Search results for " Aristotle"

Between Life and Existence. Heidegger’s Aristotelianism and the Question of Animality

2021

This paper starts by investigating the Aristotelian roots of Heidegger’s stance toward animal life from 1924 lecture course “Basic concepts of Aristotelian philosophy” to 1929/30 lecture course “The fundamental concepts of Metaphysics”. In following Aristotle, Heidegger displays the ontological transition from life to existence as grounded to the peculiar linguistic ability of human beings. In doing that, both Heidegger and Aristotle seem to establish a connection between an existential faculty (logos) and the apparently dominant position occupied by our species. On the other side, though, to be endowed with logos means for human beings to be able to de-centre themselves in recognizing the …

Are Humans Poor at Arguing? From the ‘Argumentative Theory of Reasoning’ back to a Rhetorical Theory of Argumentation

2018

Starting from Sperber and Mercier’s theory (2011) on the relationship between reasoning and arguing, we will try to rethink the link between rhetoric and argumentation. Using Aristotelian rhetoric as a theoretical framework, we will focus on two related features: 1) the nature and the role of argumentation inferences in classical models of rhetoric; 2) the role of normativity in assessing a naturalistic description of what we make when we argue.

Ontology and semantics: an Aristotelian inspiration,

2013

From Biology to Linguistics: The Definition of Arthron in Aristotle's Poetics

2018

This volume is not intended as a philological or paleographical specialist contribution: it is a new attempt at reading Aristotle’s work as a whole. It consists of two chapters. The first chapter consists of three sections. First section discusses the main problems posed by the definition of arthron; second section considers the state of the text; third section examines the critical literature on that issue since the end of the nineteenth century. The second chapter is the actual pars construens of the work. It consists of five sections. The first section explores the close relationship that Aristotle holds between biology and language. Aristotle is not the father of the specialized sciences: H…

Between Atoms and Humours. Lucretius' Didactic Poetry as a Model of Integrated and Bifocal Physiology

2012

Lucretius has often been regarded as one of the fathers of modern science, and also in recent years several studies have explored his influence far beyond a merely literary perspective. In this paper I analyse specifically the importance of the poet's 'eclectic' attitude in physiology from the point of view of his 'Fortleben' in early modern thought. I suggest that the typical eclectic combination of physics and biology, atomism and macroscopy, which the 'De rerum natura' shows in its didactic structure both through its images and even more through its conscious scientific reflection, built an attractive basis for attempts in the modern period at harmonising corpuscularian theories and qual…

Il corpo delle emozioni. Una prospettiva antica sull’intreccio tra menti, corpi e parole

2022

In this paper we propose a reflection on the intertwining of mind, body, and words in ancient Greek thought, with specific reference to Gorgias and Aristotle. In particular, we believe that it was the reflection developed within rhetoric – though not the only one – that played a central role in the first articulation of the conceptual framework where the relationship between soul and body, in a very peculiar and specific way, takes place. There are at least two salient features of this rhetorical perspective, which will be investigated here with specific reference, as mentioned, to Gorgias and Aristotle: the insistence on the close interrelationship between body and soul, an interrelationsh…

Interpretazioni fenomenologiche di Aristotele. Indicazione della situazione ermenutica

2005

The first Italian translation of the critical edition of Heidegger's "Natorp-Bericht"

Individuals and Collectivity between the Principle of noncontradiction and joint commitment

2017

In this paper I pay attention to and reflect upon the role and the nature of the human being considered as an individual that acts in a collective dimension and thus contributes to build a social reality. What is required to talk of collectivity? Is it anything that goes beyond the interacting individuals or not? In order to talk of collectivity, do we need to talk of a plural subject as well as of collective beliefs, (as Margaret Gilbert does), or not? These are some questions that are addressed in my paper. In particular, I outline the view that the collectivity is the relationship among interacting individuals in the exercise of their own rationality. Consequently, I argue that the colle…

Rhetoric as Philosophy of Language. An Aristotelian Perspective

2017

This paper sustains that rhetoric can be a fruitful way of practicing philosophy of language. The startingpoint is a suggestion drawn from the work of the Italian philosopher Roberto Esposito. According toEsposito, one of the main characteristics of the Italian thought is the focus on the necessary connectionbetween language and extra-linguistic world. I argue that rhetoric (intended in an Aristotelian sense), thanks to its extra-linguistic aim (persuasion), pays particular attention to this connection. This has important consequences: 1. considering speakers and listeners as essential components of speech and assigning a key position to the listener; 2. including the sphere of emotion in t…

Pisteis in Comparison: Examples and Enthymemes in the Rhetoric to Alexander and in Aristotle's Rhetoric

2011

Today it is generally accepted that the main differences between the "Rhetoric to Alexander" and Aristotle’s "Rhetoric" depend on the different aims of each work’s author: essentially practical in the first case, theoretical in the second one. The difference is clearly visible in the classification of pisteis (proofs). Our basic assumption is that this difference depends on the two majors elements of novelty in Aristotle's Rhetoric: 1. the introduction in the rhetorical field of the logico-dialectical apparatus (above all, the concept of syllogismos); 2. the consideration of ethos and pathos as entechnoi pisteis. In order to specify this general consideration, the paper focuses on enthymema…