Presentation of the Research Unit

The Research Unit for Philosophical Psychology was created in 2015, by a research group that was formed in the early 2000s, focusing on relevant issues in the human sciences. In particular, from the very beginning, the group has been concerned with the relationship between epistemology and psychology, of which specific areas have been examined, such as the philosophy of social psychology, clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, cognitive science, neuroscience and related areas such as professional deontology. Going into more detail, the themes examined so far are the following: the methodological status of verbal reports, natural vs. human sciences, scientific vs. folk psychology, conscious vs. unconscious, theory vs. its practical application, unity and pluralism of psychological research domains. The affiliation of the Unit to the Department of Psychology means that its approach is intrinsically interdisciplinary. As can be seen from the topics just mentioned, this is an extremely interesting feature, capable of promoting theoretical reflections on important issues from both a philosophical and  a psychological point of view, and which is complemented  by a distinctly international orientation. Actually, the Unit has always sought theoretical confrontation with foreign research groups, initiating relationships that have been stabilised over time, giving hope for their continuation in the future, without neglecting the further opportunity to expand the group's research interests. Furthermore, by virtue of its institutional nature, the Unit aims to participate in national and international research calls.

Objectives

To develop research in the direction of specific themes such as:

The study of the subject in psychology, in dialogue with the human sciences and philosophy.

• The investigation of epistemological paradigms in psychology and the human sciences.
• The is/ought relationship in psychology, the human sciences and philosophy, exemplified by:
  • reflection on psychologists’ professional deontology;
  • examination of the concept of well-being in the integrated perspective of psychology and philosophy.
• Promotion of talks and workshops on the above themes, the organisation of which is related to communicative intentions

Research areas

• Philosophical foundations of psychological paradigms;
• Mentalism vs. anti-mentalism in psychology;
• Unity and fragmentation in psychological research;
• Relationship between theory and practice in psychology;
• Relationship between scientific and folk psychology.

Members of the Research Unit, internal to the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore:

Antonella Corradini (Coordinator, Full Professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Alessandro Antonietti (Full Professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Andrea Gaggioli (Full Professor, Faculty of Humanities)

Nicolò Gaj (Researcher, Faculty of Psychology)

Giuseppe Lo Dico (Adjunct professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Davide Margola (Professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Daniela Traficante (Professor, Faculty of Psychology)

Members of the Research Unit, external to the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Giuseppina D’Oro, (Reader, School of Social, Political and Global Studies, Keele University, UK);

Christopher Lumer, (Full Professor, Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences, University of Siena);

Marco Castiglioni, (Professor, Department of Human Sciences for Education, University of Milano- Bicocca);

Aurelio Molaro, (Researcher, Department of Psychology, Milano-Bicocca University).

Webinars organised by the Coordinator together with collaborators Gaj and Lo Dico:

"How to (and not to) save the manifest image", 11 November 2020, speaker Giuseppina D'Oro, Keele University, UK.

"Deontological ethics for psychologists today. Theory, professional practice and empirical research", 15 September 2020, speakers Roberto Cubelli, University of Trento, Adriano Zamperini, University of Padua, Alessandro Antonietti, Catholic University of Milan.

Talks and workshops organised by the Coordinator together with collaborators Gaj and Lo Dico Talk:

"Animal Agency", 25 September 2019, speaker Georg Gasser, University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Talk: "Truth and Rationality", 18 March 2019, speaker Wolfgang Spohn, University of Konstanz, Germany.

Talk: "Reason, Imagination, History. A comparison between philosophy and psychological sciences", 15 January 2019, speaker Aurelio Molaro, Milano-Bicocca University.

Talk: "Abduction and its eco-cognitive openness", 5 June 2018, speaker Lorenzo Magnani, University of Pavia.

Talk: "The priority of mentalization over consciousness. A moderated version", 26 April 2018, speaker Pietro Perconti, University of Messina.

Talk: "Artificial Intelligence. The problem of origins", 8 March 2018, speaker Viola Schiaffonati, Politecnico di Milano.

Workshop 'On Subjectivity', held on 22 February 2018, with Dan Zahavi, University of  Copenhagen and Daniel Wehininger, University of Innsbruck. Introduction by Antonella Corradini.

Talk: "Representing as Coordinating with Absence", speaker Nico Orlandi, University of California at Santa Cruz, 28 June 2017.

Talk: "Emotions, Mind, and Morality: A View from Social-Emotional Developmental Theory", speaker Tina Malti, University of Toronto, 31 May 2017.

Talk: "Tra pulsioni e spirito: Freud, Binswanger e Jung", speaker Aurelio Molaro, Università Milano-Bicocca, 3 May 2017. Conference "The Methods of the Human Sciences", International Conference, 8 and 9 March 2017, with C. Mantzavinos, W. Detel, R. Campaner, C. Gabbani, M. Castiglioni, Giuseppe Lo Dico, Nicolò Gaj, Antonella Corradini.

Talk: "The Predictive Brain in Action", speaker Giovanni Pezzulo (ISTC-CRR), Rome, 8 November 2016.

Conference: "Filosofia e psicologia: Intersezioni", speakers: R. Festa (University of Trieste), S. Salvatore (University of Salento), C. Umiltà (University of Padua), 27 September 2016.

Conference: "On the Neural Enrichment of Economic Models: Recasting the Challenge", speaker R. Fumagalli, University of Bayreuth; discussants P. Tedeschi, A. Antonietti, G. Lo Dico, 13 June 2016.

Workshop: 'New Directions in Philosophical Psychology', 18 February 2016, with the participation of H. Stam, E. Myin, S. Butterfill, Juan-Carlos Gomez, Dingmar van Eck.

Publications of the Coordinator (last ten years)

“Quantum Physics and the Fundamentality of the Mental”, in A. Corradini and U. Meixner (Eds.) Quantum Physics Meets the Philosophy of Mind.  New Essays on the Mind-Body Relation in Quantum- Theoretical Perspective, de Gruyter, Berlin-Boston, 51-63.

“Experimental Ethics. A Critical Analysis, in Christoph Lumer (Ed.) Morality in Times of Naturalising the Mind, de Gruyter, Berlin-Boston, 145-162.

2013


(with A. Antonietti) (Eds.) The role of mirror neurons in intentionality understanding. From empirical evidence to theoretical interpretation, Special Issue of Consciousness and Cognition, 22 (2013).

(with A. Antonietti) Mirroring mirror neurons in an interdisciplinary debate, editorial of: The role of mirror neurons in intentionality understanding. From empirical evidence to theoretical interpretation, Special Issue of Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1092-1094.

(with A. Antonietti) “Mirror neurons and their function in cognitively conceived empathy, Consciousness and Cognition 22 (2013) 1152-1161.

(with A. Antonietti) “Mirror Neurons: Some Critical Remarks, editorial of “Mirror Neurons: Still an Open Question?”, Progress in Neuroscience, 1, 3-5 (doi:10.14588/PiN.2013).

2012


“Dalla scienza cognitiva alla filosofia della scienza e ritorno”, Nuova Secondaria, n.7 2012 –XIX, pp. 39-41.

2011


“Mirror Neurons and Empathy: A Neuroscientific Foundation for Morality?”, in C. Lumer und U. Meyer (Hrsg.) Geist und Moral. Analytische Reflexionen für Wolfgang Lenzen, mentis, Paderborn, S. 117-132.

(with M. Castiglioni) Modelli epistemologici in psicologia. Dalla psicoanalisi al costruzionismo, new enlarged edition, Carocci Editore, Roma, pp. 231.

“Philosophy and Neuroscience”, in: C. Kanzian, W. Löffler, J. Quitterer (Eds.) The Ways Things Are. Studies in Ontology, ontos Verlag, Frankfurt, Paris, Lancaster, New Brunswick, pp. 203-219.