In a series of papers published in the sixties and seventies, Jaakko Hintikka, drawing upon Kant’s conception, defines an argument to be analytic whenever it does not introduce new individuals into the discussion and argues that there exists a class of arguments in polyadic first-order logic that are to be synthetic according to this sense. His work has been utterly overlooked in the literature. In this paper, I claim that the value of Hintikka’s contribution has been obscured by his formalisation (...) of the original definition. Therefore, I provide (i) a brief reconstruction of the historical framework of the problem and the revolutionary import of Hintikka’s contribution, (ii) a clarification of the most complicated steps of Hintikka’s elaboration of his insight, (iii) a criticism of several features that play a fundamental role in Hintikka’s formalisation and (iv) a selection from Hintikka’s own material of some valuable suggestions towards a clear and workable formalisation. As for the pars construens, I isolate in the approach of depth-bounded first-order logics (D'Agostino et al. 2021) an alternative formalisation of the notion of syntheticity as the introduction of new individuals in the reasoning, and I show that it is not affected by the same difficulties as Hintikka’s proposal. In so doing, I hope to have contributed to the realisation of the project of rehabilitating Kant’s analytic–synthetic distinction in the context of modern first-order logic with the purpose of showing, against the logical empiricist movement, that logic is not analytic. (shrink)

This essay examines the sanitary policies for the protection of overseas communities that Italian fascism employed during the empire. From 1935–1936, the vast scale of the Ethiopian campaign, as well as intensive colonisation programmes, gave new political visibility to the issue of safeguarding Italian settlers from the risks of the tropical climate. In this period, the problem of how Italians could adapt to overseas environments moved beyond the boundaries of scientific discussion to become a major concern of colonial rule. Analysing (...) both the medical literature and archival sources, this essay examines the concepts and practices that underpinned the fascist project for the “reclamation” of the empire: from the intensification of hygienic propaganda, to the redefinition of the medical-geographical boundaries of tropical risk, and to the expansion of social security benefits, which were extended to harms caused by tropical diseases. Finally, it investigates how the notion of acclimatisation was transformed within the context of the regime's imperial ideology, showing how the conception of the tropics as a pathogenic space remained widespread, fuelled by the regime's organicistic vision and its concerns for upholding the racial prestige of Italians in the colony. (shrink)

When we appraise others as talented or virtuous, we esteem them: we register admiration of their traits and virtues. It is generally believed that, unless they involve a violation of respect, distributions of esteem are not a concern from the point of view of justice. In this paper, I want to dispute this commonly-held view. I will argue that attributions of esteem can become problematic when a particular trait becomes such a uniquely relevant source of social esteem in a community (...) that its absence becomes a reason to regard others as less than full members of the community. For instance, in contemporary capitalist societies those perceived as lacking certain socially valued traits and unable or unwilling to make certain kinds of contribution to the community, such as those who are unemployed or have committed criminal offences, are widely disesteemed and also regarded as inferior qua members of the community by others. From the fact that they fail to possess particular qualities a broader negative judgment of their ability to contribute to the community is inferred. Moreover, their failure to gain esteem in these pervasive domains eclipses their possession of other esteem-worthy traits as well as other positive contributions they might have made to society. This perception of inferiority renders it impossible for them to live on equal terms with other citizens. I argue that as egalitarians we should oppose these distributions of esteem. (shrink)

In her recent book The Limits of Blame, Erin Kelly argues that we should rethink the nature of punishment because delivering blame is, contrary to the widely held view, not among the justifiable aims of a criminal justice system. In this paper, firstly, I discuss her case against criminal blame. Kelly argues that the emphasis on blame in the criminal justice system and in public discourse is one of the main causes of the stigma and exclusion faced by those convicted (...) for a crime. This claim might appear puzzling and, while she provides other convincing arguments against criminal blame, Kelly does not extensively defend this particular argument. To offer support for this view, I reflect on the often overlooked distinction between moral blame and criminal blame to show how the latter, unlike the former, is exclusionary and stigmatising. Secondly, I address the claim put forth by Kelly that blame should play no role in the criminal justice system at all. In light of her argument about the optional nature of moral blame, I explore the possibility that the state should leave open to victims the option to blame criminal wrongdoers in restorative justice conferences. I argue that in such contexts blame would not have the same exclusionary features of criminal blame in traditional settings and that it could serve some valuable aims articulated by communicative theories of punishment, such as the restoration of moral relationships. (shrink)

This article discusses the removal of voting rights from those convicted of crimes. I focus on two recent defences of penal disenfranchisement: firstly, I question one justification of the view that voting rights are conditional on the fulfilment of certain responsibilities that offenders fail to meet. Secondly, I criticise an expressivist justification of disenfranchisement based on the idea that it is uniquely suited to express dissociation from serious wrongdoing. While embracing the expressivist perspective of the latter line of argument, I (...) argue that disenfranchisement also expresses attitudes that are incompatible with the commitment to equality. Disenfranchisement conveys the judgment that offenders are not fit to participate in the democratic process. In doing so, it violates the duty of the state to treat all its citizens with equal respect and undermines offenders’ equal status. Moreover, this policy fosters objectionable inequalities of esteem: other members of the community are very likely to internalise the judgment that offenders are second‐class citizens and to regard them as inferior, which in turn undermines their status in society. (shrink)

This essay explores the fear of secession in two different context: the exit of a member State from EU and the secession of a territorially concentrated group from a member State of the EU. The case of the recent Brexit and the crisis in Catalonia are taken as case studies to comprehend theoretically which secession could «constitute» EU as a Federation. In the second part, I exemplify how from the international perspective secession can be considered as an «ultimate right» and (...) that if one can talk of such a thing as legality when referring to secession that can be done only in the sense of a liminal legality: a legality that reside in the border area between the internal and the international legal order. In the last part of the essay, I shall try to use Catalonia as test to evaluate both the opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo and the famous Reference of the Canadian Supreme Court on Québec. In the conclusion of the essay, I will also verify if Catalonia can be read through the lens of the Just-Cause Theories of Secession. (shrink)

This Article draws lessons from Italian history as to how the state may possibly intervene in economic crises without jeopardizing the economy or affecting competition. It first describes how and why Italy got to the point in the 1930s where the government had to save the financial system. That was accomplished by setting up a public financial holding company, which became the majority shareholder of banks and companies in the telecommunications, steel, shipping, engineering, and energy industries, among others. The so-called (...) IRI formula has long been considered a model both in the European Union and outside it, with many countries setting up similar companies. Initially, the IRI performed well in Italy and acted as a market player. In the 1960s, however, its performance deteriorated under pressure from political parties. This degeneration combined with pressure from the European Union prompted Italy to gradually privatize the state-owned companies, a process that ended only recently. Ironically, the pendulum is now swinging back. In preparation for the next crisis, Italy is currently planning to go “back to the state.” The Article presents different ways of public intervention in the economy and offers suggestions for future reforms. (shrink)

This article discusses the removal of voting rights from those convicted of crimes. I focus on two recent defences of penal disenfranchisement: firstly, I question one justification of the view that voting rights are conditional on the fulfilment of certain responsibilities that offenders fail to meet. Secondly, I criticise an expressivist justification of disenfranchisement based on the idea that it is uniquely suited to express dissociation from serious wrongdoing. While embracing the expressivist perspective of the latter line of argument, I (...) argue that disenfranchisement also expresses attitudes that are incompatible with the commitment to equality. Disenfranchisement conveys the judgment that offenders are not fit to participate in the democratic process. In doing so, it violates the duty of the state to treat all its citizens with equal respect and undermines offenders’ equal status. Moreover, this policy fosters objectionable inequalities of esteem: other members of the community are very likely to internalise the judgment that offenders are second‐class citizens and to regard them as inferior, which in turn undermines their status in society. (shrink)

The European framework surrounding clinical trials on medicinal products for human use is going to change as demonstrated by the large debate at European institutional level. One of the major challenges is to overcome the lack of harmonisation of clinical trial procedures among countries. This aspect is gaining more and more importance, considering the increasing number of multicentre and multinational studies. In this work, the actual European rules governing the Clinical Trial Application have been analysed throughout the different steps including (...) the registration of the trial in the European database; the preparation of documents to be submitted and their contents; the preparation of documents related to the information and consent process; the submission to competent bodies. Specific issues related to paediatric research and trials involving non EU/EEA countries have been addressed as well. Results reveal that the European legislation offers a well defined set of European rules covering different aspects of a Clinical Trial Application. However, these are not suitable to meet the challenges from multicentre and multinational clinical studies. A stronger set of rules, such as is available in a composite European Regulation has been adopted and is expected to harmonise practices and enable sponsors to carry out well conducted trials. But will the new regulation overcome the existing criticisms of Directive 2001/20/EC? (shrink)

Discusses managing the environment from philosophical, scientific, and political perspectives.

This study aims to open a critical scenario on the current paradigm of reference for teaching sports techniques by pointing to a methodological perspective that is more in keeping with the theoretical reference framework of the ecological-dynamic approach. Currently, the Constraints-led Approach is considered very useful for teaching sports techniques; however, the transition from pure theory to practice is not so simple and consistent with the heuristic learning paradigm. The purpose is to highlight, starting from the theoretical lines, the methodological (...) applications of the different ways of applying the reference paradigm, analyzing the contrasts of the significant aspects and the uniqueness and unrepeatability of heuristic learning. For this purpose, an in-depth review of the scientific literature was conducted, highlighting the main critical points of the approach, also defined as nonlinear, with the consequent elaboration of operational proposals for the various macro-families of sports. (shrink)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between attachment dimensions and neural correlates in response to the Rorschach inkblots. Twenty-seven healthy volunteers were recruited for the electroencephalographic registration during a visual presentation of the Rorschach inkblots and polygonal shapes. The Attachment Style Questionnaire was administered to participants. Correlations between the ASQ scores and standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography intensities were performed. The Rorschach inkblots elicited several projective responses greater than the polygonal shapes. Only during the Rorschach (...) inkblots presentation, discomfort with closeness and relationships as secondary subscales were negatively correlated with the activation of right hippocampus, parahippocampus, amygdala, and insula; need for approval subscale was negatively correlated with the activation of orbital and prefrontal cortex and left hippocampus. Moreover, the correlations between attachment dimensions and neural activation during the Rorschach inkblots were significantly higher compared to the same correlations in response to polygonal shapes. These findings suggest that attachment style can modulate brain activation during the projective activity of the Rorschach inkblots. (shrink)

Introduction: Parkinson's Disease is characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms, among which deficits in social cognition might affect ~20% of patients. This study aims to evaluate the role of social cognitive abilities in the perceived impact of COVID-19 emergency, and the effects of lockdown measures on patients' social network and caregivers' burden.Methods: Fourteen PD patients performed a neuropsychological battery including sociocognitive tasks before the introduction of COVID-19 restrictive measures. A structured interview through an online platform was performed in the last (...) 2 weeks of the first lockdown phase to assess patients' health status, perception of COVID-19 emergency, changes in caregivers' burden, and patients' social isolation. Non-parametric analyses were performed to evaluate the association between social skills and patients' COVID-19 perception, as well as the effects of restrictive measures.Results: At baseline evaluation, half of the PD patients showed sociocognitive dysfunctions, mainly on mentalizing abilities. Patients with impaired social cognition skills showed a significantly lower concern on the possible effects of COVID-19 on their health. Caregiver burden and patients' social network remained stable during the lockdown.Conclusion: These preliminary results underline that PD sociocognitive dysfunctions might affect patients' abilities to estimate the effects of COVID-19 infection. However, the lack of a significant increase in caregivers' burden and social isolation suggests, in our sample, a good coping to COVID-19 emergency. Since COVID-19 pandemic can have direct and indirect severe consequences in patients with PD, the development of educational and preventive programs is recommended. (shrink)

In the later Byzantine age, historical sources mention many examples of prophecies concerning Chremetismomancy, the divination by horses' neighs. As far as we know, however, we have no earlier documents about this practice from ancient or from medieval Greece. Under the Komnenoi and Palaiologoi, to the contrary, important prophetic neighs are quoted by Anna Komnene, by Niketas Choniates and Nikephoros Gregoras. Wonders which were worked by neighing horses are of very great political consequence, relating to crucial moments such as an (...) emperor's military victories, a prince's succession to the imperial throne or the deposition of a ruler. In Gregoras' Roman History, it is not a living animal responsable for the nocturnal neighs, but a painted one at a chapel in the palace. It is very interesting to examine these narrative plots and historical accounts, as they convey many informations about Byzantine society. In particular, the strong disposition for magic, even at top-level of the society, should be emphasized. The philomantic emperors par excellence are Manuel I Komnenos and Andronikos II Palaiologos, the author of a themation, an astrological interpretation of horses' neighs, together with his faithful Logo the tes Theodoros Metochites, an expert at astrology and hemerology. The advance of such divinatory practices in the late Byzantine centuries should be related to home instability and enemies' threats on the boundaries. Chremetismomantic omina clearly focus on this particular climate of terror and uncertainty which forms the ideal ground for any attempt to foretell the future. Therefore, these practices were no laughing matter for Byzantine writers and their readers: only Nicetas Choniates' shy irony may argue us out of believing this. (shrink)

Ecological economics is a transdisciplinary field that seeks to integrate the study of humans and the rest of nature as the basis for the creation of a sustainable and desirable future. It seeks to dissolve the barriers between the traditional disciplines and achieve a true consilience of all the sciences and humanities. This consilient, transdisciplinary science represents a rebalancing of analysis and synthesis; a recognition of the central role of envisioning in science; a pragmatic philosophy built on complex systems theory, (...) thermodynamics, and modeling; a multiscale approach; and a consistent integration of cultural and biological coevolution. It will allow us to build a world that is both sustainable and desirable and that recognizes our fundamental partnership with the rest of nature. (shrink)

Una significativa acquisizione, nella cornice della letteratura palmomantica, perviene dal ms. Laur. Plut. XXVIII, 14, che tramanda pure un trattato πεϱι αλλομένων μελων, cap. υξβ′, 462°, ff. 306r-v, vagheggiato da G. Vitelli nell'edizione di P. Flor. III 391 e pubblicato, quindi, da E. Rostagno, che si rivela un gemello del testimone vindobonese, H, censito da H. Diels e presentato quale un ramo della sua tradizione tripartita. Il testo del Laur. permette inoltre di migliorare notevolmente il dettato e la coerenza linguistica (...) della versione H, emendandone i segnali di incipiente collasso casuale. Il Laur. XXVIII, 14 rappresenta del resto un esemplare tipico di codice collettaneo astrologico, vergato negli ultimi decenni del XIV sec., una miscellanea apotelesmatica di epigrafi, pseudepigrafi e adespoti. (shrink)

In the Late Byzantine period particular attention was paid to various kinds of foreseeing the future. That is why so many treatises on divination have been copied and transmitted to us – among other things the handbooks on divining from a lamb’s shoulder blade. This method originally goes back to a foreign tradition. We present the edition of an anonymous treatise in Ms. Atheniensis, Bibliotheca Nationalis 1493, which is ascribed to Turkish wisdom. We subsequently make a comparison with Psellus’ contribution (...) on omoplatomancy. (shrink)

The increased scrutiny of investors regarding the non-financial aspects of corporate performance has placed portfolio managers in the position of having to weigh the benefits of ' holding the market' against the cost of having positions in companies that are subsequently found to have questionable business practices. The availability of stock indexes based on sustainability screening makes increasingly viable for institutional investors the transition to a portfolio based on a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) benchmark at relatively low cost. The increasing (...) share of socially responsible investments may play a role in providing incentives towards a continuous upgrading of sustainability standards to the extent that their performance is not systematically inferior to that of the other funds. This article examines whether these incentives have been so far detectable with particular reference to the Dow Jones Sustainability Stoxx Index (DJSSI) that focuses on the European corporations with the highest CSR scores among those included in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. The aim of the article is twofold. First, we analyse the performance of the DJSSI over the period 2001-2006 compared to that of the Surrogate Complementary Index (SCI), a new benchmark that includes only the components of the DJ Stoxx 600 that do not belong to the ethical index to evaluate more correctly the size of possible divergent performances. Second, we perform an event study on the same data set to analyse whether the stock market evaluation reacts to the inclusion (deletion) in the DJSSI. In both cases, the results suggest that the evaluation of the CSR performance of a firm is a significant criterion for asset allocation activities. (shrink)

Over the past few years, intercultural health has become an emerging issue in health policy. Intercultural health is an approach in health that aims at reducing the gap between indigenous and western health systems, on the basis of mutual respect and equal recognition of these knowledge systems. This article questions the applicability of such a concept in the context of Chile. Here, conflicting interests between the Mapuche and the Chilean state are related to aspects of economic development, modernity processes, integration, (...) intercultural relations, and indigenous rights and are deeply reflected also in projects for an intercultural health system. By analysing the experience of the intercultural practice of Makewe Hospital, this article argues that effective and equitable intercultural health practices will not take place unless there will be an integral valorisation of the Mapuche culture from a broader perspective. (shrink)

Herculaneum papyri found during the discovery of the Villa dei Papiri in the XVIII century are our only knowledge about Greek philosophical schools. Unfortunately, the original manuscripts are in a precarious state of conservation and the currently available editions of them have largely been made obsolete by the latest technological progress. The aim of the Advanced Grant ERC project ‘Greekschools’ is to provide a new protocol based on optical methods to increase the text reading and thus allow for a new (...) critical edition of the whole treatise of Philodemus’ "Arrangement of the Philosophers". A multi-disciplinary approach is adopted and non-invasive techniques to Herculaneum papyri investigations such as Macro X-Ray Fluorescence Imaging (MA-XRF), Shortwave-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging (SWIR), high resolution digital microscopy and Technical Photography were applied to read the text hidden on the verso, detect, classify, and replace overlapping layers and read the text concealed inside them. In this work some first preliminary results will be reported. (shrink)