Recent theories on cognitive science have stressed the significance of moral intuition as a counter to and complementary part of moral reasoning in decision making. Thus, the aim of this paper is to create an integrated framework that can account for both intuitive and reflective cognitive processes, in order to explore the antecedents of ethical decision making. To do that, we build on Scholasticism, an important medieval school of thought from which descends the main pillars of the modern Catholic social (...) doctrine. Particularly, the focus will be on the scholastic concept of synderesis, which is an innate human faculty that constantly inclines decision makers toward universal moral principles. Managerial implications are discussed, stressing how a rediscovery of decision makers’ intuitive moral judgments could be relevant in the reflective thinking practice of managers’ ethical reasoning, thus saving them from rational insensitivity to ethical dilemmas. (shrink)

Literature on consumers’ ethical decision making is rooted in a rationalist perspective that emphasizes the role of moral reasoning. However, the view of ethical consumption as a thorough rational and conscious process fails to capture important elements of human cognition, such as emotions and intuitions. Based on moral psychology and microsociology, this paper proposes a holistic and integrated framework showing how emotive and intuitive information processing may foster ethical consumption at individual and social levels. The model builds on social intuitionism (...) to show how consumers’ a priori affect-laden intuitive moral judgments impact their post hoc reflective moral reasoning. Symbolic interactionism is used to interpret consumers as interdependent and socially embedded agents that self-construct their social identity through interactions with other consumers. The proposed social intuitionist framework of consumers’ ethical decision making shows that other-oriented moral emotions—such as elevation, gratitude, and empathy—interact with persuasion and social influence in ethical consumption. Consequently, moral emotions and intuition drive interpersonal persuasion among ethical consumers. Theoretical propositions and implications for consumer ethics theory and practice are discussed. (shrink)

Partendo dalle definizioni che Ricoeur e Merleau-Ponty assegnano al concetto di filosofi a, è mia intenzione mostrare come non una metafisica tradizionalmente intesa, quanto un ideale metafisico insito in una teoria filosofica della conoscenza appaia e sia necessario ai fini dell’investigazione dell’esperienza. Ritengo che la dialettica tra trascendenza ed immanenza della verità nella storia, nonostante le diverse declinazioni dovute agli interessi dei due pensatori, possa contribuire a rendere un’immagine unitaria e, a più riprese, interdipendente di Ricoeur da Merleau-Ponty e di (...) quest’ultimo alla luce della revisione ermeneutica operata all’interno della fenomenologia dal filosofo di Valence.En partant des définitions que Ricoeur et Merleau-Ponty donnent du concept de philosophie, c’est mon intention de montrer comment non pas une métaphysique au sens traditionnel, mais un idéal métaphysique logé dans une théorie philosophique de la connaissance apparaît et est nécessaire dans la perspective d’une investigation de l’expérience. Je soutiens que la dialectique entre transcendance et immanence de la vérité dans l’histoire, quelles que soient les différentes déclinaisons qu’elle connaît dans les intérêts des deux penseurs, peut contribuer à donner une image unitaire et, à plusieurs reprises, à montrer une interdépendance de Ricoeur à l’égard de Merleau-Ponty et de ce dernier à l’égard de la révision herméneutique opérée à l’intérieur de la phénoménologie par le philosophe de Valence.By starting from the definitions that Ricoeur and Merleau-Ponty give to the concept of philosophy, I intend to show how a metaphysical ideal lodged in a philosophical theory of knowledge, and not a metaphysics in the traditional sense, appears and is necessary when viewed from the perspective of experience. I hold that the dialectic between transcendence and immanence of the truth in history, despite the difference of interest in how it is developed by the two thinkers, can contribute to the formation of an unified image and, in several ways, to showing an interdependence of Ricoeur in relation to Merleau-Ponty and of Merleau-Ponty in relation to the hermeneutical revision effected within phenomenology by the philosopher from Valence. (shrink)

Diese Studie der Deskription bei Franz Brentano lässt dessen Philosophie als ein «Programm der Deskription» erscheinen, das einen spezifischen Beitrag zur Gottesfrage leistet. Im Gegensatz zur scholastischen Tradition stellt er diese Frage auf sprachlicher Ebene und sucht dadurch erkenntnistheoretisch-metaphysische Engführungen zu überwinden. Er betont die deskriptive (nicht physikalische oder metaphysische) Bedeutung der Kausalität in ihrer Zeitgebundenheit und zeigt, dass die Existenz Gottes zeitlich bestimmt werden muss: Nur so ist eine sinnvolle Rede von Gott möglich. Brentanos Denken wurde in der Theologie (...) kaum wahrgenommen, aber die deskriptive Lösung des Problems von «esse et essentia», die Arten der Zeitlichkeit, die Betrachtung von Analogielehre und Univozität sind richtungsweisend. (shrink)

The extended mind view and the embodied-grounded view of cognition and language are typically considered as rather independent perspectives. In this paper we propose a possible integration of the two views and support it proposing the idea of “Words As social Tools” (WAT). In this respect, we will propose that words, also due to their social and public character, can be conceived as quasi-external devices that extend our cognition. Moreover, words function like tools in that they enlarge the bodily space (...) of action thus modifying our sense of body. To support our proposal, we review the relevant literature on tool-use and on words as tools and report recent evidence indicating that word use leads to an extension of space close to the body. In addition, we outline a model of the neural processes that may underpin bodily space extension via word use and may reflect possible effects on cognition of the use of words as external means. We also discuss how reconciling the two perspectives can help to overcome the limitations they encounter if considered independently. (shrink)

Affordances, i.e. the opportunity of actions offered by the environment, are one of the central research topics for the theoretical perspectives that view cognition as emerging from the interaction between the environment and the body. Being at the bridge between perception and action, affordances help to question a dichotomous view of perception and action. While Gibson’s view of affordances is mainly externalist, many contemporary approaches define affordances as the product of long-term visuomotor associations in the brain. These studies have emphasized (...) the fact that affordances are activated automatically, independently from the context and the previous intention to act: for example, affordances related to objects’ size would emerge even if the task does not require focusing on size. This emphasis on the automaticity of affordances has led to overlook their flexibility and contextual-dependency. In this contribution I will outline and discuss recent perspectives and evidence that reveal the flexibility and context-dependency of affordances, clarifying how they are modulated by the physical, cultural and social context. I will focus specifically on social affordances, i.e. on how perception of affordances might be influenced by the presence of multiple actors having different goals. (shrink)

This study investigates the acquisition of integrated object manipulation and categorization abilities through a series of experiments in which human adults and artificial agents were asked to learn to manipulate two-dimensional objects that varied in shape, color, weight, and color intensity. The analysis of the obtained results and the comparison of the behavior displayed by human and artificial agents allowed us to identify the key role played by features affecting the agent/environment interaction, the relation between category and action development, and (...) the role of cognitive biases originating from previous knowledge. (shrink)

The topic is characterized by a highly interdisciplinary approach to the issue of action and language integration. Such an approach, combining computational models and cognitive robotics experiments with neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and linguistic approaches, can be a powerful means that can help researchers disentangle ambiguous issues, provide better and clearer definitions, and formulate clearer predictions on the links between action and language. In the introduction we briefly describe the papers and discuss the challenges they pose to future research. We identify (...) four important phenomena the papers address and discuss in light of empirical and computational evidence: (a) the role played not only by sensorimotor and emotional information but also of natural language in conceptual representation; (b) the contextual dependency and high flexibility of the interaction between action, concepts, and language; (c) the involvement of the mirror neuron system in action and language processing; (d) the way in which the integration between action and language can be addressed by developmental robotics and Human-Robot Interaction. (shrink)

Recent theories on abstract concepts and words (ACs), such as Words As social Tools (WAT) (Borghi et al., 2019b) and Language is an Embodied Neuroenhancement and Scaffold (LENS) (Dove, 2019) have underlined the crucial role of both sensorimotor experience and language for ACs representation and use [see Dove et al. (2020), for a comparison]. Here we focus on the WAT view. WAT highlights the role of language, sociality, and inner grounding (interoception, metacognition) for ACs. Furthermore, WAT seeks to integrate (...) a developmental perspective with approaches focusing on conceptual use and brain representation. We briefly illustrate evidence coming from both clinical and non-clinical populations and identify areas where additional evidence that ACs evoke linguistic, social, and interoceptive experience is still needed. (shrink)

The mental representation of one’s own body does not necessarily correspond to the physical body. For instance, a dissociation between perceived and actual reach-ability has been shown, that is, individuals perceive that they can reach objects that are out of grasp. We presented participants with 3D pictures of objects located at four different distances, namely near-reaching space, actual-reaching space, perceived-reaching space and non-reaching space. Immediately after they were presented with function, manipulation, observation or pointing verbs and were required to judge (...) if the verb was compatible with the object.Participants were faster with function and manipulation verbs than with observation and pointing verbs. Strikingly, with both function and manipulation verbs participants were faster when objects were presented in actual than the perceived reaching space. These findings suggest that our knowledge of the world is implicitly built online through behaviour, and is not necessarily reflected in explicit estimates or conscious representations. (shrink)

Two experiments, one on school-aged children and one on adults, explored the mechanisms underlying responses to an image prime followed by graspable objects that were, in certain cases, dangerous. Participants were presented with different primes and objects representing two risk levels . The task required that a natural/artifact categorization task be performed by pressing different keys. In both adults and children graspable objects activated a facilitating motor response, while dangerous objects evoked aversive affordances, generating an interference-effect. Both children and adults (...) were sensitive to the distinction between biological and non-biological hands, however detailed resonant mechanisms related to the hand-prime gender emerged only in adults. Implications for how the concept of “dangerous object” develops and the relationship between resonant mechanisms and perception of danger are discussed. (shrink)

This Article calls into question the primary meaning of copyright law. It argues that copyright is not primarily a legal instrument, but rather a fundamental mode of human existence. The starting point of the analysis is Kant’s definition of a book as a "public address" and of author’s rights as ultimately being grounded in the furtherance and maintenance of truth. Building on Kant’s argument, the Article defines the copyright primary subject matter as the act of speaking publicly in one’s own (...) name, and the copyright sphere as the author-public coalescence that such act of speaking generates. This enables reaching a proper understanding of the scope of copyright and to characterizing its specificity as compared to its "fellow rights," patents and trademarks. (shrink)

The article inquires into some of the most relevant current transformations of the idea of the social in contemporary European welfare capitalism. Some crucial institutional ideas — employability and activation — of EU welfare capitalism and their connections with the new spirit of capitalism — network capitalism — are discussed. In particular, the way these ideas contribute to enacting institutional regimes of justification, framing in this a new idea of the social, is explored. The features of the latter will be (...) deepened with particular concern for two constitutive elements of European societal self-representation — individualization (as a social ideal and project) and publicness (as a fundamental characteristic of the institutional programme) — and regarding emerging paradoxes characterizing their current development. Arguments will be advanced in order to show that the currently dominant institutional regime of justification does not have a univocal, one-way fate of development, and both ties and opportunities are reconfigured. The idea of the social, even if reframed according to the social and institutional logics the article explores, is a terrain of (cultural, political, social and institutional) conflict. In this, possible counter-factual interpretations of the emerging institutional devices and practices, already at work on the social stage, can be further developed and strengthened. (shrink)

Resumo: Este artigo resulta de pesquisa que mapeou programas e atores privados que incidiam em redes públicas de educação dos 26 estados e Distrito Federal entre 2005 e 2018. Além do mapeamento, a pesquisa analisa programas educacionais operados por atores privados em cada uma das três dimensões da política - oferta educativa, currículo e gestão - conforme ADRIÃO (2018). Neste trabalho, analisa-se o Programa Acelera Brasil, criado pelo Instituto Ayrton Senna e selecionado por sua capilaridade, institucionalidade e longevidade na dimensão (...) da privatização do currículo no estado de Goiás. Consideramos as características do programa nas escolas estaduais e as implicações para o Direito Humano à Educação (DHE), com base em Tomasevski (2004). O artigo deriva de estudos bibliográficos e documentais. Os resultados identificam consequências negativas para o DHE, dentre as quais: falta de transparência acerca do Programa e seus resultados, dificultando o Controle Social, segregação dos alunos participantes do Acelera em salas separadas das turmas regulares e a ausência de monitoramento dos alunos egressos do Programa ou a não divulgação de seus resultados, desrespeitando as características fundamentais do DHE, quais sejam disponibilidade, acessibilidade, adaptabilidade e aceitabilidade. Palavras-chave: Privatização; Currículo; Programa Acelera Brasil; Direito Humano The “Acelera Brasil” Program in the state of Goiás: implications for the Human Right Education (HRE) Abstract: This article is the results of research that mapped programs and private actors that focused on public education networks in the 26 states and the Federal District between2005 and 2018. In addition to mapping, the research analyzes educational programs operated by private actors in the period, in each of the three dimensions of the policy - educational offer, curriculum and management - according to ADRIÃO (2018). In this work, we analyze the “Acelera Brasil” Program, created by the Ayrton Senna Institute and selected for its capillarity, institutionality and longevity in the dimension of privatization of the curriculum in the state of Goiás. We consider the characteristics of the program in state schools and the implications for the Human Right to Education (HRE), based on Tomasevski (2004). The article derives from bibliographic and documentary studies. The results identify negative consequences for the HRE, among which: lack of transparency about the Program and its results, hindering Social Control, segregation of students participating in “Acelera” in separate rooms from regular classes and the absence of monitoring of students who graduated from the Program or the non-disclosure of its results, disregarding the fundamental characteristics of HRE, wich are availability, accessibility, adaptaptability and acceptability. Key-words: Privatization; Curriculum; Acelera Brasil Program; Human Right El Programa “Acelera Brasil” en el estado de Goiás: implicaciones para el Derecho Humano a la Educación (DHE) Resumen: Este artículo es el resultado de una investigación que mapeó programas y actores privados que se enfocaron en redes de educación pública en los 26 estados y el Distrito Federal entre 2005 y 2018. Además del mapeo, la investigación analiza programas educativos operados por actores privados en el período, en cada una de las tres dimensiones de la política - oferta educativa, currículo y gestión - según ADRIÃO (2018). En este trabajo, analizamos el Programa “Acelera Brasil”, creado por el Instituto Ayrton Senna y seleccionado por su capilaridad, institucionalidad y longevidad en la dimensión de privatización del currículo en el estado de Goiás. Consideramos las características del programa en las escuelas públicas y las implicaciones para el Derecho Humano a la Educación (DHE), con base en Tomasevski (2004). El artículo deriva de estudios bibliográficos y documentales. Los resultados identifican consecuencias negativas para la DHE, entre las cuales: la falta de transparencia sobre el Programa y sus resultados, dificultando el Control Social, la segregación de los estudiantes participantes de “Acelera” en salones separados de las clases regulares y la ausencia de seguimiento de los estudiantes egresados ​​de el Programa o la no divulgación de sus resultados, lesionando las características fundamentales lo DHE, que son la disponibilidad, accesibilidad, adaptaptabilidad y la aceptabilidad Palabras clave: Privatización; Plan de estudios; Programa Acelera Brasil; Derecho Humano Data de registro: 31/05/2022 Data de aceite: 26/10/2022. (shrink)

L’articolo analizza il campo di tensione tra cooperazione come principio intrinseco all’azione sociale e cooperazione come prodotto storico-sociale. Dopo aver richiamato le concezioni utilitariste e "contrattualiste" dell’azione sociale il nesso tra cooperazione e azione sociale viene presentato analiticamente nel contesto del capitalismo neoliberale. Muovendo da una coattiva estrazione di cooperazione che caratterizza tale quadro, vengono discussi i rischi di erosione delle basi sociali della cooperazione e del legame sociale che l’estrazione di cooperazione comporta. Nel solco del concetto di contromovimento delineato (...) da Polanyi viene tuttavia argomentata la necessità di superare ogni semplicistico schema dualistico mercato/società e di ricorrere ad una rilettura più complessa, in cui del sociale sia posta in evidenza la natura politica e si enfatizzi un ulteriore principio di qualificazione del contromovimento, vale a dire quello dell’emancipazione. (shrink)

In this paper I discuss the concept of time in physics. I consider the thermal time hypothesis and I claim that thermal clocks and atomic clocks measure different physical times, whereby thermal time and relativistic time are not compatible with each other. This hypothesis opens the possibility of a new foundation of the theory of physical time, and new perspectives in theoretical and philosophical researches.

Thinking about what the senses cannot grasp is one of the hallmarks of human cognition. We argue that “intangible abstracta” are represented differently from other products of abstraction, that goal-derived categorization supports their learning, and that they are grounded also in internalized linguistic and social interaction. We conclude by suggesting different ways in which abstractness contributes to cement group cohesion.

: This work focuses on emotional concepts. We define concepts as patterns of neural activation that re-enact a given external or internal experience, for example the interoceptive experience related to fear. Concepts are mediated and expressed through words. In the following, we will use “words” to refer to word meanings, assuming that words mediate underlying concepts. Since emotional concepts and the words that mediate them are less related to the physical environment than concrete ones, at first sight they might be (...) depicted as abstract concepts. Evidence coming from several studies shows, instead, that the issue is more complex. In this work, we will briefly outline the debate and illustrate results from recent studies on comprehension of concrete, emotional and abstract words in children and adults. We will argue that emotional words can be accounted for from a grounded perspective and will contend that emotional words represent a particular set of words that differs from both the concrete and purely abstract ones. Keywords: Embodied and Grounded Cognition; Abstract Concepts; Emotional Words; Language Acquisition; Language Processing La peculiarità delle parole emotive: un approccio basato sulla grounded cognition Riassunto: Questo lavoro si incentra sui concetti emotivi. Intendiamo qui per concetti i pattern di attivazioni neurali che riattivano un’esperienza interna o esterna, per esempio le esperienze interocettive collegate alla paura. I concetti sono mediati ed espressi dalle parole. Di seguito, useremo “parole” in riferimento al significato delle parole, assumendo le parole come veicolo dei concetti. I concetti emotivi e le parole che li esprimono, dal momento che sono meno legati all’ambiente fisico rispetto a quelli concreti, potrebbero essere a tutta prima classificati come concetti astratti. Molti studi invece mostrano come la questione sia più complessa. In questo lavoro illustreremo brevemente il dibattito e i risultati di recenti studi sulla comprensione di parole astratte, concrete ed emotive in bambini e adulti, per mostrare come una prospettiva grounded possa rendere conto delle parole emotive, sostenendo che queste rappresentano un insieme particolare di parole, diverse sia da quelle concrete che da quelle puramente astratte. Parole chiave: Embodied and Grounded Cognition; Concetti astratti; Parole emotive; Acquisizione del linguaggio; Processamento del linguaggio. (shrink)

Artefacts are usually understood in contrast with natural kinds and conceived as a unitary kind. Here we propose that there is in fact a variety of artefacts: from the more concrete to the more abstract ones. Moreover, not every artefact is able to fulfil its function thanks to its physical properties: Some artefacts, particularly what we call “institutional” artefacts, are symbolic in nature and require a system of rules to exist and to fulfil their function. Adopting a standard method to (...) measure conceptual representation (the property generation task), we have experimentally explored how humans conceptualise these different kinds of artefacts. Results indicate that institutional artefacts are typically opposed to social objects, while being more similar to standard artefacts, be they abstract or concrete. (shrink)