Spring Session 2015
Jonathan Tallant (Nottingham)
March 30 Mon — 11.00-13.00
Aula Seminari — Aula Direzione di Dipartimento (Via Festa del Perdono 7, Milano)
Truth and Dependence.
Abstract. Truthmaker theorists insist that what is true depends upon what there is. ‘Depends’ is normally treated as a univocal notion. In this paper I draw a distinction between different kinds of truths and outline the different ways in which these truths depend upon the world, appealing to recent work on ontological dependence [Lowe, Schaffer, Tallant, etc.] to argue that there is more than one ‘truthmaker relation’. I then exploit this to solve the alleged problem of negative existentials that faces the truthmaker theorist.
Kevin Mulligan (Genève)
March 23 Mon — 11.00-13.00
Aula Seminari — Aula Direzione di Dipartimento (Via Festa del Perdono 7, Milano)
Happiness, Luck & Kitsch.
Happiness, the sort of thing one may feel, is sometimes objectless. But sometimes happiness is about something. What exactly is it about ? Is one happy about the fact that one stands in certain relations to certain people, that one’s desires are satisfied or that one has certain abilities, power, money or opportunities etc ? However such a list is completed or specified, following the latest indications of the happiness industry, it can at best be only a part of the answer. For the different things in the list are all typically the objects of emotions other than happiness. My fuller answer considers happiness from the point of view of a particular theory of emotions, a version of the appraisal theory, and argues that happiness stands to good luck (objective happiness) in the same sort of relationship as, eg, indignation to injustice. In order to bring my answer into focus I consider the relation between happiness and being moved and the latter’s rôle in kitsch.
Luca Ferrero (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
January 28 WED, 14.30-16.30
Sala Riunioni - Direzione del Dipartimento di Filosofia,
Via Festa del Perdono 7
Mortality, Finitude, and the Temporal Structure of Agency
Abstract: What is the relation between the structure of temporally extended agency and the expectation of finite lifetime? Contrary to what might seem prima facie plausible, I will argue that there is a structural discontinuity between the agency of mortal and immortal beings. Some philosophers have recently argue that there are kinds of temporally extended agency, like the repletion of certain activities or the pursuit of infinite ends, that might make the structure of mortal agency resemble those of immortal agency, thereby making it easier to conceive of and assess the prospects of immortal life. Against these proposals, I will argue that it is impossible to separate the prospect of finite existence from the structure of our temporal agency, and I will offer some preliminary considerations on the normative implications of this impossibility.
Elio Nenci (Università degli Studi di Milano)
March 9 MON, 11.00-13.00
Sala Riunioni - Direzione del Dipartimento di Filosofia,
Via Festa del Perdono 7
Per una storia del concetto di centro di gravità dall'Antichità al XVI secolo: centrobarica e cosmologia
Abstract:
La lezione cercherà di chiare i modi in cui alcuni concetti fondamentali della meccanica (in questo caso quello di centro di gravità) interagiscono con alcune delle idee cosmologiche concepite nell’antichità, e in particolare con l’opinione relativa alla figura della Terra presentata nel De caelo di Aristotele. Questa indagine, per quanto non interamente nuova, è nondimeno necessaria per una migliore comprensione della discussione che ebbe luogo durante la prima fase di sviluppo della scienza moderna. Un punto importante della lezione riguarderà la lettura in parallelo di alcuni libri di testo usati nelle scuole dal Medioevo all’inizio del XVII secolo (specialmente nei collegi dei Gesuiti) per lo studio dell’astronomia e della filosofia naturale, in particolare i Commentari alla Sfera di Giovanni di Sacrobosco e i Commentari al De caelo di Aristotele.