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151Naive physicsPhilosophical Psychology 7 (2). 1994.The project of a 'naive physics' has been the subject of attention in recent years above all in the artificial intelligence field, in connection with work on common-sense reasoning, perceptual representation and robotics. The idea of a theory of the common-sense world is however much older than this, having its roots not least in the work of phenomenologists and Gestalt psychologists such as K hler, Husserl, Schapp and Gibson. This paper seeks to show how contemporary naive physicists can profit…Read more
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113Ontological tools for geographic representationIn Barry Smith & Christopher Welty (eds.), Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS), Acm Press. pp. 77--85. 2001.This paper is concerned with certain ontological issues in the foundations of geographic representation. It sets out what these basic issues are, describes the tools needed to deal with them, and draws some implications for a general theory of spatial representation. Our approach has ramifications in the domains of mereology, topology, and the theory of location, and the question of the interaction of these three domains within a unified spatial representation theory is addressed. In the final p…Read more
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556La physique naïve: un essai d'ontologieIntellectica 17 (2): 173--197. 1993.The project of a naive physics has been the subject of attention in recent years above all in the artificial intelligence field, in connection with work on common-sense reasoning, perceptual representation and robotics. The idea of a theory of the common-sense world is however much older than this, having its roots not least in the work of phenomenologists and Gestalt psychologists such as Kohler, Husserl, Schapp and Gibson. This paper seeks to show how contemporary naive physicists can profit f…Read more
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2XIII-Representational AdvantagesProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 103 (1): 281-298. 2003.Descriptive metaphysics investigates our na?ve ontology as this is articulated in the content of our perception or of our pre-reflective thought about the world. But is access to such content reliable? Sceptics about the standard modes of access may think that investigations in descriptive metaphysics can be aided by the controlled findings of cognitive science. Cognitive scientists have studied a promising range of representational advantages, that is, ways in which cognition favours one type o…Read more
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28That useless time machinePhilosophy 76 (4): 581-583. 2001.Dear ‘Time Machine’ Research Group; if in order to travel to the past one has to have been there already, and if one can only do what has already been done, then why build a time machine in the first place? À quoi bon l'effort?
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104Voti e altri buchi elettorali. Che cos’è un voto? Come si contano i voti? E i voti contano davvero?Rivista di Estetica 37 169-194. 2008.A philosophical dialogue on the functioning, the limits, and the paradoxes of our electoral practices, dealing with such basic questions as: What is a vote? How do we count votes? And do votes really count?
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17International audience.
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69Topological EssentialismPhilosophical Studies 100 (3): 217-236. 2000.Considering topology as an extension of mereology, this paper analyses topological variants of mereological essentialism (the thesis that an object could not have different parts than the ones it has). In particular, we examine de dicto and de re versions of two theses: (i) that an object cannot change its external connections (e.g., adjacent objects cannot be separated), and (ii) that an object cannot change its topological genus (e.g., a doughnut cannot turn into a sphere). Stronger forms of s…Read more
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5Size-from-shadow arguments requires tinkering in many a case as the geometry of the situation is often not determinate. I then make a remark about the availability of indications about size in perceptual content.
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121Surfaces, holes, shadowsIn Robin Le Poidevin, Simons Peter, McGonigal Andrew & Ross P. Cameron (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Metaphysics, Routledge. pp. 382--388. 2009.Minor entities provide an interesting testbed for metaphysical theories, but also for investigating the structure of concepts, as their concepts appear to be tributary of different representational systems.
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14Representational advantagesProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 103 (3). 2003.Descriptive metaphysics investigates our naïve ontology as this is articulated in the content of our perception or of our pre-reflective thought about the world. But is access to such content reliable? Sceptics about the standard modes of access (introspection, or language-driven intuitions) may think that investigations in descriptive metaphysics can be aided by the controlled findings of cognitive science. Cognitive scientists have studied a promising range of representational advantages, that…Read more
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395Qualia domesticatedIn Amita Chatterjee (ed.), Perspectives on Consciousness, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. 2003.Consider the following argument If panpsychism is true, then the hard problem of consciousness is solved Physicalism is true Physicalism entails panpsychism. We conclude that The hard problem of consciousness is solved. This is a valid argument, and one whose conclusion has a certain appeal. What about the premisses? How exactly is panpsychism a solution to the problem of phenomenal consciousness? Who can take panpsychism seriously, and how can panpsychism be entailed by physicalism? A little fo…Read more
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78Perché i buchi sono importanti. Problemi di rappresentazione spazialeSapere 63 (2). 1997.The methodological anarchy that characterizes much recent research in artificial intelligence and other cognitive sciences has brought into existence (sometimes resumed) a large variety of entities from a correspondingly large variety of (sometimes dubious) ontological categories. Recent work in spatial representation and reasoning is particularly indicative of this trend. Our aim in this paper is to suggest some ways of reconciling such a luxurious proliferation of entities with the sheer sobri…Read more
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5On PublishingSocial Epistemology 24 (3): 191-200. 2009.I discuss the social significance of publication in the life of a scientific knowledge object . The importance of publication is made evident by the complex issue of unpublication . Unpublication is a tempting option in the electronic world. I argue against the viability of unpublication, both on practical and on principled grounds related to the cascading entitlements of published paper
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19Numerals and word sequencesIn Anne Reboul (ed.), Philosophical papers dedicated to Kevin Mulligan, . pp. 000--000. 2011.
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11Mirror and canonical neurons are not constitutive of aesthetic responsesTrends in Cognitive Sciences 11 (10): 000-000. 2007.The alleged neural basis of empathic responses to artworks is only of marginal relevance for aesthetics and for cognitive theories of art
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15Methodological issues in the study of the depiction of cast shadows: A case study in the relationships between art and cognitionJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 62 (2). 2003.The relationships between art and cognition constitute a very wide set of largely unexplored and at times undefined or much too speculative problems. The field is narrowed down by imposing some constraints. It is proposed that the depiction of cast shadows, in its early history, could provide an ideal case study which conforms to the constraints. This paper addresses some methodological problems of the study of this case. A sample of relevant Renaissance images is discussed. A typology of depict…Read more
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15Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-nine Philosophical Conundrums (edited book)Columbia University Press. 2006."Perhaps not all the stories that follow are true. They could, however, be true, and the Reader is invited to ponder this." So begins _Insurmountable Simplicities_, Roberto Casati and Achille Varzi's colorful incarnation of the many philosophical conundrums that hide in the wrinkles of everyday life. Why do mirrors seem to invert left and right but not up and down? How do we know whether strawberries taste the same for everyone? Where is it written that we must observe the law, and if it is not …Read more
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11Hallucinatory PicturesActa Analytica 25 (3): 365-368. 2010.Hallucinatory pictures are yet to be found picture-like artifacts that induce a hallucination of their content that cannot be intuitively explained by a look at the structure of the pictorial vehicle. Different accounts of depiction make different predictions about the possibility that such artifacts be considered as pictures. Some cases are presented that point towards the intuitive acceptability of hallucinatory pictures
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22A note on the interpretation of some seeming shadows in Japanese paintings.
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21Considerazioni critiche sulla filosofia del suono di HusserlRivista di Storia Della Filosofia 44 (4): 725-743. 1989.
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Critical observations on Husserl philosophy of soundRivista di Storia Della Filosofia 44 (4): 725-743. 1989.
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