This book proposes a radically evolutionary approach to biolinguistics that consists in considering human language as a form of species-specific intelligence entirely embodied in the corporeal structures of Homo sapiens. The book starts with a historical reconstruction of two opposing biolinguistic models: the Chomskian Biolinguistic Model (CBM) and the Darwinian Biolinguistic Model (DBM). The second part compares the two models and develops into a complete reconsideration of the traditional biolinguistic issues in an evolutionary perspective, highlighting their potential influence on the (...) paradigm of biologically oriented cognitive science. The third part formulates the philosophical, evolutionary and experimental basis of an extended theory of linguistic performativity within a naturalistic perspective of pragmatics of verbal language. The book proposes a model in which the continuity between human and non-human primates is linked to the gradual development of the articulatory and neurocerebral structures, and to a kind of prelinguistic pragmatics which characterizes the common nature of social learning. In contrast, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic skills that mark the learning of historical-natural languages are seen as a rapid acceleration of cultural evolution. The book makes clear that this acceleration will not necessarily favour the long-term adaptations for Homo sapiens. (shrink)

Columbia University Press's multivolume Prison Notebooks is the only complete critical edition of Antonio Gramsci's seminal writings in English. Based on the authoritative Italian edition of Gramsci's work, Quaderni del Carcere, this comprehensive translation presents the intellectual as he ought to be read and understood, with critical notes that clarify Gramsci's history, culture, and sources; an index of names; and a contextualization of the thinker's ideas against his earlier writings and letters. This set includes notebooks 1 through 8 with (...) all attendant notes and materials and is an indispensible resource for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. (shrink)

The social research about group decision-making in the human societies has received recent contributions from studies reached in the field of ethology and Game theory. Comparative data revealed the adoption of symbolic systems for vote expression and the consensus achievement in other social species. The wide diffusion of the voting procedure—as a sign of an ecological rationality– in species with different social organizations and cognitive levels, requires a new interpretation of the consensus issue assuming a new evolutionary biopolitical perspective, for (...) the survey of the sociality and in particular of the effects of linguistic rationality on the human group decision-making. (shrink)

In this article we propose to overlap aesthetic experience with medial experience, starting from the assumption that every aesthetic experience is always a medial experience. Adopting a naturalistic approach, in which we explain what we mean with the term naturalization, we suggest a partial review of the issue. First, we state that human natural language is a kind of technology, made possible by certain physical, cognitive and social features; this sort of biological technology must be considered as an underlying condition (...) for aesthetic experience. Secondly, we suggest the importance of social relationships among various species, demonstrating the role played by this relationships in natural selection: a new perspective will emerge. Thirdly, we explain in more detail why aesthetic experience can be likened to medial experience; in doing so, we offer an epistemological comparison between evolutionary theory and Marshall McLuhan’s approach to media studies. Resulting comparison will offer an original definition of aesthetic experience which rises through the interaction engaged by our natural technologies interacting prosthetically with environment. (shrink)

Background Neuroimaging and lesion studies suggested that the dorsolateral prefrontal and posterior parietal cortices mediate visual metacognitive awareness. The causal evidence provided by non-invasive brain stimulation, however, is inconsistent. -/- Objective/hypothesis Here we revisit a major figure discrimination experiment adding a new Kanizsa figure task trying to resolve whether bilateral continuous theta-burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) over these regions affects perceptual metacognition. Specifically, we tested whether subjective visibility ratings and/or metacognitive efficiency are lower when cTBS is applied to these two (...) regions in comparison to an active control region. -/- Methods A within-subjects design including three sessions spaced by one-week intervals was implemented. In each session, every participant was administered bilateral cTBS to either prefrontal, control or parietal cortices. Two concurrent tasks were performed, a real and an illusory figure task, stabilising objective performance with use of an adaptive staircase procedure. -/- Results When performing the replicated task, cTBS was found insufficient to disrupt neither visibility ratings nor metacognitive efficiency. However, with use of Kanizsa style illusory figures, cTBS over the dorsolateral prefrontal, but not over the posterior parietal cortex, was observed to significantly diminish metacognitive efficiency. -/- Conclusion(s) Real and illusory figure tasks demonstrated different cTBS effects. A possible explanation is the involvement of the prefrontal cortex in the creation of expectations, which is necessary for efficient metacognition. Failure to replicate previous findings for the real figure task, however, cannot be said to support, conclusively, the notion that these brain regions have a causal role in metacognitive awareness. This inconsistent finding may result from certain limitations of our study, thereby suggesting the need for yet further investigation. (shrink)

This volume explores the work and thought of Edith Stein (1891-1942). It discusses in detail, and from new perspectives, the traditional areas of her thinking, including her ideas about women/feminism, theology, and metaphysics. In addition, it introduces readers to new and/or understudied areas of her thought, including her views on history, and her social and political philosophy. The guiding thread that connects all the essays in this book is the emphasis on new approaches and novel applications of her philosophy. The (...) contributions both extend the interdisciplinary implications of Stein's thinking for our contemporary world and apply her insights to questions of theatre, public history and biographical representation, education, politics, autism, theological debates, feminism, sexuality studies and literature. The volume brings together for the first time leading scholars in five language-groups, including English, German, Italian, French and Spanish-speaking authors, thereby reflecting an international and cosmopolitan approach to Stein studies. (shrink)

Pure shape dynamics (PSD) is a novel implementation of the relational framework originally proposed by Julian Barbour and Bruno Bertotti. PSD represents a Leibnizian/Machian approach to physics in that it completely describes the dynamical evolution of a physical system without resorting to any structure external to the system itself. The chapter discusses how PSD effectively describes a de Broglie-Bohm N-body system and the conceptual benefits of such a relational description. The analysis will highlight the new directions in the quest for (...) an understanding of the nature of the wave function that are opened up by a modern relationalist elaboration on de Broglie's and Bohm's original insights. (shrink)

From one of the world's leading neuroscientists--a succinct, illuminating, wholly engaging investigation of the phenomenon of consciousness. In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the question of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings in neurobiology, psychology, and AI have given us the necessary tools to solve its mystery. Now, he not only elucidates its myriad aspects, but presents his analysis and insights in a way that is faithful to our own intuitive sense (...) of the experience of consciousness. In the 45 brief chapters of the book, he helps us understand the relation between consciousness and mind; why being conscious is not the same as either being awake or sensing; the essential role of feeling; and the biological brain and development of consciousness. He synthesizes the recent findings of various sciences with the outlook of philosophy, and, most significantly, presents his original research which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behavior. Here is an indispensable guide to understanding consciousness, the fundamental human capacity for informing--and transforming--our experience of the world around us and our perception of our place in it. (shrink)

In the so-called digital culture, there is a constant presence of radical transformations on the cognitive and affective dimensions of the relations established among teachers and students. Upon this ubiquitous accessibility of information, the very historical and hierarchically verticalized relation between teachers and students has been increasingly questioned. Upon this situation, the authors in this article aim at stating that the revitalization of concepts developed by Paulo Freire, mainly the ones discussed in the books: ‘Pedagogy of Hope’, that sought a (...) re-encounter with ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, ‘Extension or Communication’ and ‘Pedagogy of Freedom’ became essential to understanding how the relationship between teachers and students can be mutually re-signified. In these times of digital culture, we argue that the revitalization of the critical thinking proposed by Freire is able to foment a dialogical communication both in the pedagogical link shared by teachers and students and in the transformation of information into substantially and ethically experienced concepts. Such substantial and ethical experiences are the ones able to attest that the pedagogy of hope and the pedagogy of freedom are possible, provided they are constituted with the students and not for them. (shrink)

Antropologia individualistica e democrazia -- Nuova antropologia. Soggetto e libertà nella democrazia di Tocqueville -- Sball-democrazia -- Simboli del potere -- Oltre la frontiera. Soggettività globale -- Ecity. Tecnica senza storia.

The paper investigates the type of realism that best suits the framework of decoherence taken at face value without postulating a plurality of worlds, or additional hidden variables, or non-unitary dynamical mechanisms. It is argued that this reading of decoherence leads to an extremely radical type of perspectival realism, especially when cosmological decoherence is considered.

The paper presents a metaphysical characterization of spatiotemporal backgrounds from a realist perspective. The conceptual analysis is based on a heuristic sketch that encompasses the common formal traits of the major spacetime theories, such as Newtonian mechanics and general relativity. It is shown how this framework can be interpreted in a fully realist fashion, and what is the role of background structures in such a picture. In the end it is argued that, although backgrounds are a source of metaphysical discomfort, (...) still they make a spacetime theory easy to interpret. It is also suggested that this conclusion partially explains why the notion of background independence carries a lot of conceptual difficulties. (shrink)

Provisto de procedimientos que proceden de la filosofía y de la poesía, la filología y el psicoanálisis, la religión, el cine o la antropología, Antonio Lastra inscribe su "ecología de la cultura" en una vertiente político ...

Este libro trata sobre algunos de los más importantes humanistas de los siglos xv y xvi, auténticos filósofos en el sentido moderno de la palabra, así como de la estrecha relación que mantuvieron con los distintos príncipes de Europa. Casi siempre en latín, su voz se oía en las Cortes y en los centros de decisión del continente, del que política y culturalmente formaban parte los reinos británicos. El diálogo y la relación entre príncipes y humanistas produjeron algunos de los (...) momentos más felices de la vida intelectual del Renacimiento. Los humanistas se dirigían a los gobernantes con ideas, opiniones y consejos, mientras que éstos, les hicieran caso o no, debían tener en cuenta lo que habían escuchado o leído. A fin de cuentas, a los soberanos les importaba mucho lo que podían pensar o escribir Erasmo, Moro, Maquiavelo, Vives, Dantisco o Arias Montano, tal y como a los Reyes Católicos —por ejemplo— les influyeron las ideas sobre España de Margarit o Lebrija. Bien mirado, podían ser considerados —y así lo fueron— como los continuadores de los clásicos griegos y latinos. (shrink)

_Highlights and critically assesses the work of contemporary Italian political philosophers._.

The label Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) refers to a heterogeneous class of conditions whose sufferers desire a particular type of physical impairment. Variants of the desire for disability share the experiential “friction” elicited by the mismatch between the physical body and the subjective body. Perceived from childhood, body integrity dysphoria intensifies progressively throughout life, often leading sufferers to simulate disability and attempt to engage in self-injury. The contemporary scientific community agrees on the assumption that BID is a complex phenomenon that (...) involves biological, social, and psychological dimensions. The present work aims to provide a preliminary qualitative overview of the desire for permanent visual impairment through novel descriptions from a recent narrative interview we conducted. The desire for blindness appears to be extremely rare. To date, there have been very few studies investigating this phenomenon. Despite these limitations, this paper aims to describe the subjective aspect of visual dysphoria, considering its similarities and differences with other variants grouped under the label of BID. (shrink)

In this paper, after outlining the general problem of the pragmatics of indirect reports, we dwell on two notoriously thorny problems: a) how do we interpret the pronominals contained in that-clauses of indirect reports; b) how do we interpret the presuppositions of that-clauses of indirect reports?. Theoretical considerations lead us in the direction of the idea that if two pragmatic principles clash, one should give way, but since we do not know which one has to give way, we should be (...) prepared to accept that the strongest or highest-ranking principle will defeat the other. Here we encounter a Principle, which Capone brought our attention to, that is not usually discussed in pragmatic theories, but which seems to play a crucial role, at least sometimes:Do not expect the hearers and the speakers to do what is not possible for them to do. In this paper, we recognize that the problem of opacity is connected with the problem of voices: who is responsible for a given section of the utterance. Given the presence of polyphony, this problem can be resolved either through contextual clues or through pragmatic principles. We prefer to see the interplay of principles and contextual clues as one in which the interpretation process is pretty orderly, with general principles providing the defaults, while contextual clues occasionally defeat the defaults in certain problematic cases. However, the issue of responsibility, which we try to regiment through the Paraphrasis/Form-style principle, does not only concern the issue of opacity but also the issue of how to find a referent for indexical expressions contained in the that-clause of a report and and how to satisfy the presuppositions of the that-clause. In this case the Paraphrasis/Form-style Principle makes wrong predictions, which have to be rectified thanks to a different principle. The pragmatic theory we apply certainly needs some flexibility, but a flexibility which is not injected into the theory by a mechanical ordering of the rules, but by explaining why a certain principle takes precedence over another in terms of considerations of rationality. (shrink)

Se analizziamo la posizione dell’uomo nel Cosmo osserviamo che il modo di abitare la Terra e di essere in relazione con le altre realtà manifesta una trascendenza non solo nei confronti del proprio pianeta, ma anche dell’intero Universo. C’è bisogno, di un’analisi dell’uomo sia nella sua struttura materiale, organica e vivente, sia nelle sue relazioni con le altre realtà. Attraverso l’analisi dell’uomo, questo saggio tenta dunque non soltanto di confrontare le proprietà dei diversi esseri nel mondo, in modo particolare i (...) viventi, ma soprattutto di stabilire qual è l’essenza dell’esistenza umana. (shrink)

o presente ensaio traz uma breve reflexao sobre a perspectiva habermasiana de sistematlzacao do "mundo vital", examinada no quadro histórico da questao da "pós-modernidade". Esta trata da relacao, apontada por HABERMAS (03:t II), entre as esferas do "sistema" e do "mundo vital", aplicada em termos de uma teoria da sociedade que se coloca frente a ideia de uma "nova ordem mundial".