Federico Laudisa

Full professor

Department of Humanities


Via Tommaso Gar, 14 - 38122 Trento
tel. 0461 282732
federico.laudisa[at]unitn [dot] it
Education

- Licence at the Liceo Classico E.S. Piccolomini in Siena (with 60/60, maximum mark) in 1984.

- Degree in Philosophy in October 1989 with a Dissertation entitled Teoremi di rappresentazione per spazi di Hilbert [Representation theorems for Hilbert spaces] (maximum mark 110/110 cum laude) advisors: M.L. Dalla Chiara, Professor of Logic at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Florence, Italy, and G. Cattaneo, Professor of Theory of Dynamical Systems, Department of Computer Sciences, University of Milan, Italy.

- Erasmus post-lauream fellowship at the Department of Logic and Metaphysics, University of St.Andrews (Scotland), January-September 1991.

- Ph.D in Philosophy (1991-1995) at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Florence, Italy.

- Fellowship of the University of Padua January – June 1996, spent at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the Cambridge University.

- Post-doc Fellowship at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Florence, Italy (September 1997 - September 1999).

- CNR-NATO Outreach Fellowship, spent at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the Eötvös University of Budapest (October 2000-April 2001).

- Since 1st of November 2001 associate professor at the Department of Human Sciences of the State University of Milan-Bicocca, Milan.

- In possession of the Italian Habilitation for Full Professor in the area 11/C2 – Logic, history and philosophy of science.

- Since 1st of July 2019 associate professor at the Department of Humanities and Philosophy, University of Trento, Italy.

- Good knowledge of English and French.

Academic career and teaching activities

TEACHING ACTIVITY AND INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

- Starting from the academic year 2001-2002, I have given courses in Logic, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Elements of Computability Theory at the University of Milan-Bicocca, for both undergraduates and graduates. Some of these courses were designed specifically for science students (physics in particular) and belonged to the ordinary syllabus of the Science Faculty at the University of Milan-Bicocca.

- I have been a member of the committee for the PhD in Philosophy at the University of Lausanne (Faculté des lettres, Section de philosophie), November 17, 2016.

- I have been a member of the Steering Committee of the Società Italiana di Logica e Filosofia delle Scienze (SILFS) in the years 2010-2013 and vicepresident of the same society in the years 2014-2016.

- I have been a member of the Steering Committee della European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) in the years 2011-2013.

- I have been a referee for the Oxford University Press, for the NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research), for several MIUR projects, for CARIPLO projects, for Leverhulme Trust projects

- I have been a referee for the following journals:

American Journal of Physics, Axiomathes, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Entropy, Erkenntnis, European Journal for Philosophy of Science, Foundations of Physics, Foundations of Science, International Journal of Theoretical Physics, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Phenomenology and Mind, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Rivista di Filosofia, Rivista internazionale di filosofia e psicologia, Synthese, Theoria, Philosophical Transactions A

Research work

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

 

  • “Open problems in relational quantum mechanics”, Laudisa, F. Journal for General Philosophy of Science (2019) 50: 215 (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10838-019-09450-0)
  • “Counterfactual reasoning, realism and quantum mechanics: much ado about nothing?", Erkenntnis (online 3 aprile 2018, DOI: 10.1007/s10670-018-9997-4)
  • “Stop making sense of Bell’s theorem and nonlocality?”, European Journal for Philosophy of Science 8, 2018, pp. 293-306.
  • “Is science really what naturalism says it is?”, Kairos. Journal of Philosophy & Science 18 (2017), pp. 1-30.
  • “A ‘free play with concepts’: philosophy and epistemology in Albert Einstein’s scientific thought”, Lettera Matematica International Edition, 5(1), 2017, pp. 55-63, Springer).
  • "Laws are not descriptions", International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 29, 2015, pp. 251-270.
  • (with E. DATTERI), "Large-scale simulations of brain mechanisms: beyond the synthetic method", Paradigmi 33 (nuova serie), 2015, pp. 23-46.
  • (with E. DATTERI), "Box-and-arrows explanations are not always more abstract than neuroscientific mechanism descriptions", Frontiers in Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 2014 (accessibile online su http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00464/abstract)
  • "On Leggett theories: a reply", Foundations of Physics, 44, 2014, pp. 296-304.
  • “Against the ‘no-go’ philosophy of quantum mechanics”, European Journal for Philosophy of Science 4, 2014, pp. 1-17.
  • (with E. DATTERI), “Model testing, prediction and experimental protocols in neuroscience: A case study”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43, 2012, pp. 602-610.
  • “The Physics and Metaphysics of Quantum Field Theory. Review of Meinard Kuhlmann, The ultimate constituents of the material world: In search for an ontology for fundamental physics, Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag, 2010″, Metascience 21 (3), 2012, pp. 621-623.
  • “Non-Local Realistic Theories and the Scope of the Bell Theorem”, Foundations of Physics,38, 2008, pp. 1110-1132.
  • (with C. ROVELLI), “Relational Quantum Mechanics” (2008), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy On-Line, http://plato.stanford.edu
  • “The EPR argument in a relational interpretation of quantum mechanics”, Foundations of Physics Letters 14 (2001) pp. 119-132.
  • “On time asymmetry and history in an Everett quantum world”, Foundations of Physics 30, 2000, pp. 1525-1538.
  • “A note on nonlocality, causation and Lorentz invariance”, Philosophy of Science 66 (Proceedings), 1999, S72-S81.
  • “Context-independence as a statistical property of hidden variable theories”, International Journal of Theoretical Physics 37, 1998, pp. 443-448.
  • “Contextualism and nonlocality in the algebra of EPR observables”, Philosophy of Science 64, 1997, pp. 478-496.
  • “Still in defence: a short reply on nonlocality and widespread beliefs”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 27, 1996, pp. 331-335.
  • , “Nonlocality: a defence of widespread beliefs”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 27, 1996, pp. 297-313.
  • “Einstein, Bell and nonseparable realism”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46, 1995, pp. 309-329.
  • (with G. CATTANEO), “Axiomatic unsharp quantum theory”, Foundations of Physics 24, 1994, pp. 631-681.
  • “Le principe de causalité entre empirisme logique et neokantisme” (2006) Philosophie, vol. 89, pp. 78-93.
  • “The uninvited guest: ‘local realism’ and the Bell theorem” in H. De Regt, S. Hartmann, S. Okasha (eds.), EPSA Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009 , Springer 2012, pp. 137-149.
  • (with M. DORATO), "Realism and instrumentalism about the wave function. How should we choose?" in Gao Shan (ed.) Protective Measurements and Quantum Reality: Toward a New Understanding of Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge University Press 2014, pp. 119-134.
  • “From Metaphysics to Physics and Back: the Example of Causation”, in M. Suarez (ed.), Probabilities, Causes and Propensities in Physics, Synthese Library, Springer 2011, pp. 97-113.
  • “Non-locality and theories of causation”, in J. Butterfield, T. Placek (eds.), Non-Locality and Modality, Kluwer, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 211-222.
  • (with R. GIUNTINI), “The impossible causality: the no hidden variables theorem of John von Neumann”, in M. Rédei, M. Stoeltzner (eds.), John von Neumann and the Foundations of Quantum Physics, Kluwer, Dordrecht 2001, pp. 173-188.
  • (with G. CATTANEO), “From logic to physics: the logico-algebraic foundations of quantum theory”, in D. Aerts, J. Pykacz (eds.), Quantum Structures, Kluwer, Dordrecht 1999.
  • (with G. CATTANEO) , “Toward a logic of unsharp quantum mechanics”, in C. Garola, A. Rossi (eds.), The Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Kluwer, Dordrecht 1995, pp. 115-126.

 

Conferences and lectures

SELECTED TALKS AND SEMINARS

  1. III Winter School on Measure Theory, organized by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Liptowsky Ian (Slovakia), January 1993, where I presented a talk entitled “Effects (fuzzy events) from Mackey’s event-state structures”.
  2. Conference in Philosophy of Physics, Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the Cambridge University, May, 17 1996, where I presented a talk entitled “Algebraic Foundations of Bell’s Problem”.
  3. IV International Conference of the International Quantum Structures Association, Berlin July 29 – August 3 1996, where I presented a talk entitled “Context-independence as a statistical property of hidden variable theories”.
  4. Biannual Conference of the Philosophy of Science Association, Kansas City, Missouri, October 22-25 1998, where I presented a talk entitled “A note on nonlocality, causation and Lorentz invariance”.
  5. Triennal Conference of SILFS (Società Italiana di Logica e Filosofia delle Scienze), Cesena-Urbino January 15-19 1999, where I presented a talk entitled “On time asymmetry and history in the Everett quantum theory”.
  6. Invited talk at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the Eötvös University of Budapest October 16, 2000, on “The EPR argument in a relational interpretation of quantum mechanics”.
  7. Invited talk at the Conference Quantum Structures V, Cesena-Cesenatico, March 31st- - April 52001, on “Relations and correlations in quantum mechanics”.
  8. Invited talk at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop Modality, Probability and Bell’s Theorems, Cracow, August 19-23 2001, on “Non-locality and theories of causation”.
  9. Invited talk “Nonlocality: directions for use and misuse” at the international Conference Quantum Theory without Observers, II, organized by D. Dürr, S. Goldstein, T. Maudlin at the Zentrum für Interdisc. Forschung dell’Università di Bielefeld, Bielefeld (Germany), February 2-7 2004.
  10. Invited talk “Causation: Physics and/or Metaphysics?”, October 11 2005, Department of Physics “A. Volta”, University of Pavia.
  11. Invited talk “Computation and physical laws”, April 6 2006, Department of Physics “A. Volta”, University of Pavia.
  12. Invited talk “Computation, Information and Physical Laws” at the Conference Causation and Laws of Nature April 18 2007, Department of Philosophy, University of Rome 3.
  13. Contributed talk “Non-local Realism and the Bell Theorem: the Uninvited Guest?”, II Conference of the EPSA (European Philosophy of Science Association), Amsterdam October 21-24 2009.
  14. Invited talk “Varieties of Humean naturalism: lessons for contemporary philosophy?”, Humean Readings 10, Department of Philosophy, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, June 14-16 2010.
  15. Invited talk “Q-ogito ergo sum? A (skeptical) look on what it takes to extend quantum logic outside quantum physics”, ISI (Institute for Scientific Interchange), Torino April 18  2013.
  16. Invited talk “No-Go Theorems in Quantum Mechanics: the Story of an Obsession?”, Department of Physics, University of Naples ‘Federico II’, July 9 2013.
  17. Contributed talk “Laws of nature: what else if not governing?” at the Conference Philosophy of Science in 21st Century, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Lisbon, December 4-6 2013.
  18. Contributed talk “
  19. Invited talk “The Bell twins” alla Summer School on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, dedicated to the memory of John S. Bell, Center for Astrophysics, Sesto (BZ), Italy, 28-30 luglio 2014.
  20. Invited talk “Is science what naturalism says it is?” at the Conference Forms of Naturalism, Department of Philosophy, University of Rome 3, October 31 2014.
  21. Invited talk “Albert Einstein and John S. Bell: a complex relationship”, XVIII International Summer School in Philosophy of Physics, Cesena, September 8 2015.
  22. Invited talk “Mitologia quantistica: storie e leggende di una rivoluzione concettuale”, Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila, Italy 5 ottobre 2015.
  23. Invited talk “On the physics/metaphysics interplay concerning the wave function”, Workshop Physics and Metaphysics: Methodological Links, Department of Philosophy, University of Lausanne, November 17, 2016.
  24. Contributed talk at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, Toronto May 27-26, 2017, on “The Bell twins: divergent views on John S. Bell’s philosophy of quantum mechanics.
  25. Contributed talk at the Triennal Conference of SILFS (Società Italiana di Logica e Filosofia delle Scienze), Bologna June 20-23 on “Should Quantum Mechanics Go Relational? A Critical Note”.