Probability ratio and likelihood ratio measures of inductive support and related notions have appeared as theoretical tools for probabilistic approaches in the philosophy of science, the psychology of reasoning, and artificial intelligence. In an effort of conceptual clarification, several authors have pursued axiomatic foundations for these two families of measures. Such results have been criticized, however, as relying on unduly demanding or poorly motivated mathematical assumptions. We provide two novel theorems showing that probability ratio and likelihood ratio measures can be (...) axiomatized in a way that overcomes these difficulties. (shrink)

This paper develops a probabilistic analysis of conditionals which hinges on a quantitative measure of evidential support. In order to spell out the interpreta- tion of ‘if’ suggested, we will compare it with two more familiar interpretations, the suppositional interpretation and the strict interpretation, within a formal framework which rests on fairly uncontroversial assumptions. As it will emerge, each of the three interpretations considered exhibits specific logical features that deserve separate consideration.

To believe that every single scientist ought to be individually engaged in ethical thinking in order for science to be responsible at a collective level may be too demanding, if not plainly unrealistic. In fact, ethical labor is typically distributed across different kinds of scientists within the scientific community. Based on the empirical data collected within the Horizon 2020 ‘RRI-Practice’ project, we propose a classification of the members of the scientific community depending on their engagement in this collective activity. Our (...) classification offers, on the one hand, a model of how the ethical aspects of science are taken into consideration by scientists and, on the other, some indications on how to institutionalize ethics in science. (shrink)

Written by one of Italy's leading historians, this book analyses the Neapolitan nobleman Gaetano Filangieri and his seven-volume 'Science of Legislation' in their historical context, expounding on his legacy for the histories of ...

There have been many interpretations of Catullus’ poem 2 and especially of verses 5-8. The first part of this study presents the status quaestionis, listing the main interpretations and conjectures. In the second part two new interpretations of vv. 5-8 are advanced, without modifying the text of manuscripts OGR. According to the first, the words cum desiderio meo … lubet iocari are understood as a substantive clause dependent on the verb credo, which also governs et solaciolum as a predicative. Alternatively, (...) solaciolum may be taken as predicative of an understood object te referring to passer in the first verse. In either case, ut cum with the transmitted future acquiescet can have temporal force, as recently argued by Paul Claes 56. (shrink)

Parlare del fallimento delle primavere arabe come di una sconfitta, che ha favorito, da un lato, la restaurazione di regimi autoritari e, dall’altro, il rafforzamento dei movimenti fondamentalisti, è riduttivo. L’articolo si propone di mostrare come i movimenti collettivi, che hanno animato le proteste nelle maggiori piazze delle capitali di molti Paesi arabi, hanno interpretato il bisogno di cambiamento politico ed economico che da troppi anni è stato ignorato o represso dai regimi al potere. Tali movimenti sono l’espressione di un (...) contro-movimento politico alternativo a quanti, in questi anni, inneggiando all’islam, hanno teorizzato e messo in pratica la lotta armata rivoluzionaria. La differenza fra questi due tipi di movimenti collettivi sta nella diversa posta in gioco che essi pongono al centro della loro azione. Per i movimenti di rivolta, la battaglia politica è per l’avvento della democrazia, per i movimenti fondamentalisti è, invece, in buona sostanza, la costituzione di un ferreo regime della verità religiosa, ancor più autoritario dei regimi politico-militari che si sono ripresi il potere dopo il 2012. (shrink)

According to the view of conditionals named 'inferentialism', a conditional holds when its consequent can be inferred from its antecedent. This paper identifies some major challenges that inferentialism has to face, and uses them to assess three accounts of conditionals: one is the classical strict account, the other two have recently been proposed by Douven and Rott. As will be shown, none of the three proposals meets all challenges in a fully satisfactory way. We argue through novel formal results that (...) a variation of the evidential account of conditionals suggested by Crupi and Iacona is the most promising candidate to develop inferentialism in a coherent formal framework. (shrink)

The Dunning–Kruger effect focuses our attention on the notion of invisibility of ignorance, i.e., the ignorance of ignorance. Such a phenomenon is not only important for everyday life, but also, above all, for some philosophical disciplines, such as epistemology of sciences. When someone tries to understand formally the phenomenon of ignorance of ignorance, they usually end up with a nested epistemic operator highly resistant to proper regimentation. In this paper, we argue that to understand adequately the ignorance of ignorance phenomenon (...) we have to understand satisfactorily the concept of disbelief and, as we call it, the concept of “radical ignorance”. We propose also prerequisites that a notion of radical ignorance useful for the philosophy of science ought to fulfill, and we sketch a possible formalization of this notion. Finally, we propose some comments on the problem of propagation of ignorance proposed by Fine. (shrink)

The present paper is divided in two parts . In the first part we will propose Meinong’s theory of time outlined in 1899 interpreted in such a way that the subtlety of his argumentation is emphasised. In the second, we will discuss different solutions for the celebrated McTaggart’s paradox, reaching the conclusion that a theory of time suggested by the reflections of the Austrian Philosopher seems to be the most adequate perspective for tackling this problem.

The present investigation reformulates a few Brentanian ideas concerning what is mental. In particular, an attempt to define the categorial structure implicit in the notion of consciousness and in that of inner perception, keeping in mind their connections with external perception and with unconscious, is outlined. Within the mental field is observed a formal violation of some elementary rules of ontology and mereology, and such violation can be interpreted in terms of an infinite multiplicity of the mental field itself.

In his mature works, Kuhn abandons the concept of a paradigm and becomes more interested in the analysis of the conceptual structure of scientific theories. These changes are interpreted as resulting from a ‘linguistic turn’ that Kuhn underwent sometimes around the 1980s. Much of the philosophical discussions about Kuhn’s post-‘linguistic turn’ philosophy revolves around his views on taxonomic concepts. Apart from taxonomy, however, the mature Kuhn introduces other concepts, such as conceptual networks and lexicons. This article distinguishes these three concepts (...) and shows that adopting each one of them has different impacts on Kuhn’s model of science. After distinguishing and assessing the concepts of taxonomy, network, and lexicon, it will be argued that the latter not only fits the Kuhnian model of science better, but it also helps capture the wide sense of Kuhn’s early concept of a paradigm. (shrink)

This paper investigates the logic of reasons. Its aim is to provide an analysis of the sentences of the form ‘p is a reason for q’ that yields a coherent account of their logical properties. The idea that we will develop is that ‘p is a reason for q’ is acceptable just in case a suitably defined relation of incompatibility obtains between p and ¬q. As we will suggest, a theory of reasons based on this idea can solve three challenging (...) puzzles that concern, respectively, contraposing reasons, conflicting reasons, and supererogatory reasons, and opens a new perspective on some classical issues concerning non-deductive inferences. (shrink)

In this paper we are concerned about the ways GCH can fail in relation to rank-into-rank hypotheses, i.e., very large cardinals usually denoted by I3, I2, I1 and I0. The main results are a satisfactory analysis of the way the power function can vary on regular cardinals in the presence of rank-into-rank hypotheses and the consistency under I0 of the existence of j:Vλ+1≺Vλ+1\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${j : V_{\lambda+1} {\prec} V_{\lambda+1}}$$\end{document} with the failure of GCH (...) at λ\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\lambda}$$\end{document}. (shrink)

This paper outlines an account of conditionals, the evidential account, which rests on the idea that a conditional is true just in case its antecedent supports its consequent. As we will show, the evidential account exhibits some distinctive logical features that deserve careful consideration. On the one hand, it departs from the material reading of ‘if then’ exactly in the way we would like it to depart from that reading. On the other, it significantly differs from the non-material accounts which (...) hinge on the Ramsey Test, advocated by Adams, Stalnaker, Lewis, and others. (shrink)

Harrigan and Spekkens, introduced the influential notion of an ontological model of operational quantum theory. Ontological models can be either “epistemic” or “ontic.” According to the two scholars, Einstein would have been one of the first to propose an epistemic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Pusey et al. showed that an epistemic interpretation of quantum theory is impossible, so implying that Einstein had been refuted. We discuss in detail Einstein’s arguments against the standard interpretation of QM, proving that there is a (...) misunderstanding in Harrigan and Spekkens’ attribution of an epistemic perspective to Einstein, whose point of view was actually statistical, but in a quasi-classical sense. (shrink)

In his mature writings, Kuhn describes the process of specialisation as driven by a form of incommensurability, defined as a conceptual/linguistic barrier which promotes and guarantees the insularity of specialties. In this paper, we reject the idea that the incommensurability among scientific specialties is a linguistic barrier. We argue that the problem with Kuhn’s characterisation of the incommensurability among specialties is that he presupposes a rather abstract theory of semantic incommensurability, which he then tries to apply to his description of (...) the process of specialisation. By contrast, this paper follows a different strategy: after criticising Kuhn’s view, it takes a further look at how new scientific specialties emerge. As a result, a different way of understanding incommensurability among specialties will be proposed. (shrink)

Abstract: It seems that from an epistemological point of view comparative probability has many advantages with respect to a probability measure. It is more reasonable as an evaluation of degrees of rational beliefs. It allows the formulation of a comparative indifference principle free from well known paradoxes. Moreover it makes it possible to weaken the principal principle, so that it becomes more reasonable. But the logical systems of comparative probability do not admit an adequate probability updating, which on the contrary (...) is possible for a probability measure. Therefore we are faced with a true epistemological dilemma between comparative and quantitative probability. (shrink)

Designing a pension system is both a complex endeavor and a long lasting legacy. Complexity stems from the many trade-offs that conceiving a pension system entail and from how these initial decisions affect the social and economic behavioral responses of workers and retirees. Policy-makers planning a pension system have to evaluate its internal economic consistency, but also these feedbacks. Economic and demographic models that allow a quantitative evaluation of these costs and benefits are required. More than ever at the initial (...) stage of design, since pension systems are persistent. Yet, pension systems are not monolith, but living entities that change over time. Some of these modifications are produced by individuals’ reactions to incentives built in the system, and need to be foreseen during the initial planning. Other changes are induced by reform measures and constitute the policy responses to unpredicted exogenous shocks – such as population aging. Re-designing the pension system to cope with new demands, while being limited by existing constraints, is a difficult task. Recent reforms of the Italian pension system are discussed in detail to highlight the policy trade-offs and the economic motivations behind the decision of the reform policies. (shrink)

Excerpt from Considerazioni Sopra le Dottrine Religiose di Vittorio Cousin, per Servir di Appendice Alla Introduzione Allo Studio della Filosofia Le accuse ch 10 muovo contro le dottrine del sig. Cousin nella mia Introduzione allo studio della filosofia benchè bre vemente espresse essendo gravissime, ragion vuole che siano ben provate. Io mi reputo tanto più in obbligo di farlo che I' illustre Autore negli ultimi suoi scritti protesta altamente di non meritarle. Dichiarazione che ogni lettore assennato accet terebbe tanto più (...) volentieri quanto è più lodevole e degno di un animo generoso il ritrattar gli errori in cui la giovinezza, I' esempio el' indole dei tempi possono precipitare gl' ingegni più eminenti. Il panteismo e la miscredenza sono così fatali a chi segue un cattivo metodo nelle sue speculazioni, che una mente eziandio capacissima può esserne sedotta non ostante la loro falsità ed assurdità intrinseca. Quanti sono al dl d' oggi, a cui sia toccata la buona sorte di ricevere debitamente la fede cattolica, e di conservarla fra le tristi influenze del secolo? Quanti che nel dar opera agli studi speculativi siano provve duti di una buona metodologia? Certo pochissimi; e niuno sicuramente vorrà recare a colpa del sig. Cousin se pagò anch' egli il fio all' infelicissima età in cui a noi tutti è toccato di nascere. Imperocche, quando non si è ben ricevuto negli anni teneri, o si è scosso all' entrar nel mondo il giogo salutare della fede vi sottentra quello del senso e lo spirito dell' uomo ricade senza saperlo nella condizione del gentilesimo a cui(4) About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)

The three languages employed by the scientist, the artist, and the objective observer are interpreted in terms of each other using the latest developments in neuroscience and psychoanalysis in an attempt to create a meta-language with sufficient depth to comprehend the nature of the human mind.

This book presents a systematic exploration of the subjective experience, keeping the investigation for the most part within a subjective first person perspective through the use of “vignettes” as sources of data. It also uses incorporates a ‘"third person” objective approach when that is relevant. The goal of Journeys in the Mind is to capture and convey the operations of the mind: both the shared blueprints common to the elaboration of subjective knowledge as well as the immense fishnet of personalized (...) variables that operate in each mental phase-space and act upon the blueprints to continuously recategorize them into sets of coherent, dynamic outcomes, or mental landscapes. Dr. Sanguineti's meditative perspective holds the promise to enrich the way we understand the workings of the human mind. (shrink)

In this paper I try to shed light on the relationship between Ugo Nespolo and the Fluxus group, which the artist contributed to import to Italy in the late Sixties. I then argue that, thanks to the fact that Nespolo’s artworks (especially in the avant-garde period) are documents, it is possible to look in a new and different way at an (anti)artistic movement that sought, in vain, to undermine the idea of objectivity and authorship of the work of art.

The use of Drosophila chromosomal rearrangements and transposon constructs involving the white gene reveals the existence of repressive chromatin domains that can spread over considerable genomic distances. One such type of domain is found in heterochromatin and is responsible for classical position‐effect variegation. Another type of repressive domain is established, beginning at specific sequences, by complexes of Polycomb Group proteins. Such complexes, which normally regulate the expression of many genes, including the homeotic loci, are responsible for silencing, white gene variegation, (...) pairing‐dependent effects and insertional targeting. (shrink)