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Italian Epistemology at the End of the Xixth Century Paola Cantu Italian Epistemology at the End of the XIXth century Paola Cantu To cite this version: Paola Cantu. Italian Epistemology at the End of the XIXth century. Perspectives (Réseau français des instituts d’études avancées), RFIEA, 2012, pp.3. halshs-00749842 HAL Id: halshs-00749842 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00749842 Submitted on 8 Nov 2012 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 3 ITALIAN EPISTEMOLOGY AT THE END OF THE XIXth CENTURY Paola Cantù | résidente à l’IMéRA de Marseille Paola Cantù est chercheur au Centre de recherches en EPistémologie et ERgologie Comparative (Aix-Marseille université et CNRS). Ses travaux portent sur la philosophie des sciences et spécialement sur la logique, les mathématiques et la théorie de l’argumentation. Derniers ouvrages parus : Logic and Pragmatism. Selected Writings of Giovanni Vailati (avec P. Suppes, C. Arrighi et M. De Zan, éds. ), CSLI Publications, Stanford, 2009 ; héories de l’argumentation (avec I. Testa), Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2006. At the beginning of the xxth cen- conception of what knowledge tury the high rate of analphabe- is or should be. To answer this tism and the recent uniication question, one has to understand of the country, achieved only in what role is played by philoso- 1870, had required a vast pro- phy, history, and mathematics gram of school and university in the desired uniication of reforms which were accompa- sciences. Vailati’s interdiscipli- nied by a debate on two funda- nary practice and broad cor- mental questions: whether the respondence made him into an university should depend on European “intellectual”: does public funds or become auto- the new educative project aim nomous, and whether the curri- at forming a new class of intel- culum should be specialized or lectuals that might unify theory remain general as in the modern and practice, social and life era. he 1859 Casati reform had sciences, art and technology? A separated the faculty for litera- question that was raised at the ture and philosophy from the time of Vailati is often raised faculty for mathematical, phy- nowadays too: is the move- sical and natural sciences, thus ment towards the uniication of introducing for the irst time knowledge and the trespassing specialized curricula. he huge of barriers created by hyper-spe- debate on the 1882 Baccelli’s cialization, the result of a nostal- reform, aiming at reintrodu- gic attitude towards the past, or cing a unique faculty, involved is it capable of promoting inno- political, scientiic and inancial vative and original research? he issues, and arose the question latter was surely the case in the of the relations between State Italian context at the beginning centralism and local universi- of the century, before Gentile’s ties, both on an administrative reform introduced a rigid divi- and a didactic level. Under the sion between the two cultures. inluence of positivism, many mathematicians appreciated © Eric Spiegel the specialization introduced by Casati but suggested to rein- troduce a bridge between the Références two cultures activating courses Congress of Library Arrighi C., Cantù P., De Zan M. in philosophy or history of and Suppes P. (eds.), Logic and Prag- sciences in all faculties. he ten- applied a truly interdisciplinary Padoa introduced a logical cri- starting in 2012 abandons the matism Selected Writings of Giovanni sion between a specialized and approach to the research into terion for deinability, Giovanni disciplinary organisation of Vailati, CSLI Publications, Stanford, an interdisciplinary approach several fundamental epistemo- Vailati discussed the problems the curriculum, which became 2009, pp. xxi-lxvii. to knowledge was not limited logical questions, including the concerning the deinition, widespread in European De Zan, Mauro (ed.), I mondi di carta to the discussion on the didac- nature of deinitions, the role demarcation and classiication countries at the end of the xixth di Giovanni Vailati [Giovanni Vailati’s tic reform of universities (and of technical language, and the of sciences. At the International century as a result of Positivism, Worlds of Paper], FrancoAngeli, 2000. secondary schools), but emerged properties of scientiic method Conference for Mathematics, Napoleonic inheritance and De Zan, Mauro, La formazione di in scientiic research too. and justiication. Vailati’s broad Alessandro Padoa discussed the Prussian education models. he Giovanni Vailati [Giovanni Vailati’s correspondence with major deinition of natural numbers curriculum is organized around Education], Congedo, 2009. he group of mathematicians scholars in diferent ields and and the principles of geometry. ive major themes: 1) nature and Marcato, Stefano, Lineamenti dell’or- who studied or worked in Turin the development of an original At the International Conference culture, 2) logic, language and dinamento universitario negli ultimi under the supervision of Giu- form of pragmatism should be for Psychology Vailati rela- calculus, 3) world systems, 4) 150 anni [Outline of the university seppe Peano between the end taken into account in order to ted the classiication of mental igures of political juridical and system in the last 150 years], in Univer- of the xixth century and the understand the conception of states to the distinction between economical power, 5) optics, sità/notizie (USPUR) 3 (2009). beginning of the xxth century is knowledge that underpins his deinitions and judgements of vision and colors. Involved dis- Minazzi, Fabio (ed.), Giovanni Vailati an interesting case study in this interdisciplinary approach. value. In a few other works Gio- ciplines are linguistics, infor- intellettuale europeo [Giovanni Vailati: respect: on the one hand, they vanni Vailati further developed matics, biology, philosophy, an European Intellectual], hélema, were highly specialized in logic As an example of this approach, the analysis of deinitions not history, neurosciences, physics 2006. and the foundation of mathe- I consider the case of deini- only from the perspective of and mathematics. he common Projet de Licence Transdisciplinaire matics, on the other hand they tions, which was analysed from mathematics, logic, philosophy epistemological perspective Mention « Sciences et Humanités », had multidisciplinary interests several diferent perspectives by and psychology, but also from concerns the constitution and Aix-Marseille Université 2011. in linguistic, psychology, history Peano and the Turin scholars at the point of view of history of transmission of knowledge, eva- Roero Clara Silvia (ed.), Peano e la sua of sciences and philosophy, phi- the three International Confe- sciences, history of philosophy, luated at three stages of human scuola fra matematica, logica e interlin- lology and politics. A new kind rences that took place in Paris pragmatic education theories, history: the birth of Greek gua. Atti del congresso internazionale di of scientiic collaboration was set in 1900 and that impressed the and linguistics. science, the modern scientiic studi [Peano and His School: Mathema- up in the edition of the Formu- young Bertand Russell, who revolution, and the scientiic tics, Logic and Interlingua. Internatio- lario, a dictionary of mathema- was to declare that the meeting he interdisciplinary approach turn developed between the end nal Proceedings] (Torino, 6-7 ottobre tics that aimed at giving an axio- with Peano was “a turning point developed by Giovanni Vailati of the xixth and the beginning of 2008), Torino, Deputazione subalpina matic presentation of diferent in his intellectual life”. At the and the Turin group, which the xxth century. di storia patria, 2010. mathematical disciplines by International Conference for amounted to a research prac- Simeti, Martina, “La “triplice auto- introducing a unique symbolism Philosophy, Giuseppe Peano tice rather than a fully explicit My interest in comparing this nomia” delle Università. La riforma and a universal language (latino investigated the conventional didactic theory, can be interes- project and Vailati’s research Baccelli vista nelle pagine dei giornali sine lexione), and that evolved nature of deinitions and the tingly compared with a brand practice is epistemological rather [he ‘threefold tutonomy’ of Univer- like a modern wiki thanks to the notion of primitive concepts in new French education project than sociological or educatio- sities. he Baccelli Reform from the suggestions sent by the editors in mathematics, Burali-Forti ana- (Licence Sciences et Humanités) nal: I aim at verifying whether point of view of contemporary news- chief and by the readers them- lysed the diferences between developed by a group of teachers there is a connection between papers]”, in Rassegna storica del Risor- selves. In particular, one of the several kinds of deinitions used and researchers of the Aix-Mar- the interdisciplinary approach gimento, Italia, Storia amministrativa, mathematicians of the group, in science (by abstraction, by seille University. he new course to fundamental scientiic pro- Secolo XIX, ottobre-dicembre 2000, Giovanni Vailati (1863-1911), postulates, nominal), Alessandro in Science and Humanities blems, and an epistemological pp. 509-538. perspectives n. 7 — été | summer 2012.
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