Cognitive Semantics, Category Theory for Logic and Foundations of Mathematics, Naturalistic Philosophy (cosmology-oriented, dialectical, emergentist)
Graduated in Philosophy in 1974 with a thesis on Semantic Theory, which had Giulio Preti as its starting advisor and Paolo Parrini as its final advisor. CNR (National Research Council) grant 1976-1981. "Ricercatore confermato" (Assistant Professor) 1981-2001, University of Florence. Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the same university 2001-2020. Adjunct Professor, at present.
Iride Filosofia e discussione pubblica ISSN : 1122-7893. Numero: 1, aprile 2003, Indice. DOI: 10.... more Iride Filosofia e discussione pubblica ISSN : 1122-7893. Numero: 1, aprile 2003, Indice. DOI: 10.1414/8728. Lo spirito positivo, ovvero le regole del "bon ton" epistemologico Alberto Peruzzi, pp. 117-124 7 [pdf 413K ...
The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, 2011
Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebra... more Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebrated results achieved in logic during the first half of the twentieth century are milestones in the understanding of mathematical relations between syn-tactic, semantic and algorithmic aspects of the ...
The present paper is the Italian version of a talk given at the International meeting "Can the Mi... more The present paper is the Italian version of a talk given at the International meeting "Can the Mind be Naturalized? which was held in Siena (Italy) in 2011. Beyond providing a general idea of the "entwined naturalism" introduced in an essay ("From Kant to Entwined naturalism", I wrote in 1989 and published in 1993), some relevant developments of the initial project are sketched. [A digital copy of the whole book which hosts this paper can be found on Sandro Nannini's page of <researchgate.net>.] Corrections and additions to the published text are shown.
The Western Ontario series in philosophy of science, 2011
Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebra... more Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebrated results achieved in logic during the first half of the twentieth century are milestones in the understanding of mathematical relations between syntactic, semantic and algorithmic aspects of the structure of language and reasoning. Logical tools have been exploited in a variety of applications: from
Around 1920, Edmund Husserl sketched a fascinating project: to run over again the phenomenoiogica... more Around 1920, Edmund Husserl sketched a fascinating project: to run over again the phenomenoiogical genesis of logical form, starting from ordinary experience of objects and our interaction with them. It was not an empiricist program and even less a logical-empiricist one. According ...
The aim of the paper is to present the categorical notion of an adjoint functor as a key to forma... more The aim of the paper is to present the categorical notion of an adjoint functor as a key to formally capturing the philosophical notion of “universal” especially as it figures in relation to semantics and epistemology. In the first part (first section to seventh section) the relevance of category theory for the main topics of analytic philosophy is suggested, in opposition to a widespread conservative attitude towards the entrenched conjunction of logic and ∈-based set theory. In the second part (8th section to 16th section) the concept of an adjunction is introduced and shown to provide the framework of some fundamental examples of universality. The paper is of an introductory character, because it is addressed to a broad philosophical audience, in particular to philosophically-oriented logicians and logically-educated philosophers with no previous knowledge of category theory.
The time is ripe for simplifying the theory of meaning. This simplification is made possible by i... more The time is ripe for simplifying the theory of meaning. This simplification is made possible by introducing a more articulated view of the way intuitive meanings can generate highly complex semantic architecture, as displayed by the expressive resources of natural language.
L'OGGETTO SEMANTICO È UN OGGETTO CINESTETICO Alberto Peruzzi CIOÈ Tralasciando preliminari ... more L'OGGETTO SEMANTICO È UN OGGETTO CINESTETICO Alberto Peruzzi CIOÈ Tralasciando preliminari eruditi, verrò subito alla domanda fondamentale. Che cosa rende possibile il nostro accesso al significato di espressioni linguistiche complesse? La risposta standard è: ...
The notion of relevance was a traditional topic of rhetoric rather than logic. Beyond modal logi... more The notion of relevance was a traditional topic of rhetoric rather than logic. Beyond modal logic and its use in the semantics of natural language, the devolopment of a logically-based pragmatics paved the way to a precise analysis of the formal structure of relevant inferences, the principles of which are investigated in a new field of logic, named “relevant logic”. In 1990 Sperber and Wilson proposed a theory of relevance. This paper examines the general features of the resulting bridge between logic and pragmatics and lists some problems yet to be solved.
The paper describes the path of my research towards a kinaesthetic theory of meaning within which... more The paper describes the path of my research towards a kinaesthetic theory of meaning within which some of the main issues in 20th century's semantics and philosophy of language are approached from the perspective of a naturalized phenomenology centered on spatiality. The core issue lies in the grounding of cognitive structure, as expressed in supposedly "atomic" sentences, and the solution proposed rests on the existence of a finite set of basic schemata of objects-and-actions which, suitably combined, allow for the constitution of any possible act of reference. The steps which led to the kinaesthetic theory are presented here in retrospect, from the roots in Husserl's phenomenology to the essential debt toward cognitive grammar, particularly for what concerns the theory of metaphor. The emphasis is on one characteristic feature of the resulting approach, namely, the tools provided by category theory are argued to be indispensable in order to set up a model of the ...
Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2015
After a concise description of issues concerning the causal and the deductive-nomological models ... more After a concise description of issues concerning the causal and the deductive-nomological models of explanation, the flaws in the alternative view centred on relevance-to-context are examined. The paper argues for the need of a wider spectrum of options which takes into account both the Local/Global and the Internal/External aspects in order to determine the sense and the adequacy of any explanation. As a test for this argument, some specific problems are considered about the range of causal bonds, the admission of top-down causation, the appeal to emergence, the shift from explanation to explainability, the equivalence classes referred to as "cause" and "effect". Finally, the paper deals with the comparison between inequivalent explanations and lists three remaining issues to complete the picture.
Iride Filosofia e discussione pubblica ISSN : 1122-7893. Numero: 1, aprile 2003, Indice. DOI: 10.... more Iride Filosofia e discussione pubblica ISSN : 1122-7893. Numero: 1, aprile 2003, Indice. DOI: 10.1414/8728. Lo spirito positivo, ovvero le regole del "bon ton" epistemologico Alberto Peruzzi, pp. 117-124 7 [pdf 413K ...
The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, 2011
Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebra... more Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebrated results achieved in logic during the first half of the twentieth century are milestones in the understanding of mathematical relations between syn-tactic, semantic and algorithmic aspects of the ...
The present paper is the Italian version of a talk given at the International meeting "Can the Mi... more The present paper is the Italian version of a talk given at the International meeting "Can the Mind be Naturalized? which was held in Siena (Italy) in 2011. Beyond providing a general idea of the "entwined naturalism" introduced in an essay ("From Kant to Entwined naturalism", I wrote in 1989 and published in 1993), some relevant developments of the initial project are sketched. [A digital copy of the whole book which hosts this paper can be found on Sandro Nannini's page of <researchgate.net>.] Corrections and additions to the published text are shown.
The Western Ontario series in philosophy of science, 2011
Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebra... more Logic already spanned a great range of topics before the birth of categorical logic. Some celebrated results achieved in logic during the first half of the twentieth century are milestones in the understanding of mathematical relations between syntactic, semantic and algorithmic aspects of the structure of language and reasoning. Logical tools have been exploited in a variety of applications: from
Around 1920, Edmund Husserl sketched a fascinating project: to run over again the phenomenoiogica... more Around 1920, Edmund Husserl sketched a fascinating project: to run over again the phenomenoiogical genesis of logical form, starting from ordinary experience of objects and our interaction with them. It was not an empiricist program and even less a logical-empiricist one. According ...
The aim of the paper is to present the categorical notion of an adjoint functor as a key to forma... more The aim of the paper is to present the categorical notion of an adjoint functor as a key to formally capturing the philosophical notion of “universal” especially as it figures in relation to semantics and epistemology. In the first part (first section to seventh section) the relevance of category theory for the main topics of analytic philosophy is suggested, in opposition to a widespread conservative attitude towards the entrenched conjunction of logic and ∈-based set theory. In the second part (8th section to 16th section) the concept of an adjunction is introduced and shown to provide the framework of some fundamental examples of universality. The paper is of an introductory character, because it is addressed to a broad philosophical audience, in particular to philosophically-oriented logicians and logically-educated philosophers with no previous knowledge of category theory.
The time is ripe for simplifying the theory of meaning. This simplification is made possible by i... more The time is ripe for simplifying the theory of meaning. This simplification is made possible by introducing a more articulated view of the way intuitive meanings can generate highly complex semantic architecture, as displayed by the expressive resources of natural language.
L'OGGETTO SEMANTICO È UN OGGETTO CINESTETICO Alberto Peruzzi CIOÈ Tralasciando preliminari ... more L'OGGETTO SEMANTICO È UN OGGETTO CINESTETICO Alberto Peruzzi CIOÈ Tralasciando preliminari eruditi, verrò subito alla domanda fondamentale. Che cosa rende possibile il nostro accesso al significato di espressioni linguistiche complesse? La risposta standard è: ...
The notion of relevance was a traditional topic of rhetoric rather than logic. Beyond modal logi... more The notion of relevance was a traditional topic of rhetoric rather than logic. Beyond modal logic and its use in the semantics of natural language, the devolopment of a logically-based pragmatics paved the way to a precise analysis of the formal structure of relevant inferences, the principles of which are investigated in a new field of logic, named “relevant logic”. In 1990 Sperber and Wilson proposed a theory of relevance. This paper examines the general features of the resulting bridge between logic and pragmatics and lists some problems yet to be solved.
The paper describes the path of my research towards a kinaesthetic theory of meaning within which... more The paper describes the path of my research towards a kinaesthetic theory of meaning within which some of the main issues in 20th century's semantics and philosophy of language are approached from the perspective of a naturalized phenomenology centered on spatiality. The core issue lies in the grounding of cognitive structure, as expressed in supposedly "atomic" sentences, and the solution proposed rests on the existence of a finite set of basic schemata of objects-and-actions which, suitably combined, allow for the constitution of any possible act of reference. The steps which led to the kinaesthetic theory are presented here in retrospect, from the roots in Husserl's phenomenology to the essential debt toward cognitive grammar, particularly for what concerns the theory of metaphor. The emphasis is on one characteristic feature of the resulting approach, namely, the tools provided by category theory are argued to be indispensable in order to set up a model of the ...
Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2015
After a concise description of issues concerning the causal and the deductive-nomological models ... more After a concise description of issues concerning the causal and the deductive-nomological models of explanation, the flaws in the alternative view centred on relevance-to-context are examined. The paper argues for the need of a wider spectrum of options which takes into account both the Local/Global and the Internal/External aspects in order to determine the sense and the adequacy of any explanation. As a test for this argument, some specific problems are considered about the range of causal bonds, the admission of top-down causation, the appeal to emergence, the shift from explanation to explainability, the equivalence classes referred to as "cause" and "effect". Finally, the paper deals with the comparison between inequivalent explanations and lists three remaining issues to complete the picture.
Per chi ha il volume in questione, segnalo le presenti correzioni che saranno apportate al testo ... more Per chi ha il volume in questione, segnalo le presenti correzioni che saranno apportate al testo in vista di una ulteriore edizione.
This is a list of corrections of errors (typos, wrong numbering et al.) contained in my first boo... more This is a list of corrections of errors (typos, wrong numbering et al.) contained in my first book titled "Definizioni: la cartografia dei concetti" (Angeli, Milan 1983). This file was present already on my page on the www.unifi.it website before its content was cancelled. Since it seems there is a new interest on the topic and that book remains, as far as I know the only one which deals systematically with the theory of definitions, its applications and its history, the Errata Corrige file should be able to prevent readers from being puzzled in reading.
In this paper the foundations of semantics are reconceived from a specific category-theoretic vi... more In this paper the foundations of semantics are reconceived from a specific category-theoretic view. The paper expands the talk given on the occasion of the 16th International Wittgenstein Symposium· 15-22 August 1993 Kirchberg am Wechsel (Austria)
A review (by Umberto Maionchi) of one of the finest books published in Italian language in the la... more A review (by Umberto Maionchi) of one of the finest books published in Italian language in the last decades about the mind-body problem.
This file collects the slides of a lecture given in 2006 for the Graduate School in Philosophy at... more This file collects the slides of a lecture given in 2006 for the Graduate School in Philosophy at the University of Florence. The slides vige an idea of my approach to semantic theory which exploits the tools of category theory to deal with metaphorical models.
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