The Venezuelan poet and philosopher Ludovico Silva argues that much of the confusion around Marx's work results from a failure to understand his mode of expression. Through meticulous readings of key passages in Marx's oeuvre, Silva isolates the central elements of his style: the search for an architectonic unity at the level of the text, his capacity to express himself dialectically at the level of the sentence, and, above all, his great gift for metaphor.

In questo testo si affronta, a livello ontologico, la questione della tecnica in relazione allo sviluppo del digitale. Parlare di “tecnontologia digitale” implica che il digitale porta alla luce l’homo technicus in maniera peculiare rispetto alla dimensione analogica. Non avviene un processo di smaterializzazione, bensì di ridefinizione della materia e di pervasività della dimensione digitale nei confronti della nostra corporeità e della nostra esistenza quotidiana. Viene proposta una lettura della relazione con la tecnologia digitale basata sulla fenomenologia della carne, traendo (...) spunto dalle riflessioni di Merleu-Ponty ne Il visibile e l’invisibile. Si mostra che la carne, tessuto comune della corporeità del mondo, rende possibile concepire la relazione tra tutti gli enti secondo un’ontologia piatta. Questo consente di vedere il rapporto con il digitale come compartecipazione e di riconfigurare il problema della responsabilità legato ai dispositivi, ai robot e alle piattaforme digitali. -/- In this paper the issue of technology in relation to its digital developments is addressed from an ontological point of view. The idea of “digital technontology” implies that the digital brings out the homo technicus in a unique way that differs from what happens in the analog dimension. What occurs is not a process of dematerialization, but a redefinition of the matter and a clear pervasiveness of the digital dimension in our corporeity and daily existence. This paper offers an interpretation of the relation between humans and digital technology based on the phenomenology of the flesh, taking inspiration from what Merleau-Ponty writes in The Visible and the Invisible. The idea of flesh, which is the common body of the world, allows us to conceive the relation among all beings according to a flat ontology. In this way, the relation between us and the digital can be seen as a form of involvement and the problem of responsibility concerning devices, robots, and digital platforms can be reconfigured accordingly. (shrink)

This paper aims to find, in Merleau-Ponty’s late thinking, a definition of the virtual which aligns with the latest advancements in digital technology while avoiding a reduction to the digital realm or a stark opposition to reality. The virtual is considered as a crucial characteristic in Merleau-Ponty’s late ontology, especially in The Visible and the Invisible, where a “virtual focus” or “virtual center” of the flesh is introduced. The argument posits that Merleau-Ponty’s monism of the flesh results in a dynamic (...) view of virtuality, with significant ontological implications that reshape the relationship between the digital and the analogue. Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the virtual is defined by several key features: it applies to a monist perspective on reality, to a dynamic relationality between dialectic poles, and to the fabric of reality. This interpretation of the virtual implies a divergence from the digital, as virtuality belongs to the whole spectrum of reality. (shrink)

This paper draws on previous research carried out by the author on the educative relationship between teacher and student in schools and universities, in order to enrich it with further studies and considerations on distance learning. The author uses the phenomenological method, assuming the point of view of both members of the relationship (student and teacher). The general characteristics of the relationship (reciprocity, asymmetry, and verticality) and the differences between the two parties involved (age and/or developmental stage, educational role, mastery (...) of the discipline, and institutional role) remain, but are articulated differently: this mainly happens, because in distance learning the perception of the body of the other person is partial or absent, hindering the phenomena of pairing and empathy. It is thus shown that distance learning cannot replace face-to-face teaching, however, it is able to support and supplement it. (shrink)

In the last decades, Hegel’s mature political philosophy has come to be associated with some form of social or welfare liberalism. Challenging this line of interpretation, this study aims to show that his work harbours a more ambitious philosophical programme, grounded in a different vision of the modern state. However, this programme is only partly spelled out in the Philosophy of Right. While the conceptual logic that guides Hegel’s dialectical progression points beyond the modern liberal standpoint, some of his concrete (...) political choices are more conservative, and some are even opposed to the change of perspective I claim to be at stake in his work. In response to this tension, I undertake a systematic reconstruction of his social and political views, divided into two main parts. First, I highlight the critical dimension I take to be explicitly present in the Philosophy of Right but neglected or misrepresented in the secondary literature. I argue that the different stages of Hegel’s progression are not merely added to one another, but qualitatively transformed, and hence that his account of the state should not be read as a mere complement to the stage of civil society, but as a direct challenge to its underlying logic. Second, I draw the political and economic conclusions implicit in this line of approach. Shifting the focus from Hegel’s interpreters to Hegel himself, I show that the conscious pursuit of the common good he regards as essential to a rational state is not compatible with a capitalist production system nor with the constitutional monarchy he proposes. A true dialectical synthesis of the particular interests of individuals and the general interests of society entails nothing less than a comprehensive democratization of the economic and the political spheres. And the need for this transformation holds the key to Hegel’s enduring political relevance. (shrink)

This article provides a critical reexamination of Blaise Pascal’s fragment on the “eternal silence of infinite spaces”, challenging the conventional objections, notably those by Paul Valéry. It presents an analytical journey through the philosophical and existential dimensions of Pascal’s text, exploring the unique interplay between human solitude and cosmic silence. The discussion navigates the intricate relationship between individual perception and the overarching sense of existential dread evoked by the universe’s vastness. This exploration is enriched by contrasting Pascal’s insights with broader (...) philosophical contexts, including references to Kierkegaard and the concept of the ‘music of the spheres’. Ultimately, the paper offers a nuanced interpretation of Pascal’s work, emphasizing its enduring relevance in understanding the human condition within the unfathomable expanse of the universe. (shrink)

What is Aristotle's considered view of animal self-motion? According to several scholars, Aristotle ends up rejecting this very notion as a result of his criticism of Plato's theory of a self-moving soul. Contrary to this still widespread assumption, the present study argues that his critical engagement with Plato is not confined to negative results, but achieves largely positive outcomes, which add up to a rich and nuanced picture of self-motion. Ferro makes his case by offering a novel reading of (...) a handful of controversial passages from De Anima and Physics VIII, where Aristotle reacts to three aspects of Plato's theory of self-motion: the claim that soul itself is a self-mover, the assumption that self-movers enjoy strong causal autonomy, and the link between motion, desire and soul partition. Through a careful reading of the relevant passages, which does justice to their proper context and significance, Ferro shows that Aristotle's critical re-appropriation of self-motion results in a largely coherent doctrine with major repercussions for Aristotelian psychology and philosophy of nature. (shrink)

Es, quiza, la coleccion mas abierta que existe en cuestiones de etica, aunque se ha ocupado tambien de antropologia, estetica, ontologia, teoria del conocimiento e historia de la filosofia. El primer titulo que se publico en la coleccion fue la gran Historia de la filosofia y de la ciencia en tres volumenes de Ludovico Geymonat. A este le han seguido obras de A. J. Ayer, A. MacIntyre, Ernst Tugendhat, Antoni Domenech, Anna Estany, Agnes Heller, F. Fernandez Buey, Carlos Paris, (...) Emilio Lledo, Manuel Sacristan, John Rawls o Ludwig Wittgenstein. Victoria Camps ha dirigido, ademas, una gran Historia de la etica, en tres volumenes, en la que han colaborado los mejores especialistas espanoles. (shrink)

Dedicata a interrogare le categorie di metafora, mito e modernità, la riflessione di Hans Blumenberg (1920-1996) è senz'altro una delle più inquiete, profonde e decisive del secondo Novecento. Il presente volume ne offre una serrata ricostruzione evolutiva, partendo da un'analisi della prima, inedita fase del suo pensiero, e descrivendone la trasformazione nel corso del primo ventennio (1946-1966). Mostrando come la sua indagine si sia sistematicamente nutrita di un confronto "corpo a corpo" con la storia del pensiero cristiano - Agostino, Pascal, (...) Kierkegaard -, vengono allora esplorate le radici teoriche profonde della tesi della legittimità dell'età moderna, quale contraccolpo conseguente all'entrata in crisi dell'assolutismo teologico di matrice agostiniana. Ne emerge così un'immagine nuova della proposta filosofica e antropologica di Blumenberg, in costante debito critico nei confronti della memoria cristiana della cultura occidentale, seppure ritrattata in prospettiva nietzschiana. (shrink)

L’articolo si incentra sul recente volume dell’autrice, “La filosofia a scuola e le relazioni con gli altri”, basato su una ricerca svoltasi attraverso interviste a studenti e docenti di filosofia in cinque istituti superiori di Udine. Agli intervistati è stato chiesto se la filosofia insegnata a scuola riuscisse a mutare la loro visione del mondo e, soprattutto, le loro relazioni con gli altri. L’articolo si sviluppa in tre parti: la prima analizza le premesse metodologiche del libro, la seconda verte sul (...) cambiamento di Weltanschauung e sulle relazioni interpersonali, la terza sulla filosofia come disciplina scolastica. Attraverso la prospettiva fenomenologica, diviene così possibile comprendere gli effetti più o meno incisivi della filosofia sull’esistenza dei ragazzi. (shrink)

The recent proliferation of AI scandals led private and public organisations to implement new ethics guidelines, introduce AI ethics boards, and list ethical principles. Nevertheless, some of these efforts remained a façade not backed by any substantive action. Such behaviour made the public question the legitimacy of the AI industry and prompted scholars to accuse the sector of ethicswashing, machinewashing, and ethics trivialisation—criticisms that spilt over to institutional AI ethics boards. To counter this widespread issue, contributions in the literature have (...) proposed fixes that do not consider its systemic character and are based on a top-down, expert-centric governance. To fill this gap, we propose to make use of qualified informed lotteries: a two-step model that transposes the documented benefits of the ancient practice of sortition into the selection of AI ethics boards’ members and combines them with the advantages of a stakeholder-driven, participative, and deliberative bottom-up process typical of Citizens’ Assemblies. The model permits increasing the public’s legitimacy and participation in the decision-making process and its deliverables, curbing the industry’s over-influence and lobbying, and diminishing the instrumentalisation of ethics boards. We suggest that this sortition-based approach may provide a sound base for both public and private organisations in smart societies for constructing a decentralised, bottom-up, participative digital democracy. (shrink)

This article argues that the discovery of Pythagorean volumes in Numa's tomb in 181 b.c. may have played a significant role in the conception of the meeting between Numa and Pythagoras in the last book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, since several features of this event integrate very well into the discourse at the heart of Book 15 on the Greek origins of Roman culture and literature, on the immortality of poetry, and on the relationship between poetry and power. The article further (...) argues that Ennius’ Annals Book 15 may have covered the events up to 179, if that really was the year of Nobilior's dedication of the Aedes Herculis Musarum, and included the discovery of Numa's books in 181; and hence that Ovid may have used the Ennian account of this discovery as a model for the Numa–Pythagoras episode, appropriating the poetic and political meaning that it already had in Annals Book 15. (shrink)

Several complementary approaches have been fruitful in the study of transport from the ER to the Golgi complex in yeast. Mutational analysis has led to the identification of genes required for this process, many of which are now being studied at the molecular and biochemical level. In the case of SEC18, DNA sequence analysis has demonstrated homology to a factor needed for transport in mammalian in vitro systems. In addition, the events that take place at this stage of the secretory (...) pathway have been reconstituted in vitro. (shrink)