21 APhEx num 21, anno 2020

Nel 1945 Friedrich Waismann introduce la nozione di open texture o porosità con riferimento alla natura dei concetti ordinari: secondo Waismann, un concetto non può mai essere introdotto in maniera tale da risultare definito "in tutte le direzioni possibili"; al contrario, le definizioni sono "sempre correggibili o modificabili". La nozione waismanniana suscita una rinnovata attenzione nel dibattito contemporaneo, in particolare in relazione alle questioni del cambiamento concettuale, della vaghezza, dell'esplicazione, dei concetti formali, e della cd. ingegneria concettuale; questo breve contributo presenta un problema aperto per la tesi che i nostri concetti, specialmente quelli logici e matematici, esibiscono open texture.

Philosophers often follow a method according to which a thesis or theory that is more in accordance with common sense must be preferred to positions that are less in accordance with it, at least as long as it is not shown that that thesis or theory is inadequate and some opposing position is an adequate substitute for it. The present contribution offers a characterisation of the notion of common sense usually employed in contemporary philosophical debates; a critical illustration of the main methods that can be used in order to determine philosophically relevant contents of common sense; a clarification and a justification of the philosophical method of the appeal to common sense; and, on the other hand, an illustration of some argumentative strategies that can be applied by those who endorse some thesis or theory in discordance with common sense.

The interaction between human beings and robots is, not surprisingly, one of the most growing topics in the research of artificial sciences, in particular in robotics and social robotics. In Living with robots, Paul Dumouchel and Luisa Damiano deal with the problem from the point of view of robotic emotions, up to discussing a sort of artificial empathy. In the volume, different positions relating to affective robotics, that is, the study of emotions in robotics, have been reviewed. The authors largely criticize contemporary approaches by suggesting their own approach that fits within the framework of radical embodiment. The issues still open concern the ontological assumptions regarding emotions in robotics, and therefore the theoretical contexts within which they are studied; the experimental methodologies exploited, starting from the synthetic method; and the repercussions in related areas, such as that of robotic ethics. The volume of Dumouchel and Damiano is characterized by a conceptual and expository clarity which, beyond the agreement or disagreement with the authors' positions, allows an in-depth reflection on frontier topics.

Megethology is the second-order theory of the part-whole relation developed by David Lewis, and it is obtained by combining plural quantification with classical extensional mereology. It can express some hypotheses about the size of the domain such as that there are inaccessibly many atoms. This will prove enough to get the orthodox set theory. Then, megethology is a possible foundation for mathematics. This paper is an introduction to megethology.

The main idea of distributed cognition is that a complete explanation of some cognitive phenomena should take into account non-local factors, i.e. processes that take place beyond the traditional cognitive boundaries represented by the "skin and skull" of cognitive subjects. This work outlines the developments of this viewpoint with regard to the study of linguistic phenomena. The proponents of the distributed approach highlight the active and dialogical features connected to the acquisition and use of natural language. A serious consideration of these phenomena provides the means for an original explanation of some language-related developmental issues that in computational linguistics are unsatisfactorily solved by supposing the existence of innate cognitive structures.