Reasons versus passions: a false dichotomy at the origin of 21st century polarisations

CYCLE: Reasons and Passions. From Classical Greece to Neuroscience
SPEAKER: Cristina Meini
DATE: Thursday 3 July, 6 pm

The stark contrast between reasons and passions, recurring in the history of Western philosophy albeit with notable exceptions, also permeated the first season of cognitive sciences, enthusiastically linked to the metaphor of the mind-computer. Nevertheless, recent discoveries in neuroscience have challenged this perspective, revealing rather a complex interpenetration between cognitive and affective processes. In this talk, we will examine some salient moments of this acquisition of awareness, concluding by observing how a correct balance between the two false opposites is also fundamental in order to cope with some serious critical issues in today's society, starting with ideological polarisation and disinformation.

Cristina Meini is Professor of Philosophy of Communication and Philosophy of Cognitive Processes at the University of Eastern Piedmont, where she currently holds the position of University Education Delegate. A graduate in Philosophy of Language with Diego Marconi in Turin, she holds a phd in Cognitive Sciences from the Hercules Polytechnique in Paris.

In her career she has dealt, always with a philosophical outlook informed by the sciences of the mind, with artificial intelligence, metacognitive processes, personal identity development and, more recently, disinformation and environmental philosophy. He has numerous Italian and international publications to his credit. For the two-year period 2021-2023, she was President of the Italian Society of Analytical Philosophy.

Free admission subject to availability.