Studying trust in the context of human-robot interaction is of great importance given the increasing relevance and presence of robotic agents in the social sphere, including educational and clinical. We investigated the acquisition, loss and restoration of trust when preschool and school-age children played with either a human or a humanoid robot in-vivo. The relationship between trust and the representation of the quality of attachment relationships, Theory of Mind, and executive function skills was also investigated. Additionally, to outline children’s beliefs (...) about the mental competencies of the robot, we further evaluated the attribution of mental states to the interactive agent. In general, no substantial differences were found in children’s trust in the play-partner as a function of agency (human or robot). Nevertheless, 3-years-olds showed a trend toward trusting the human more than the robot, as opposed to 7-years-olds, who displayed the reverse pattern. These findings align with results showing that, for 3 and 7-year-olds, the cognitive ability to switch was significantly associated with trust restoration in the human and the robot, respectively. Additionally, supporting previous findings, we found a dichotomy between attributions of mental states to the human and robot and children’s behavior: while attributing to the robot significantly lower mental states than the human, in the trusting game children behaved in a similar way when they related to the human and the robot. Altogether, the results of this study highlight that similar psychological mechanisms are at play when children are to establish a novel trustful relationship with a human and robot partner. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the interplay – during development – between children’s quality of attachment relationships and the development of a Theory of Mind, which act differently on trust dynamics as a function of the children’s age as well as the interactive partner’s nature (human vs. robot). (shrink)

Movement perception and its role in aesthetic experience have been often studied, within empirical aesthetics, in relation to the human body. No such specificity has been defined in neuroimaging studies with respect to contents lacking a human form. The aim of this work was to explore, through functional magnetic imaging (fMRI), how perceived movement is processed during the aesthetic judgment of paintings using two types of content: human subjects and scenes of nature. Participants, untutored in the arts, were shown the (...) stimuli and asked to make aesthetic judgments. Additionally, they were instructed to observe the paintings and to rate their perceived movement in separate blocks. Observation highlighted spontaneous processes associated with aesthetic experience, whereas movement judgment outlined activations specifically related to movement processing. The ratings recorded during aesthetic judgment revealed that nature scenes received higher scored than human content paintings. The imaging data showed similar activation, relative to baseline, for all stimuli in the three tasks, including activation of occipito-temporal areas, posterior parietal and premotor cortices. Contrast analyses within aesthetic judgment task showed that human content activated, relative to nature, precuneus, fusiform gyrus and posterior temporal areas, whose activation was prominent for dynamic human paintings. In contrast, nature scenes activated, relative to human stimuli, occipital and posterior parietal cortex/precuneus, involved in visuospatial exploration and pragmatic coding of movement, as well as central insula. Static nature paintings further activated, relative to dynamic nature stimuli, central and posterior insula. Besides insular activation, which was specific for aesthetic judgment, we found a large overlap in the activation pattern characterizing each stimulus dimension (content and dynamism) across observation, aesthetic judgment and movement judgment tasks. These findings support the idea that the aesthetic evaluation of artworks depicting both human subjects and nature scenes involves a motor component, and that the associated neural processes occur quite spontaneously in the viewer. Furthermore, considering the functional roles of posterior and central insula, we suggest that nature paintings may evoke aesthetic processes requiring an additional proprioceptive and sensori-motor component implemented by “motor accessibility” to the represented scenario, which is needed to judge the aesthetic value of the observed painting. (shrink)

La pubblicazione di questo volume risponde a diverse esigenze. Prima fra tutto di stimolare un dibattito interdisciplinare intorno a uno fra gli argomenti che maggiormente suscitarono l'interesse di Francesco Iengo: il concetto di metropoli, o meglio la macroarea concettuale, a cui si collega la riflessione sulla società e sulla civiltà moderna e sull'idea stessa di modernità. Ulteriore preoccupazione è stata quella di di evitare il classico omaggio "alla memoria" confrontandoci con lavori scientifici di Iengo in modo interlocutorio, eludendo malinconiche rimembrwnze (...) e sterili piaggerie accademiche. Il risultato è un quadro collettivo movimentato e ampio che spazia storicamente e geograficamente, in una varietà di approcci e di spunti, tra estetica, filosofia, letteratura, antropologia, cinema. (shrink)

Eating disorders can be viewed as “embodied acts” that help to cope with internal and external demands that are perceived as overwhelming. The maintenance of EDs affects the entire identity of the person; the lack of a defined; or valid sense of self is expressed in terms of both physical body and personal identity. According to attachment theory, primary relationships characterized by insecurity, traumatic experiences, poor mirroring, and emotional attunement lead to the development of dysfunctional regulatory strategies. Although the literature (...) shows an association between attachment style or states of mind, trauma, behavioral strategies, and various EDs, the debate is still ongoing and the results are still conflicting. Therefore, we believe it is important to examine and treat EDs by understanding which narrative trajectory intercepts distress in relation to narrative and embodied self-concept. Drawing on clinical observation and a narrative review of the literature, we focus on the construction and organization of bodily and narrative identity. Because bodily representations are the primary tools for generating meaning, organizing experience, and shaping social identity from the earliest stages of life, we focus on the role that bodily interactions and sensorimotor and proprioceptive patterns have played in the development of EDs. We consider the role that lack of attunement, insecure attachment, and relational trauma play in mentalizing, affecting self-representation and emotion regulation strategies. The paper also considers a semantic mode of trauma in EDs that involves a top-down pathway through beliefs and narratives about oneself based on lack of amiability, on devaluation, and on humiliation memories. Finally, we would like to highlight the proposal of an integrated model with multiple access model to psychotherapy that takes into account the complexity of ED patients in whom aspects related to dysregulation, body image disintegration, and post-traumatic symptoms are associated with a suffering sense of self and a retraumatizing narrative. (shrink)

Nel 2011 sono mancati Paolo Lucentini e Alfonso Maierù. Nel ricordarne la vicenda umana e professionale come ricercatori e come docenti, questo articolo intende mettere in luce in particolare il contributo che essi hanno dato alla Storia del pensiero medievale accompagnando gli studi dottrinali con importanti edizioni di testi inediti. Paolo Lucentini and Alfonso Maierù passed away in 2011. This article, in remembrance of their personal and professional roles as researchers and teachers, will highlight the contributions that they made to (...) the history of medieval thought, showing how they combined doctrinal studies with important editions of unedited texts. (shrink)

_Abstract_: We argue that theoretical debates in biology and cognitive science often are based around differences in the posited _locus of control _for biological and cognitive phenomena. Internalists about locus of control posit that specific causal control over the phenomenon is exerted by factors internal (to the relevant subsystem) of an organism. Externalists posit that causally specific influence is due to external factors. In theoretical biology, we suggest, a minimal agreement has developed that the locus of control for heritable variation (...) is _distributed _– that is, both internal and external factors exert specific, non-redundant causal influence on evolved traits. We suggest that debates in cognitive science, particularly surrounding “enactivism”, should also embrace a distributed locus of control. We show how both internal and external factors contribute non-redundantly to psychological capacities and behavior. We further suggest that embracing a distributed locus of control provides a basis for a revisionary, but substantive account of “mental representation”. _Keywords_: Locus of control; Internalism/Externalism; Evolutionary Biology; Cognitive Science; Mental Representation _ Loci di controllo distribuiti: superare le vecchie dicotomie nella biologia e nella scienza cognitiva _ _Riassunto_: Numerose discussioni in biologia e nella scienza cognitiva vertono spesso su differenze nella individuazione del _locus di controllo_ dei fenomeni biologici e cognitivi. Posizioni internaliste rispetto al _locus di controllo_ ritengono che il controllo causale specifico su un fenomeno biologico o cognitivo venga esercitato da fattori interni a (un sottosistema rilevante) di un organismo. Al contrario, posizioni esternaliste assumono che specifiche influenze causali siano dovute a fattori esterni. In questo articolo mostriamo che nell’ambito della biologia teorica si è giunti a un minimo accordo rispetto al fatto che il _locus di controllo_ per l’emergere di variazioni ereditarie è _distribuito _– ossia dovuto sia a fattori interni che esterni all’organismo che esercitano influenze specifiche e non-ridondanti sui tratti che si sono evoluti. Riteniamo che tale accordo debba essere raggiunto anche nell’ambito della scienza cognitiva, in particolare per quel che concerne l’_enattivismo_. In questo articolo mostriamo che sia i fattori interni che quelli esterni contribuiscono in maniera non-ridondante alle capacità psicologiche e al comportamento di un individuo. Inoltre sosterremo che l’adozione di un _locus di controllo _distribuito possa costituire un buon punto di partenza per una revisione sostanziale della nozione di “rappresentazione mentale”. _Parole chiave_: Locus di controllo causale; Internalismo/Esternalismo; Biologia evolutiva; Scienze cognitive; Rappresentazione mentale _ _. (shrink)

El objetivo del presente artículo se centra en la labor contestataria y filógina del escritor siciliano Vincenzo di Blasi en relación con las teorías misóginas de Aristóteles expuestas en sus obras _La reproducción de los animales _y _Política, _ambas escritas en el siglo IV a.C_._ El artículo se abre con una introducción sobre los estudios que se han emprendido sobre las definiciones aristotélicas de la mujer para definir un marco teórico de partida. Posteriormente, se exponen de manera contrastada las teorías (...) de Aristóteles y las réplicas de Vincenzo di Blasi en el capítulo XIV de su _Apologia filosofico-storica in cui si mostra il sesso delle donne superiore a quello degli uomini_ (1737), demostrando la inclusión del autor dentro de la _Querella de las Mujeres_ en Italia. (shrink)

En este trabajo realizo un examen crítico del reciente libro de Silvana Gabriela Di Camillo sobre la crítica de Aristóteles a la teoría platónica de las Ideas. El libro de Di Camillo es un trabajo muy serio cuya lectura recomiendo ampliamente. Sin embargo, considero que cuatro de las principales tesis que la autora defiende tienen varias dificultades y mi objetivo aquí es presentar argumentos detallados en contra de ellas: la interpretación de la distinción entre argumentos más y menos rigurosos del (...) tratado Sobre las Ideas; la tesis de que la separación es el blanco esencial de las críticas aristotélicas a las Ideas; la interpretación de las opciones que Platón tiene para responder al argumento del tercer hombre, y la tesis de que la separación de las Ideas debe entenderse como homonimia. In this paper I examine Silvana Gabriela Di Camillo's recent book on Aristotle's criticisms of Plato's theory of Ideas. Di Camillo's book is a very serious work that I highly recommend. Nevertheless, I consider that four of the main theses that the author defends face several difficulties and my aim here is to offer detailed arguments against them: the interpretation of the distinction between more and less accurate arguments of the treatise On Ideas; the thesis that separation is the essential target of Aristotle's criticisms against Plato's Ideas; the interpretation of the options available to Plato to reply to the third man argument; and the thesis that the separation of Ideas should be understood as homonymy. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:272 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY than most that his great original intellects cannot be crammed into any conceptual pigeonhole. By juxtaposing them all as he does he deepens our understanding of each. ALAN B. SPITZER State University o/ Iowa Alla Soglia Dell" et~ Romantica. By A. Pupi. (Milan: Vitae pensiero, 1962. L. 3000.) Pupi's object in this book, At the Dawn o/the Romantic Age, is to recapture the milieu and (...) the personalities of those who had what Kant called "rational faith." The two main issues of the polemics which produced the Kantian theory of the supremacy of practical reason are formulated in Jacobi's and Mendelssohn's philosophies. Jacobi, rejecting Spinozism as atheism, appeals to faith as an element of all human knowledge and of reality (p. 49), using Kant to justify his appeal to practical faith and in this way evading the Kryptokatholicismus of which he was accused (p. 230). Mendelssohn, on the other hand, denies the existence of things in themselves, mistaking, according to Jacobi's version of Kant (p. 210), Kant's theory of the limits of human knowledge for a theory of knowledge as such (p. 279). Meanwhile, in the face of the fall of philosophical reason, Hamann praises reason as "God's original light" (p. 225). These are the terms of the polemic created by Kant's short treatise, What Does It Mean to See One's Way Clearly? We must never forget these sayings because "the Kantian language and other great systematic formulations are always based on them and have an organic continuity through the circular medium of men's daily and concrete speech" (p. 214). Kant intervenes in the dispute with the notion of Vernun/tglaube whose Griinde should be interpreted as the very nature of reason (p. 289). However, while we may interpret the word "opinion" (Meinung) as knowledge (Wissen), when the objective Griinde are given, the VernunItglaube will always be a Glaube because it is based only on "ge[iihltes Bediir[nis der VernunIt," and consequently its Grund must be taken as only subjective (pp. 288--290). What Kant wants to point out is that "thought detached from experience (pure reason) is no longer able to show that it knows reality, but it can see its own way in the sphere of the possible" (pp. 283--284); however, the Vernuntt of the Vernun/tglaube is neither the speculative and demonstrative reason, as Mendelssohn supposed, nor an obscure intuition "without the consent of reason," called "faith" by Jacobi. This is, in short, the theme of the book. I cannot agree with the author's thesis that the Kantian supremacy of practical reason settled the issue in the age-old dispute between philosophy and faith (p. 275). The very protest of Wizemann, which the author cannot omit, is an example of it, and certainly this was not the only protest; it was followed by lively criticism, particularly by Schelling, who soon expressed himself in his Philosophical Letters. See particularly the first letter (on p. 8 of the Italian Edition by G. Semerari, Florence: 1958). I think too that this attempt to make practice the objective guaranty of theoretical philosophy is somewhat problematic, all the more if one admits the impossibility of a theoretic reasoning about God's existence only in practice. It seems to me that the author, whose strict and relevant philology is admirable, leaves out too much of the theoretic problematicity of the subjects he faces, as, for instance, the ambiguity of the talk about faith, which is formally assertive but really hypothetical; the assertiveness, if practical, should be justified in action, not in talk. In consequence of his recourse to practice as a last resort for justification, Kant is compared to Pascal by Goldmann, who sees in both of them the theme of the "wager" (see pp. 445-446, Le Dieu Cachd, Paris, 1955) which shows, to my mind, the problematicity of the whole matter. This cannot be settled merely by historical exposition. The limitation of Pupi's study, though philologically rich and detailed, lies, according to BOOK REVIEWS 273 my judgment, in the fact that he has limited the historical inquiry to the scholarly study of documents and... (shrink)

In the rhetorical tradition of Late Antiquity, Socrates’ legend has a good fortune in the works of different rhetoricians and philosophers. In the following pages I am going to deal with some examples of this phaenomenon, through the works of Themistius and Julian the emperor : two intellectuals of the IV century who are, under many aspects, the exact opposites.They both try to ‘actualize’ Socrates’ figure, highlighting different aspects of the Athenian philosopher, on the grounds of their personal purposes of (...) self-advertisement. So Themistius, a skilled politician working as princeps’ advisor, sees in Socrates a symbol of the ‘politikos philosophos’, who speaks plainly in public with people of all ranks, in a simple and direct way ; for Julian, emperor and philosopher of the new Hellenism, Socrates, instead, is mainly the saviour of the souls, addressing all men towards the true knowledge of themselves and the true faith in pagan gods. These portraits are complementary and both attest the ability of Late Antique intellectuals in their imitatio/aemulatio of figures and myths of Classical Antiquity. (shrink)

This article aims to show that Julian the Emperor had some knowledge of Middle Platonic doctrines. More specifically, the discussion focuses on the case of Plutarch of Chaeronea.We can find interesting parallels between the works of this philosopher and the Orations of Julian, especially concerning the allegorical exegesis of myths, the crucial metaphysical role played by Apollo-Helios and the doctrine of the soul. It is worth considering the possibility that Plutarch's works partially inspired Julian's concept of Hellenism.