Generics (e.g., “Ravens are black”) express generalizations about categories or their members. Previous research found that generics about animals are interpreted as broadly true of members of a kind, yet also accepted based on minimal evidence. This asymmetry is important for suggesting a mechanism by which unfounded generalizations may flourish; yet, little is known whether this finding extends to generics about groups of people (heretofore, “social generics”). Accordingly, in four preregistered studies (n = 665), we tested for an inferential asymmetry (...) for generics regarding novel groups of animals versus people. Participants were randomly assigned to either an Implied Prevalence task (given a generic, asked to estimate the prevalence of a property) or a Truth-Conditions task (given prevalence information, asked whether a generic was true or false). A generic asymmetry was found in both domains, at equivalent levels. The asymmetry also extended to properties varying in valence (dangerous and neutral). Finally, there were differences as a function of property valence in the Implied Prevalence task and a small but consistent interaction between domain and prevalence in the Truth-Conditions task. We discuss the implications of these results for the semantics of generics, theoretical accounts of the asymmetry, and the relation between generics and stereotyping. (shrink)

SPECIAL SECTION: BUILDING UNIVERSES: THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND MATHEMATICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF COSMOLOGY (EIGHTEENTH–TWENTIETH CENTURIES) .

In this study, we use temporally aligned word embeddings and a large diachronic corpus of English to quantify language change in a data-driven, scalable way, which is grounded in language use. We show a unique and reliable relation between measures of language change and age of acquisition (AoA) while controlling for frequency, contextual diversity, concreteness, length, dominant part of speech, orthographic neighborhood density, and diachronic frequency variation. We analyze measures of language change tackling both the change in lexical representations and (...) the change in the relation between lexical representations and the words with the most similar usage patterns, showing that they capture different aspects of language change. Our results show a unique relation between language change and AoA, which is stronger when considering neighborhood-level measures of language change: Words with more coherent diachronic usage patterns tend to be acquired earlier. The results support theories positing a link between ontogenetic and ethnogenetic processes in language. (shrink)

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)

In this essay, the concept of apocalypse, understood as the "end of the world," will be examined within the context of ancient Buddhism and Christianity. The study will focus on the genealogy and use of expressions such as lokanta, lokassa anta ṃ, and lokassa atthaṅgama, as found in the Pāli canon of Buddhism, going on to compare them with Jewish, as well as early Christian, apocalyptic literature, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Epistles of James and Jude, and the Gospels. (...) The goal of this article is to identify points of convergence in the history of these two concepts of apocalypse, foregrounding the central role within both traditions of analogous socio-cultural circumstances that were actually more influential than their respective doctrinal visions. The essay will argue how the ascetic character of early Buddhism and Christianity, reflecting their opposition to the surrounding social order, contributed to the emergence of similar apocalyptic visions. (shrink)

Conciliatory views on disagreement claim that one should “split the difference” between the epistemic peers’ opinions. Nevertheless, when they apply to the disagreement on conciliatory positions themselves, they give incoherent instructions. A semi-conciliatory position is one that accepts that the peers’ opinions are part of the whole body of evidence relevant in these situations. If one adopts this kind of view, all cases that seems to favor conciliatory views can be explained, and without compromising with the anti–intuitive consequences conciliatory positions (...) have. In particular, a semi-conciliatory view is not condemned to give incoherent instructions when applied to disagreement about it. (shrink)

In this investigation is analyzed the relationship between macroecology and other subdisciplines of ecology in epistemological, ontological and methodological dimensions. Our hypothesis is that it is possible to detect an ontological and epistemological reductive relationship. However, characteristics of this reduction are not clear and we consider that it is necessary to perform new analyses at future in this direction. Finally, we detect important methodological and ontological coincidences between macroecological and physiological subdisciplines.

El objetivo principal de este artículo se encuentra orientado a elucidar, desde una perspectiva histórica, cierta influencia que la problemática ambiental tuvo sobre la ecología disciplinar. Para ello, se analizó el periodo que va de la década de 1960 hasta la actualidad. Dos resultados centrales se desprendieron del análisis propuesto y ambos se encontraron mediados por un saber ambiental que emergió junto a la problemática ambiental. El primero, constata una serie de transformaciones fenomenológicas (con el establecimiento de nuevos patrones ecológicos), (...) epistemológicas (con la incorporación de la noción de escala y de la teoría jerárquica) y metodológicas (con la consolidación de los experimentos de mensuración) sobre la matriz de la ecología. El segundo, se vinculó con una continuidad sincrónica entre la problemática ambiental y la ecología disciplinar. Continuidad rastreada por el reconocimiento de una problemática ambiental de orden global. The main objective of this article is to elucidate, from a historical perspective, the influence that environmental issues have had on the discipline of ecology. To this end, the period from the 1960s to the present was examined. The proposed analysis revealed two main results; both were found to be mediated by environmental knowledge that emerged along with environmental issues. The first refers to a series of phenomenological (establishing new ecological patterns), epistemological (incorporating the notion of scale and hierarchical theory) and methodological (consolidating of experiments involving measurements) transformations over the ecology matrix. The second was linked with a synchronic continuity between environmental issues and the discipline of ecology. This continuity was traced by the recognition that environmental issues have global impact. (shrink)

The main objective of this work is to analyze the intention to reduce some areas of Ecology to Physiology. The origin of this research of reduction was done through consolidation of metabolic ecological theory in first years of XXIst century. Considering this objective, general framework was based on the proposal of Sahotra Sarkar.

Desde la década de 1960, con el surgimiento de las problemáticas ambientales, el discurso hegemónico de la ecología es recibido, reproducido y amplificado por una amplia variedad de actores sociales. Aquí, analizaremos un aspecto que consideramos central de este discurso. Nuestro objetivo se dirige a indagar en qué medida la ecología recupera los dualismos y. Nuestra hipótesis de trabajo es que esta disciplina opera mediante un doble movimiento: mientras trae a primer plano el dualismo, simultáneamente, soslaya el dualismo. Bajo este (...) doble movimiento, esperamos mostrar que el discurso ecológico logra despolitizar la naturaleza, relegando a la periferia diferentes formas de concebir el entorno. Nuestro enfoque epistemológico-metodológico descansará sobre una lógica de las distinciones, de aquí que trabajaremos sobre los dualismos mencionados, a partir de la distinción. Finalmente, presentaremos algunas consideraciones sobre el dominio del discurso ecológico y sobre la relevancia de una posición relativista en el contexto internacional de las problemáticas ambientales. (shrink)

Il 2021 segna gli ottant’anni dalla nascita di Mario Perniola, uno dei massimi filosofi italiani del secondo dopoguerra. Questo volume raccoglie interventi che esplorano la sua opera mostrandone la fertilità e sottolineando al tempo stesso la prossimità delle sue idee con le principali sfide del nostro tempo. Dall’Italia al Brasile, passando per gli Stati Uniti, l’Irlanda, la Francia, il Belgio, il Messico e la Cina, gli autori si soffermano su temi che comprendono l’estetica, la politica, la teoria della comunicazione, i (...) queer studies, il pensiero rituale e religioso, la sessualità e la letteratura, restituendo la plurivocità e l’originalità di un filosofo di respiro internazionale e più che mai attuale. (shrink)

My conclusion is that Mendel deliberately, though without any real falsification, tried to suggest to his audience and readers an unlikely and substantially wrong reconstruction of the first and most important phase of his research. In my book I offer many reasons for this strange and surprising behavior,53 but the main argument rests on the fact of linkage. Mendelian genetics cannot account for linkage because it was based on the idea of applying probability theory to the problem of species evolution. (...) Central to the theory is the law of probability according to which the chance occurrence of a combination of independent events is the product of their separate probabilities. This is the common basis of Mendel's first and second laws, but this is why Mendel's second law on independent assortment is enunciated in too general a way. From Morgan's work we now know that characters may not always be independent if their genes are located very close one to the other on the same chromosome. And this was also the basis of Mendel's personal drama: he surely observed the effects of linkage, but he had no theoretical tools with which to explain it. So he presented his results in a logical structure consistent with the central idea of his theory. Had he described the real course of his experiments he would have had to admit that his law worked for only a few of the hundreds of Pisum characters — and it would thus have been considered more of an exception than a rule. This is why he insisted on the necessity of testing the law on other plants, and this is why in his second letter to Carl Nägeli he admits that the publication of his data was untimely and dangerous.54.We can argue that already in 1866 Mendel was less confident that his so-called second law had the same general validity as the first — and that later he lost his confidence altogether. Contemporary testimony indicates that in the end he became as skeptical as all his contemporaries as to the scientific relevance of his theory.55 But he was wrong. His research is in no way the fruit of methodological mistakes or forgery, and it remains a landmark in the history of science. He was only the victim of a strange destiny in which the use of probability theory was responsible, at the same time, for the strength and for the weakness of his theory. We must still consider him the father and founder of genetics. (shrink)

En la actualidad el control del dengue sigue fracasando, por lo tanto, parece necesario estimular nuevos enfoques sobre el problema. Creemos que un análisis desde la epistemología puede contribuir con esto. Así, basándonos en una revisión realizada por Krieger de la categoría de población en epidemiología y en el abordaje epistemológico de Samaja, nuestro objetivo es analizar y problematizar el modo en qué se considera a la población humana en ciertas publicaciones científicas sobre la epidemiología del dengue en Argentina. Nuestro (...) análisis indica que estas publicaciones consideran a la población en sentido estadístico y que esta mirada puede generar consecuencias negativas. (shrink)

The use of assistance systems aimed at reducing road fatalities is spreading, especially for car drivers, but less effort has been devoted to developing and testing similar systems for powered two-wheelers. Considering that over speeding represents one of the main causal factors in road crashes and that riders are more vulnerable than drivers, in the present study we investigated the effectiveness of an assistance system which signaled speed limit violations during a simulated moped-driving task, in optimal and poor visibility conditions. (...) Participants performed four conditions of simulated riding: one baseline condition without Feedback, one Fog condition in which visual feedback was provided so as to indicate to the participants when a speed limit was exceeded, and two post-Feedback conditions with and without Fog, respectively, in which no feedback was delivered. Results showed that participants make fewer speeding violations when the feedback is not provided, after 1 month, and regardless of the visibility condition. Finally, the feedback has been proven effective in reducing speed violations in participants with an aggressive riding style, as measured in the baseline session. (shrink)

Lo scopo del presente lavoro è indagare la peculiare legittimazione dell’impegno politico per i filosofi proposta da Platone e accolta dai suoi immediati discepoli nella cosiddetta Prima Accademia: particolare attenzione sarà rivolta, soprattutto, alla «terza ondata» della _Repubblica_. Attraverso opportuni riferimenti alla _Lettera VII_, si mostrerà come la terza ondata costituisca il cuore del progetto di riforma politica e sociale di Platone, il quale invita l’intellettuale a concepire la propria missione politica o come istituzione di un regno filosofico o come (...) consiglio e aiuto da prestare a un re o a un signore: in entrambi i casi, l’immagine del governo di un solo uomo serve a connotare lo scenario preferibile per garantire l’istituzionalizzazione politica della filosofia. È così che, allora, i discepoli di Platone tentarono di stabilire contatti con realtà monarchiche o tiranniche accettando di farsi legislatori o consiglieri di un singolo individuo al comando, il quale veniva concepito come il perfetto connubio tra sapere e potere nel solco delle teorie del maestro. (shrink)

The presence of a theory of the transmigration of the soul or, according to Empedocles’ words, of the δαίμων is a controversial issue among scholars. A major difficulty arises when one tries to read the fragments of the Purifications – where this theme is particularly recurrent – in conjunction with those usually attributed to the poem On nature. The aim of this paper is to suggest a ‘method’ to analyse the extant fragments, and to offer a possible interpretation of the (...) nature of the so–called cycle of the δαίμων. On the one hand, I shall try to show that the two poems, if read together, can provide a ‘salvific’ message. As a matter of fact, the description of the cosmic order that emerges from the poem On nature might convey the same prescription as stated in the Purifications for following the universal laws, which would ultimately allow human beings to be happy even in an age of universal evil. On the other hand, I shall propose to identify the δαίμων with the roots, which can escape from the cycle – i.e. become happy – when they are shaped as human minds, thanks to the way in which the processes of knowledge work. (shrink)

Since its emergence, the contemporary environmental problem has become an object of analysis and intervention both for ecology (area of biology) and for different intergovernmental organizations with a global reach. In both fields, a series of conceptual frameworks have been developed aimed at addressing ecological changes, that is, those alterations that affect units that are the object of study of ecology. The aim of this paper is to clarify and contrast the ways in which disturbance ecology (a recent field within (...) ecology) and different intergovernmental organizations conceptualize and approach ecological change. To do this, we make an analytical comparison between the ecological concept of ‘disturbance’ and the notion of ‘driver’ coming from intergovernmental organizations. In the comparison, we observe that these concepts seek to explain similar processes of ecological change under the same causal logic, although they show important differences in the treatment of the initial conditions that allow them to be studied. We conclude that the notion of ‘driver’ leads to an epistemological impoverishment in relation to the concept of ‘disturbance’. Finally, we discuss some implications of this epistemological problem, given that it is the impoverished notion of ‘driver’ that is imposed on the international context when explaining an ecological change, and materialized in guidelines which are recognized by nations around the world. Thus, this impoverishment is transferred to the field of public policy. It is urgent to rethink to what extent we are contributing to the construction and reproduction of an epistemologically impoverished environmental problem. (shrink)

Lo scopo di questo articolo è di mostrare come Leo Strauss usi la parola esoterico riguardo alla filosofia islamica ed in particolare ad al-Fārābī. La parola esoterico è usata da Strauss in due differenti modi. Nel primo modo, Strauss usa la parola per spiegare la differenza tra opere popolari e opere esoteriche, le quali contengono il reale pensiero del filosofo. Il secondo modo è il più importante e il meno studiato. In questo significato esoterico è una metodologia di studio e (...) di spiegazione della filosofia. L’articolo si concentra specialmente su questo secondo significato della parola esoterico e sul ruolo di questa parola per comprendere meglio la visione socio-politica della filosofia di al-Fārābī The aim of this article is to show how Leo Strauss uses the word esoteri c about the Islamic philosophy, and in particular about al-Fārābī. The word esoteric is used by Strauss in two different ways. In the first way, Strauss uses the word to explain the difference between the popular works of al-Fārābī, and the esoteric works, which contain the real thought of the philosopher. The second way is the most important and the least studied. In this meaning esoteric is a methodology to study and explain philosophy. The article focuses especially on this second meaning of the word esoteric and on the role of this word to better understand the political and social view of al-Fārābī’s philosophy. (shrink)

This article presents an analysis of the bust of Galileo that Vincenzo Vela created for his house and studio at Ligornetto. The work carries symbolic significance in that it was conceived by the Ticinese artist for the pilaster on the right hand side of the principal entrance to the villa, as a counterpart to the bust of Christopher Columbus on the left. It thus served to perpetuate a long-standing literary topos which started at the beginning of the 17th century and (...) which was made use of during the Risorgimento to celebrate Italian ascendency within a European context. Through this work Vela reveals his adherence to patriotic ideals that he had previously expressed through his active participation in the first Italian War of Independence, fighting in the anti-Austrian ranks. (shrink)