![Lorenzo Magnani](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Lorenzo_Magnani.jpg)
Lorenzo Magnani (born 1952), is an Italian
philosopher who teaches
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
in the Department of Humanities, Philosophy Section, at the
University of Pavia
The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...
, where he is full professor and directs the Computational Philosophy Laboratory.
[Computational Philosophy Laboratory website](_blank)
/ref> Recently he has been (2006/2012) visiting professor at the Sun Yat-sen University
Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...
in China. In the event of the 50th anniversary of the re-building of the Philosophy Department of Sun Yat-sen University in 2010, an award was given to him to acknowledge his contributions to the areas of philosophy, philosophy of science, logic, and cognitive science.
Magnani's primary research interests are the philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
, logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premise ...
, cognitive science, artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
, and philosophy of medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
. His historical research has centered on 19th- and 20th-century geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...
and the philosophy of geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...
.
Currently he is studying the processes of conceptual innovation and change in science also in the perspective of abductive reasoning. A major objective of his research is to create a working synthesis between epistemological and historical perspectives and investigations of representations and reasoning in cognitive science. Recently he addressed the problem of the relationships between morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...
and technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...
and the problem of violence
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...
in a philosophical and cognitive perspective.
His previous positions include visiting researcher ( Carnegie Mellon University, 1992; McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
, 1992–93; University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...
, 1993; and the Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995 and 1998–99) and visiting professor (visiting professor of Philosophy of Science and Theories of Ethics at Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999–2003; Weissman Distinguished Visiting Professor at Baruch College
Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates unde ...
, City University of New York, 2003).
He has directed and directs many international academic programs in collaboration with the US, EU, and China.
Since 1998, initially in collaboration with Nancy J. Nersessian and Paul Thagard, created and promoted the MBR Conferences on Model-Based Reasoning.
A Doctor Honoris Causa degree was awarded to Lorenzo Magnani by the Senate of the Ştefan cel Mare University, Suceava, Romania. The award ceremony took place at the University Campus on March 16, 2012.
In 2015 Lorenzo Magnani has been appointed member of the International Academy for the Philosophy of the Sciences (AIPS).
Books and edited books
;Books
;In Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
* ''Non-Euclidean Geometries'' (1978) (anthology of classic texts)
* ''In Behalf of Architecture'' (with other co-authors) (1987)
* ''Applied Epistemology'' (1991)
* ''Philosophy and geometry'' (1991)
* ''Textbook of Logic: Classical Logic and Logic of Common Sense'' (co-author R. Gennari) (1997), new edition edited by R. Dossena (2022)
* ''Introduction to Computational Philosophy'' (1997)
* ''Knowledge as a Duty. Distributed Morality in a Technological World'' (2006)
* ''Philosophy of Violence'' (2012), second edition (2022)
* ''Respecting People as Things'' (2013)
;In English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
;Monographs
* ''Abduction, Reason, and Science. Processes of Discovery and Explanation'' (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2001). Chinese Edition 洛伦佐•玛格纳尼 / 著;李大超,任远 / 译,《溯因、理由与科学——发现和解释的过程》,中国广州:广东人民出版社2006年, 2006;
* ''Philosophy and Geometry. Theoretical and Historical Issues'' (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2001).
*''Morality in a Technological World. Knowledge as a Duty'' (Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
, Cambridge, 2007) develops a philosophical and cognitive theory of the relationships between ethics and technology in a naturalistic perspective. The book describes how modern technology has brought about consequences of such magnitude that old policies and ethics can no longer contain them;
* ''Abductive Cognition. The Epistemological and Eco-Cognitive Dimensions of Hypothetical Reasoning'' (Springer Science+Business Media
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 ...
, Heidelberg/Berlin, 2009).
* ''Understanding Violence. The Intertwining of Morality, Religion, and Violence: A Philosophical Stance'' (Springer Science+Business Media, Heidelberg/Berlin, 2011).
* ''The Abductive Structure of Scientific Creativity. An Essay on the Ecology of Cognition'' (Springer Science+Business Media, Cham, Switzerland, 2017).
* ''Eco-Cognitive Computationalism. Cognitive Domestication of Ignorant Entities'' (Springer Science+Business Media, Cham, Switzerland, 2022).
* ''Discoverability. The Urgent Need of an Ecology of Human Creativity'' (Springer Science+Business Media, Cham, Switzerland, 2022).
; Handbooks
* L. Magnani(eds.) (in progress) ''Handbook of Abductive Cognition, Springer'', Cham, Switzerland.
* L. Magnani and T. Bertolotti (eds.) (2017) ''Springer Handbook of Model-Based Science'', Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin.
;Edited books
* S. Arfini and L. Magnani (eds.) (2022), ''Embodied, Extended, Ignorant Minds: New Studies on the Nature of Not-Knowing'', Springer, Cham Switzerland, Synthese Books.
* A. Nepomuceno, L. Magnani, F. Salguero, C. Barés and M. Fontaine (eds.) (2019), ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Inferential Models for Logic, Language, Cognition and Computation'', Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
* L. Magnani and C. Casadio (eds.) (2016), ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Logical, Epistemological, and Cognitive Issues'', Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin Series “Sapere”.
* L. Magnani, P. Li, and W. Park (eds.) (2015) ''Philosophy and Cognitive Science II. Western & Eastern Studies'', Series “Sapere", Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin.
* L. Magnani, (ed.) (2013) ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Theoretical and Cognitive Issues'', Series “Sapere", Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin.
* L. Magnani, (ed.) (2013) ''Introduction to the New Logic'', Il Melangolo, Genoa (in Italian).
* L. Magnani and P. Li, (eds.) (2012) ''Philosophy and Cognitive Science. Western & Eastern Studies'', Series “Sapere", Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin.
* L. Magnani, W. Carnielli, C. Pizzi (eds.) (2010) ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Abduction, Logic, and Computational Discovery'', Series “Studies in Computational Intelligence”, Vol. 314, Springer, Heidelberg/Berlin.
* S. Iwata, Y. Oshawa, S. Tsumoto, N. Zhong, Y. Shi, and L. Magnani (eds.) (2008). ''Communications and Discoveries from Multidisciplinary Data'', Series “Studies in Computational Intelligence”, Springer, Berlin/New York.
* L. Magnani and P. Li (eds.) (2007), ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science, Technology, and Medicine'', Series “Studies in Computational Intelligence”, Vol. 64, Springer, Berlin/New York.
* L. Magnani and P. Li (eds.) (2006), ''Philosophical Investigations from a Perspective of Cognition'', Guangdong People’s Publishing House, Guangzhou, (published in Chinese: 洛伦佐•玛格纳尼、李平主编,《认知视野中的哲学探究》,中国广州:广东人民出版社2006年).
* L. Magnani (2006) (ed.), ''Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Engineering. Cognitive Science, Epistemology, Logic'', College Publications, London.
* L. Magnani (ed.) (2006), ''Computing and Philosophy'', Associated International Academic Publishers, Pavia.
* L. Magnani and R. Dossena (eds.) (2005), ''Computing, Philosophy and Cognition'', College Publications, London.
* L. Magnani and N. J. Nersessian (eds.) (2002), ''Model-Based Reasoning. Scientific Discovery, Technological Innovation, Values'', Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
* L. Magnani, N. J. Nersessian, and C. Pizzi (eds.) (2002), ''Logical and Computational Aspects of Model-Based Reasoning'', Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht.
* L. Magnani, N. J. Nersessian, and P. Thagard (eds.) (1999), ''Model-Based Reasoning in Scientific Discovery'', Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, (Chinese edition, translated and edited by Qiming Yu and Tianen Wang, China Science and Technology Press, Beijing, 2001: 《科学发现中的模型化推理》,于祺明、王天思主译,中国北京:中国科学技术出版社2001年),
* L. Magnani and R. Dossena (eds.) (2004), ''Felix Klein: the Erlangen Program'', Pristem/Storia, Springer, Milan (in Italian).
;Book series editor: SAPERE - Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, Springer Science+Business Media.
;Director: CPL Computational Philosophy Laboratory, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
;Complete list of publications: See author's web page.
MBR (Model-Based Reasoning) Conferences and Proceedings
Lorenzo Magnani has promoted and chaired the following international conferences:
* MBR 98: Model-based reasoning In artificial intelligence, model-based reasoning refers to an inference method used in expert systems based on a model of the physical world. With this approach, the main focus of application development is developing the model. Then at run time ...
in Scientific Discovery, with Nancy J. Nersessian and Paul Thagard
Paul Richard Thagard (; born 1950) is a Canadian philosopher who specializes in cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science and medicine. Thagard is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Waterloo. He i ...
, in Italy.
* MBR 01: Model-Based Reasoning: Scientific Discovery, Technological innovation, Values, with Nancy J. Nersessian, in Italy.
* E-CAP 2004: European Computing and Philosophy Conference, in Italy.
* MBR 04: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Engineering, Abduction, Visualization, and Simulation, in Italy.
* MBR 06: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Medicine, with P. Li, in China.
* MBR 09: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology, with Walter Carnielli, in Brazil.
* MBR 012: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Theoretical and Cognitive Issues, in Italy.
* MBR 015: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Models and Inferences: Logical, Epistemological, and Cognitive Issues, in Italy.
* MBR 018: Model-Based Reasoning in Science and Technology. Inferential Models for Logic, Language, Cognition and Computation, with Angel Nepomuceno Fernandez and Francisco Salguero Lamillar, 20th Anniversary, In Spain.
He also edited many books (see above) and many special issues of international journals deriving from the international MBR conferences indicated above.See complete CV
/ref>
See also
* List of University of Waterloo people
The University of Waterloo, located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is a comprehensive public university that was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles. It has grown into an institution of more than 42,000 students, faculty, and ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnani, Lorenzo
21st-century Italian philosophers
University of Pavia faculty
1952 births
Living people