prominent worldwide place in the history of scientific thought, from mathematics, logic, and physics to astronomy and engineering. In 2016, both his birth and death have been commemorated. Given the influence by Leibniz on Western sciences and philosophies and his polyhedric scientific activities, this special book chooses to focus on Leibniz's scientific works. In particular, we explore Leibniz's intellectual matrix and heritage within interdisciplinary fields, and present contributions from leading experts on the subject. (...) The book offers much-needed insights into the subject from scientific, historical, philosophical and nature of science perspectives. It also provides authoritative introductions to scholarly contributions, which are often dispersed in journals and books not easily accessible to every reader. Therefore, this volume also contains excellent chapters on topics which, generally speaking, have their place in any rounded science, history or philosophy topic. It provides an absorbing and significant read for historians, philosophers and scientists alike. Editors Raffaele Pisano is full professor at the Lille University, France. Michel Fichant is Emeritus professor at the Sorbonne University, France. Paolo Bussotti is senior lecturer-researcher at the Udine University, Italy. Agamenon R. E. Oliveira is full professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Foreword Eberhard Knobloch is Emeritus professor at the Berlin University of Technology, Germany. (shrink)

In this article, I wish to explore a plausible alternative to both sentientist ethics and holistic environmental ethics. In particular, I put forward the claim that creatures other than sentient ones have interests and, in virtue of that, moral standing. This thesis is in disagreement with sentientism insofar as it claims that sentience is not a prerequisite for moral consideration. Radical as it may sound, this view does not take us as far as the holism favoured by some environmentalists. In (...) particular, on this view, the interests of collectives such as ecosystems and species are a positive function of the interests of the entities that make them up rather than something of an entirely different kind. Collectives are not the direct object of moral consideration. (shrink)

In this paper, we present an interdisciplinary discussion on the relations between Science–Technology Education and Culture both historical standpoint and nowadays. The idea that a human mind can produce an intellectual revolution within science and its approaches strongly crossed like a paradigm both in the history of sciences and disciplines–literatures : but what about its social impact and science mission, as well? To describe the impact of the disseminated knowledge is a consequent aim. A case study on energy conceptualization and (...) its exhibitions in Society in Context is discussed; their correlations with education, science–techniques, industry and social impacts are discussed, as well. (shrink)

Suivre ± pas à pas? et ± avec franchise? toute la série de ses études : c'est précisément ce que Vico (1668-1744) se proposait de faire dans son autobiographie Vie de Giambattista Vico écrite par lui-même, parue en 1728.00Mais, parce que placée dans la perspective de la polémique contre la diffusion du cartésianisme à Naples, cette reconstruction a posteriori eut pour effet de léguer une image du penseur toute orientée vers un but : la conception de la Science nouvelle.00Rompant avec (...) cette artificielle perspective, Raffaele Ruggiero raconte une autre histoire de Vico. Il rend leur pleine autonomie à toutes les expériences intellectuelles du savant penseur : sa formation, ses études juridiques, son engagement littéraire, son invention d'une nouvelle rhétorique de la science. Il révèle la multiplicité des inspirations culturelles qui ont façonné sa physionomie unique de philosophe et d'écrivain, et l'articulation complexe de ses intérêts scientifiques destinés à remodeler l'encyclopédie des savoirs à l'aube de la modernité.00Convoquant toutes ses œuvres, le replaçant dans son contexte, celui d'un protagoniste de la République des Lettres à l'époque des Lumières, Raffaele Ruggiero expose le rapport ambigu et passionnant de Vico à ses sources et à ses fantômes polémiques. (shrink)

One may discuss the role played by mechanical science in the history of scientific ideas, particularly in physics, focusing on the significance of the relationship between physics and mathematics in describing mathematical laws in the context of a scientific theory. In the second Newtonian law of motion, space and time are crucial physical magnitudes in mechanics, but they are also mathematical magnitudes as involved in derivative operations. Above all, if we fail to acknowledge their mathematical meaning, we fail to comprehend (...) the whole Newtonian mechanical apparatus. For instance, let us think about velocity and acceleration. In this case, the approach to conceive and define foundational mechanical objects and their mathematical interpretations changes. Generally speaking, one could prioritize mathematical solutions for Lagrange’s equations, rather than the crucial role played by collisions and geometric motion in Lazare Carnot’s operative mechanics, or Faraday’s experimental science with respect to Ampère’s mechanical approach in the electric current domain, or physico-mathematical choices in Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory. In this paper, we will focus on the historical emergence of mechanical science from a physico-mathematical standpoint and emphasize significant similarities and/or differences in mathematical approaches by some key authors of the 18th century. Attention is paid to the role of mathematical interpretation for physical objects. (shrink)

Résumé: Lukács et Horkheimer analysent les tensions et les contradictions de la société européenne dans la mesure où elles se reflètent dans les théories philosophiques élaborées par les penseurs bourgeois de l’époque moderne : dans ce domaine, ces contradictions pratiques se traduisent par une opposition conceptuelle entre des couples tels que sujet/objet, phénomène/chose en soi, nécessité/liberté, etc. En abordant la question de l’influence d’Histoire et conscience de classe (1923) sur les essais horkheimeriens des années 1920 et 1930, cet article confronte (...) les positions théoriques respectives des deux auteurs sur la pensée bourgeoise et sur son entrelacement avec les transformations de la société capitaliste moderne. Mots clés: Contradictions; Dualismes; Philosophie Moderne; Raison; Société Bourgeoise; Théorie The Contradictions of Bourgeois Philosophy and Modern Reason in Lukács and Horkheimer Abstract: Lukács and Horkheimer analyse the tensions and contradictions of European society insofar as they are reflected in the philosophical theories elaborated by the bourgeois thinkers of the modern era: in this field, these practical contradictions are reflected in a conceptual opposition between binomials such as subject/object, phenomenon/thing-in-itself, necessity/freedom, etc. By addressing the question of the influence of History and Class Consciousness (1923) on Horkheimer’s essays of the 1920s and 1930s, this article aims to compare the respective theoretical positions of the two authors on bourgeois thought and its intertwining with the transformations of modern capitalist society. Keywords: Bourgeois Society; Contradictions; Dualisms; Modern Philosophy; Reason; Theory As contradições da filosofia burguesa e da razão moderna em Lukács e Horkheimer Resumo: Lukács e Horkheimer analisam as tensões e contradições da sociedade europeia na medida em que elas se refletem nas teorias filosóficas elaboradas pelos pensadores burgueses da era moderna: nesse terreno, essas contradições práticas refletem uma oposição conceitual entre binômios como sujeito/objeto, fenômeno/coisa em si, necessidade/liberdade etc. Ao abordar a questão da influência de História e Consciência de Classe (1923) sobre os ensaios de Horkheimer das décadas de 1920 e 1930, este artigo tem o objetivo de comparar as respectivas posições teóricas dos dois autores sobre o pensamento burguês e seu entrelaçamento com as transformações da moderna sociedade capitalista moderna. Palavras-chave: Sociedade Burguesa; Contradições; Dualismos; Filosofia Moderna; Razão; Teoria Data de registro: 01/08/2023 Data de aceite: 18/10/2023. (shrink)

Few emotions have divided opinion as deeply as shame. Some scholars have argued that shame is essentially a maladaptive emotion used to oppress minorities and reinforce stigmas and traumas, an emotion that leaves the self at the mercy of powerful others. Other scholars, however, have argued that the absence of a sense of shame in a subject--their shamelessness--is tantamount to a vicious moral insensitivity. As the twelve original chapters in this collection attest, however, shame scholars are entering a new phase, (...) one in which scholarship no longer attempts to defend one side of shame against the other, but rather accepts both faces as faithful to the phenomenon to be explained. At the core of our understanding of shame there are profound disagreements about the importance of the Other in shaping our moral identity. As this collection shows by its study of shame, the difficulty of the connection between Self, Other, and morality spans over millennia and cultures and currently animates important debates at the core of feminism and disability studies. Contributors: Mark Alfano, Alessandra Fussi, Lorenzo Greco, JeeLoo Liu, Katrine Krause-Jensen, Heidi L. Maibom, Tjeert Olthof, Imke von Maur, Alba Montes Sánchez, Raffaele Rodogno, Alessandro Salice, Krista K. Thomason, Íngrid Vendrell Ferran. (shrink)