AT THE CENTER OF ROME: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Curated by Edith Gabrielli

Series Reasons and Passions: From Classical Greece to Neuroscience

Organized by Francesco Ferretti, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Linguistics at Roma Tre University

CONFERENCE

Riccardo Chiaradonna, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Roma Tre University

presents

Between Medicine and Philosophy: Galen and the Passions of the Soul

introduced by

Edith Gabrielli and Francesco Ferretti

In Rome during the 2nd century A.D., the physician Galen, one of the most significant scientists of the ancient world, perceives human beings as an inseparable union of body and mind. Through medical science, he demonstrates that emotions, morality, and rationality are based on bodily processes, asserting that "the affections of the soul follow the mixtures of the bodies." The discussion will explore central themes of Galen’s medical and philosophical thought: human nature, the connection between bodily structure and moral character, the relationship between caring for the body and the mind, and the analysis and treatment of psychological disorders such as depression ("melancholy").

Riccardo Chiaradonna is a professor of Ancient Philosophy at Roma Tre University. He serves as president of the Italian Society for the History of Ancient Philosophy and the Roman Philosophical Society. His studies focus on ancient philosophical and scientific traditions, particularly in relation to Platonism, Aristotelianism, and medicine. His publications include "Plotinus" (Carocci, Rome 2009), "Platonism" (Il Mulino, Bologna, 2017), and "Ontology in Early Neoplatonism" (De Gruyter, Berlin, 2023). Together with Paolo Pecere, he is the author of a high school history of philosophy textbook.

Reasons and Passions: From Classical Greece to Neuroscience

Organized by Francesco Ferretti, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Linguistics

According to a long-standing philosophical tradition, reason is the universal and distinctive trait of human beings. It is through their rationality that humans can act appropriately to situations, distinguishing their behavior from that of other animals. But what exactly is reason? What are its characteristic features and specific functions? A privileged perspective to answer these questions is to investigate the relationship between reasons and passions. In the philosophical tradition, reasons and passions have been addressed by two different (and opposing) interpretative paradigms: on one hand, the dominance of an intellectualist perspective has considered passions as alien or even disruptive to rational action; on the other hand, a contrasting philosophical tradition, especially in moral philosophy, has argued that the primacy of reason is a false myth since human action is predominantly guided by passions and emotions. Despite the stark opposition between these two traditions of thought, contemporary reflection aims for reconciliation: by reassessing elements typical of classical Greek philosophy, current research considers passions as a distinctive trait of human reason. The idea that reasons and passions work together to explain rational action is supported by empirical research in cognitive science and modern neuroscience.

To discover all the appointments in the series:

vive.cultura.gov.it