giorgiolando - Network

Contemporary #panpsychism is often focused on the idea that standard subjects are composed of very small microsubjects, that are identical...

Contemporary #panpsychism is often focused on the idea that standard subjects are composed of very small microsubjects, that are identical to microphysical entities or strictly connected with them. Subjects made of other subjects. This idea can then be exported to collectivities: macrosubjects composed of standard subjects.

The #mereology of all this is fascinating and scarcely explored. My first instinct is to say that it should work in a general, homogeneous way.

#philosophy @philosophy

"A good notation has a subtlety andsuggestiveness which at times make it seem almost like a live teacher.Notational irregularities are...

"A good notation has a subtlety and
suggestiveness which at times make it seem almost like a live teacher.
Notational irregularities are often the first sign of philosophical errors,
and a perfect notation would be a substitute for thought."
I immensely admire Bertrand #Russell, yet this claim is an instance of #irrational, magical thinking.

There is no perfect #notation. If there were one, it would be a good means to express #thought, and not a substitute for it.

@philosophy #philosophy

A large part of academic life consists of #politics. It is politics about small affairs, internal to #academy. Still, the dynamics are...

A large part of academic life consists of #politics. It is politics about small affairs, internal to #academy.

Still, the dynamics are similar to those of real politics: discussions, #fights, small victories that lack any practical content.

Today I've taught again #Frege's notorious example of the Morning Star and the Evening Star. When I think about it abstractly, I...

Today I've taught again #Frege's notorious example of the Morning Star and the Evening Star.

When I think about it abstractly, I find it rather obsolete after #Kripke.

Still, undergraduates always see something absolutely fascinating in it.

The reason is this: good philosophical ideas do not fall out of fashion, and philosophical #progress do not consist in laying them aside. It is much more progressive to go through them again, for the millionth time. Thanks, Gottlob.

@philosophy

The old problem of #induction is still fascinating for #philosophy students. It is still difficult to explain whether and how the #human...

The old problem of #induction is still fascinating for #philosophy students. It is still difficult to explain whether and how the #human condition with respect to the future is different from that of a turkey who is fed by a farmer every morning, and forecasts that tomorrow the same will happen.

It is one among many cases in which philosophical #progress does not consist in solving old problems, but in explaining in new ways how persistently relevant they are.

@philosophy

The #metaphysics of sounds is rich of enticing problems. Where are #sounds? Are they where the entity originating the sounds is? Or where...

The #metaphysics of sounds is rich of enticing problems. Where are #sounds? Are they where the entity originating the sounds is? Or where the listener(s) are? Or somewhere in the middle? Are they #individuals, #events, #properties of spatiotemporal regions, or what else?

Here is a nice introduction:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sounds/

@philosophy #philosophy

It would be important to investigate techniques to swiftly switch from administrative tasks to philosophical research. The attitude and...

It would be important to investigate techniques to swiftly switch from administrative tasks to philosophical research.

The attitude and mentality required by administrative tasks is simply incompatible with #creativity and #curiosity, and still in a few minutes you are expected to switch.

Perhaps #meditation or #drugs could help.

@philosophy #academiclife #academy

If you understand #Italian you can perhaps enjoy the following video, whose purpose is to encourage perspective students to study...

If you understand #Italian you can perhaps enjoy the following video, whose purpose is to encourage perspective students to study #philosophy at the University of L'Aquila in Italy, where I work.

https://youtu.be/5fQn190qjpE

It is a dialogue about the #paradox of the stone and it also features the stone itself.

@philosophy

This rooster in my kitchen always reminds me something that also holds true in philosophical speculation:- there is no advantage in standing...

This rooster in my kitchen always reminds me something that also holds true in philosophical speculation:

- there is no advantage in standing still and merely cultivating your doubts;

- you should be courageous and go in a certain direction, paw forward.

#philosophy #methodology @philosophy

#credulism is Thomas Reid's recipe against #conspiracy theories. It is rational to believe by default, if there are no reasons to doubt,...

#credulism is Thomas Reid's recipe against #conspiracy theories. It is rational to believe by default, if there are no reasons to doubt, what people say and write.

Credulism can also be applied to #memory. No epistemic advantage comes from being paranoid by default about what we think to remember.

However, in the attached image, Reid looks more skeptical and perplexed than credulist.

#philosophy #epistemology @philosophy

I really enjoy preparing #lectures in fields that are out of my area of specialization. It gives me the opportunity to look at stuff from a...

I really enjoy preparing #lectures in fields that are out of my area of specialization. It gives me the opportunity to look at stuff from a more fundamental perspective, less distant from that of students.

As a result, the lectures come out more enthralling than when I am too much in my academic #comfortzone .

In this period I'm teaching #epistemology .

@philosophy

Hi mastodon, I'm Giorgio and I teach #philosophyoflanguage and #metaphysics at the University of L'Aquila in Italy. I've never...

Hi mastodon, I'm Giorgio and I teach #philosophyoflanguage and #metaphysics at the University of L'Aquila in Italy.

I've never used Twitter.

Please follow me for some updates about my ongoing works on #mereology and #intuition, my readings, and some casual thoughts about academy, politics and perhaps even life!

@philosophy