Papers by Maurizio Ferraris
Filosofie della natura dopo Schelling
Il mito del dato La filosofia del Novecento si è caratterizzata per una prevalenza dell’analisi. ... more Il mito del dato La filosofia del Novecento si è caratterizzata per una prevalenza dell’analisi. Quello che c’è, l’ontologia, ci viene detto dalle scienze naturali (singolare definizione, osserva a giusto titolo Grant: ci sono forse delle scienze innaturali?). La filosofia deve limitarsi ad analizzare, a scomporre il già dato, sia esso il linguaggio o la totalità, per ridurre a frammenti, pezzettini, sottigliezze che – passata l’epoca gloriosa della critica delle tronfie vacuità della filosof..
Phenomenology & Mind, 2021
There are two opposite ways of interpreting the web: one Ptolemaic and one Copernican. The first ... more There are two opposite ways of interpreting the web: one Ptolemaic and one Copernican. The first analyzes the web starting from the concept of information, as in the case of Luciano Floridi. The latter recognizes the importance of information, and as a consequence Floridi's work, but it takes a step forward. Indeed, it highlights the importance of documents and the relationship between information and human life. In this way, it makes it possible to comprehend the human way of being and the revolution we are witnessing.
ECPS - Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, 2014
This contribution presents New Realism as a reaction to constructivism, which represents the main... more This contribution presents New Realism as a reaction to constructivism, which represents the mainstream of modern philosophy. It maintains that our conceptual schemes and perceptual apparatus play a constitutive role with regard to reality. New Realism is presented in four steps. The first concerns the distinction between ontology (what actually exists) and epistemology (what we think we know). The second is the empirical finding that the fundamental feature of ontology is its predominance over epistemology because that which exists, which is real, does not allow itself to be corrected by our conceptual schemes. The third is the observation that the real is not solely seen as resistance and negativity: in any negation there is a determination and a possibility. The fourth concerns realism with regard to social objects, which depend on the mind, but are independent of knowledge because they are essentially recorded acts, that is, documents.
In this paper, I try to highlight what I call the “documedia revolution” i.e.
the outcome of the ... more In this paper, I try to highlight what I call the “documedia revolution” i.e.
the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing power of media (and new media, in particular). I propose to outline this great transformation, showing how we moved from capital to documediality, passing through mediality.
These are three fundamental phases we passed through as human kind, with different features and manifestations. I aim at showing that our times commodities are documents and that labour we do is a kind of mobilization. This kind of changes ask for a different point of view able to focus on recognition (instead of sustenance), self-affirmation (instead of alienation), and atomization (instead of classification).
“The Universal Blackboard”, in A. Kanev (ed.), New Realism. Problems and Perspetives, Sofia: St. ... more “The Universal Blackboard”, in A. Kanev (ed.), New Realism. Problems and Perspetives, Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press 2019: 63-72
Disputatio. Philosophical Research Bulletin Vol. 7 | No. 8 | Dec. 2018 | a018, 2018
The present paper attempts to present the nature of the documedial revolution, as well as the val... more The present paper attempts to present the nature of the documedial revolution, as well as the value of documedial capital for 21st century societies. Through an analysis of the fundamental concepts of communism (work, alienation, surplus value, etc.) we want to understand the fact that many of the ideals proposed by Marx find their realization in technologized and globalized societies. In the same way, we expose the deficiencies of both capitalism and communism in their categorization of capital. Finally, an attempt is made to understand the political phenomena of populism and fascism in the light of the theorization of the documedial revolution in order to prevent the new panoptic from paralysing authentic democracy.
Ermeneutica neorealista, Giornale di Metafisica, 2018
GdM 2/2018 432-447
In this paper, I assume that, if knowledge does not refer to
something other than itself, the wor... more In this paper, I assume that, if knowledge does not refer to
something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’,
‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be
meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as involving faith
in the existence of a spirit independent from matter, capable of
producing representations and things. In terms of matter and
memory, the fact that the past is repeated by matter is even more
important than the fact that it is recalled by memory, because
without matter there would be no memory and no ability to
remember. I remind the reader that only individuals exist and that
the first character of individuals is that they are external with
respect to others. Finally, I consider how epistemology should be
considered in terms of Pentecostal meaning and emergent
meaning: Pentecostal meaning follows the path Meaning →
Expression → Inscription. Emergent meaning goes from
Inscription → Expression → Meaning.
Social objects originate from constitutive rules. But there are two ways of explaining the relati... more Social objects originate from constitutive rules. But there are two ways of explaining the relationship between them. I call them " Manifest Image " and " Deep Image ". The former depends on Searle's interpretation of social reality and it is based on collective intentionality; the latter is the one I support and it is based on documentality. Indeed, recordings and documents are sufficient to explain how and why social world exists. There is no need to use such a vague notion, as that of collective intentionality, in order to give a useful account of society. Documents can do it better, especially with the help of the process called emergence, as the case of money clearly shows.
Taking aesthetics as epistemology (in agreement with Emilio Garroni's perspective) means taking a... more Taking aesthetics as epistemology (in agreement with Emilio Garroni's perspective) means taking aesthetics as teleology, namely as the need for knowledge to attribute a purpose to what is known. Art has the ability to anticipate these purposes, letting them emerge even if there is insufficient evidence.
cui mi sono formato e nella quale insegno, ha una tradizione ermeneutica il cui capostipite è sta... more cui mi sono formato e nella quale insegno, ha una tradizione ermeneutica il cui capostipite è stato Luigi Pareyson e il cui scolarca è stato a lungo Gianni Vattimo, e di cui io sono l'erede degenere, dal momento che a un certo punto mi sono allontanato dall'ermeneutica. Questo allontanamento ha avuto luogo nel 1997, con Estetica Razionale (1997). Nello stesso anno usciva Kant e l'ornitorinco, di Umberto Eco, un altro e ben più illustre eretico della tradizione torinese, che sollevava problemi dettati da un nuovo realismo antilettera molto vicini ai miei e che, soprattutto, né Pareyson né Vattimo si erano mai posti. Per Pareyson (1971) l'ermeneutica è rivelazione della verità, ma il tutto si svolge in una atmosfera rarefatta e vaga, in cui manca qualunque forma di oggetto, di individuo, di nome proprio, tranne quello dell'Essere, che è poi evidentemente identificato con Dio, e in cui si narra della lotta, vinta in partenza dal primo, fra il pensiero rivelativo, che ha rapporto con Dio, e il pensiero espressivo, lo storicismo marxista, che quel rapporto non ce l'ha. Vattimo, con il progetto di una «ontologia dell'attualità» (1994 1 ) che identifica il mondo con la storia, si limita a capovolgere il rapporto di forze, facendo vincere la partita al pensiero espressivo. Il problema, però, è che queste partite si svolgono in cielo, e che in campo manca l'arbitro, la realtà, quello che c'è, e che si manifesta non nelle idee, bensì negli individui: questo singolo mal di denti, il colore di quella foglia fuori dalla finestra, il rumore delle auto sulla strada provinciale attutito dagli alberi. Manca insomma quella che in Kant e l'ornitorinco Eco definisce la «soglia inferiore» della interpretazione, l'oggetto anche molesto, il «Qualcosa-che-ci-prende-a-calci e ci dice "parla!"o "parla di me!"» (1997: 5). Era il medesimo problema che mi ponevo in Estetica razionale, checome nel libro di Ecospostava il fuoco della interpretazione dalla storia e dal pensiero alla natura e alla percezione, cose apparentemente improprie (non c'è già quella che confusamente si chiama "scienza", per la natura?) o irrilevanti (la percezione non è forse la certezza sensibile, ossia ciò da cui il filosofo deve innanzitutto imparare a diffidare?). Maquesto il punto decisivocose senza le quali non è possibile dirsi realisti etemoè anche abbastanza difficile dirsi filosofi e non semplicemente ideologi, nel senso letterale di chi circoscriva la
To design does not mean to give color to ideas onto a preeminently bi-dimensional surface, but ra... more To design does not mean to give color to ideas onto a preeminently bi-dimensional surface, but rather to produce effects – positive, if possible – within a world that is three-dimensional. In this perspective it will be necessary to assume as its constitutive (and not accidental) characteristic, the project's propensity to fail, to deviate, to change, to collude. In other words, we must admit the systematic unpredictability of those effects that we wish to achieve. In morals, just as in architecture, it is not true that we have intentions that can later be ratified by documents. The opposite is true: we first receive a documental formation (rites, education), and only later what we have received can be translated into intentionality. To not consider this does not only engender a misunderstanding, but – in fact – a removal: a removal of the documental dimension of the project as a symptom of a larger and more decisive removal, that of technique.
The paper considers three uses of the real in literature that bear witness to what I would call "... more The paper considers three uses of the real in literature that bear witness to what I would call " prevalence " of the real as the ultimate otherness. The first concerns the way in which the real bursts into fiction; the latter does indeed draw from the former details and surprises little accessible to imagination. The second is the way in which sometimes the pretext of fiction is used to mitigate the consequences of its claims; this mode is the strongest evidence of the extent to which fiction is steeped in reality. The third refers to the postmodern world, in which theory itself purported to be literaturised; certain statements (otherwise false or morally serious) are possible in such a theoretical context since the postmodern discourse theorizes the loss of the distinction between reality and fiction, and between philosophy and literature. The thread that unites these three ways to represent the relationship between fiction and reality is that all three of them are represented in the contemporary cultural landscape. The minimalist moral that can be drawn from this is therefore that realism – as well as anti-realism – is said in many ways that are not always transparent.
Contrary to what is usually said following Benjamin, the art of the Twentieth century is not char... more Contrary to what is usually said following Benjamin, the art of the Twentieth century is not characterised by a " loss of aura " due to the loss of the uniqueness of works of art but, precisely in the opposite way, it features an unprecedented hyper-auratisation, due to the hyper-conceptual quality of art. This essay aims at isolating the theoretical and historical coordinates of this paradoxical process, as it constitutes the presupposition of every discourse on contemporary art, where it is more or less assumed that the artistic world is the generator of works of art, being therefore the place where aura is produced and conferred. and that this aura could validly replace beauty in the role of " aesthetic identifier " of the work of art, which I now suggest (to distinguish it from the works of art of tradition that still dwelled in the system of fine arts, and had to be identified by beauty) we call work of aura.
The idea that the Avant-garde and Classicism are placed at the antipodes of art history is a comm... more The idea that the Avant-garde and Classicism are placed at the antipodes of art history is a commonly accepted opinion. However, a deeper analysis proves it to be inconsistent and superficial. The key features of the contemporary artwork are normally taken to be the " dogma of aesthetic indifference " – that is, the decision to abandon the canon of ideal beauty – and the centrality of the artwork's conceptual meaning at the expense of form and technique. Yet, these categories turn out to be familiar even to the classical world – no stranger to the interest towards the bad and the grotesque – and to ancient art, which was radically conceptual (think of the pyramids or Stonehenge). So the classical approach reveals its closeness to the modern, and the latter – in its sacral seriality, in its transfiguration of the common object into art and in its consecration of the museum – reveals its closeness to Classicism. Classicism (it turns out) is very hard to be actually done away with.
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Papers by Maurizio Ferraris
the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing power of media (and new media, in particular). I propose to outline this great transformation, showing how we moved from capital to documediality, passing through mediality.
These are three fundamental phases we passed through as human kind, with different features and manifestations. I aim at showing that our times commodities are documents and that labour we do is a kind of mobilization. This kind of changes ask for a different point of view able to focus on recognition (instead of sustenance), self-affirmation (instead of alienation), and atomization (instead of classification).
something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’,
‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be
meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as involving faith
in the existence of a spirit independent from matter, capable of
producing representations and things. In terms of matter and
memory, the fact that the past is repeated by matter is even more
important than the fact that it is recalled by memory, because
without matter there would be no memory and no ability to
remember. I remind the reader that only individuals exist and that
the first character of individuals is that they are external with
respect to others. Finally, I consider how epistemology should be
considered in terms of Pentecostal meaning and emergent
meaning: Pentecostal meaning follows the path Meaning →
Expression → Inscription. Emergent meaning goes from
Inscription → Expression → Meaning.
the outcome of the changes we are witnessing in our times. Documediality indicates the allegiance between the constitutive power of documents and the mobilizing power of media (and new media, in particular). I propose to outline this great transformation, showing how we moved from capital to documediality, passing through mediality.
These are three fundamental phases we passed through as human kind, with different features and manifestations. I aim at showing that our times commodities are documents and that labour we do is a kind of mobilization. This kind of changes ask for a different point of view able to focus on recognition (instead of sustenance), self-affirmation (instead of alienation), and atomization (instead of classification).
something other than itself, the words ‘subject’, ‘object’,
‘epistemology’, ‘ontology’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘reflection’ would be
meaningless. I define the transcendental fallacy as involving faith
in the existence of a spirit independent from matter, capable of
producing representations and things. In terms of matter and
memory, the fact that the past is repeated by matter is even more
important than the fact that it is recalled by memory, because
without matter there would be no memory and no ability to
remember. I remind the reader that only individuals exist and that
the first character of individuals is that they are external with
respect to others. Finally, I consider how epistemology should be
considered in terms of Pentecostal meaning and emergent
meaning: Pentecostal meaning follows the path Meaning →
Expression → Inscription. Emergent meaning goes from
Inscription → Expression → Meaning.
Featuring a foreword by the eminent contemporary philosopher and leading exponent of Speculative Realism, Iain Hamilton Grant, the book begins by tracing the genesis of New Realism, and outlining its central theoretical tenets, before opening onto three distinct sections. The first, 'Negativity', is a critique of the postmodern idea that the world is constructed by our conceptual schemas, all the more so as we have entered the age of digitality and virtuality. The second thesis, 'positivity', proposes the fundamental ontological assertion of New Realism, namely that not only are there parts of reality that are independent of thought, but these parts are also able to act causally over thought and the human world. The third thesis, 'normativity,' applies New Realism to the sphere of the social world. Finally, an afterword written by two young scholars explains in more detail the relationship between New Realism and other forms of contemporary realism.