Giuliano Torrengo
Biographic Data
| ID | 5995418 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Giuliano Torrengo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Giuliano |
| FAMILY NAME | Torrengo |
| SIGNATURE | TORRENGO G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Milan |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4687-6417 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Moving spotlight, robust passage, and the unity of time
The idea that the metaphor of the present as moving along the temporal dimension could lead to a problematic duplication of time itself has seen many incarnations. In this paper, we will argue that recent versions of the moving spotlight theory can avoid the charge by committing themselves to fundamental temporal perspectives. However, in doing so, they lose the unity of the temporal dimension
Double vowels, double fairness? Assessing the viability of diphthongs as novel strategies for gender fairness in Italian
Proposals for gender-fair language in Italian include Alternative grammatical Gender Encoding Devices (AGEDs) such as the schwa (ə) or asterisk, potentially also accommodating non-binary identities. These solutions, though, often pose challenges for oral communication, accessibility, and social acceptance, as they may be perceived as external to the Italian language system. We examined the possibility of employing diphthongs—integral components o…
Taste Fragmentalism
This paper explores taste fragmentalism , a novel approach to matters of taste and faultless disagreement. The view is inspired by Kit Fine’s fragmentalism about time, according to which the temporal dimension can be constituted—in an absolute manner—by states that are pairwise incompatible, provided that they do not obtain together. In the present paper, we will apply this metaphysical framework to taste states. In our proposal, two incompatible…
The closed future
Many philosophers take for granted that there is a strong pre‐theoretical intuition that the future is open and that it is worth trying to make sense of that intuition in theoretical terms. In this paper, I give a characterisation of the ordinary intuition in terms of three elements: our sense of agency, the difference in normativity between memories and expectations and naïve understanding of causality. Those intuitions allow us to pin down cert…
Plural metaphysical supervaluationism
It has been argued that quantum mechanics forces us to accept the existence of metaphysical, mind-independent indeterminacy. In this paper, we provide an interpretation of the indeterminacy involved in the quantum phenomena in terms of a view that we call Plural Metaphysical Supervaluationism. According to it, quantum indeterminacy is captured in terms of an irreducibly plural relation between the actual world and various misrepresentations of it
Fear of the Past
A widespread (and often tacit) assumption is that fear is an anticipatory emotion and, as such, inherently future-oriented. Prima facie, such an assumption is threatened by cases where we seem to be afraid of things in the past: if it is possible to fear the past, then fear entertains no special relation with the future—or so some have argued. This seems to force us to choose between an account of fear as an anticipatory emotion (supported by pre…
The Ways of Presentness
The idea that the present moment is in some sense experientially privileged has been used in various arguments from presentness in favour of the existence of an objective present. Roughly speaking, in the literature we find two different approaches. Either by having an experience of something present we are aware of it as present (perceptual presentness), or by having an experience located in the present we are aware of our experience as present …
Frightening times
In this paper, we discuss the inherent temporal orientation of fear, a matter on which philosophers seem to have contrasting opinions. According to some, fear is inherently present ‐oriented; others instead maintain that it is inherently future ‐oriented or that it has no inherent temporal orientation at all. Despite the differences, however, all these views seem to understand fear's temporal orientation as one ‐dimensional—that is, as uniquely d…
Explanation, persistence, and location
According to the “received view” the disagreement between endurantism and perdurantism is ontological and concerns the existence of temporal parts of continuants. In a recent paper, (Wasserman 2016) argues that the ontological conception of these theories does not address the crucial point: explaining the way things persist. According to Wasserman, perdurantism is not just the view that things have temporal parts; it is the view that things persi…
Materiality, parthood, and possibility
The indeterminate present and the open future
The Invisible Thin Red Line
The aim of this paper is to argue that the adoption of an unrestricted principle of bivalence is compatible with a metaphysics that (i) denies that the future is real, (ii) adopts nomological indeterminism and (iii) exploits a branching structure to provide a semantics for future contingent claims. To this end, we elaborate what we call Flow Fragmentalism, a view inspired by Kit Fine's non‐standard tense realism, according to which reality is div…
Time travel and coincidence-free local dynamical theories
Flow Fragmentalism
In this article, we articulate a version of non‐standard A‐theory – which we call Flow Fragmentalism – in relation to its take on the issue of supervenience of truth on being. According to the Truth Supervenes on Being (TSB) Principle, the truth of past‐ and future‐tensed propositions supervenes, respectively, on past and future facts. Since the standard presentist denies the existence of past and future entities and facts concerning them that do…
Institutional Externalism
Many philosophers regard collective behavior and attitudes as the ground of the whole of social reality. According to this popular view, society is composed basically of collective intentions and cooperative behaviors; this is so both for informal contexts involving small groups and for complex institutional structures. In this article, I challenge this view, and propose an alternative approach, which I term institutional externalism. I argue tha…
New Papers on the Present
The grounding problem and presentist explanations
New Papers on the Present
The grounding problem and presentist explanations
Institutional Externalism
Many philosophers regard collective behavior and attitudes as the ground of the whole of social reality. According to this popular view, society is composed basically of collective intentions and cooperative behaviors; this is so both for informal contexts involving small groups and for complex institutional structures. In this article, I challenge this view, and propose an alternative approach, which I term institutional externalism. I argue tha…
Flow Fragmentalism
In this article, we articulate a version of non‐standard A‐theory – which we call Flow Fragmentalism – in relation to its take on the issue of supervenience of truth on being. According to the Truth Supervenes on Being (TSB) Principle, the truth of past‐ and future‐tensed propositions supervenes, respectively, on past and future facts. Since the standard presentist denies the existence of past and future entities and facts concerning them that do…
The Invisible Thin Red Line
The aim of this paper is to argue that the adoption of an unrestricted principle of bivalence is compatible with a metaphysics that (i) denies that the future is real, (ii) adopts nomological indeterminism and (iii) exploits a branching structure to provide a semantics for future contingent claims. To this end, we elaborate what we call Flow Fragmentalism, a view inspired by Kit Fine's non‐standard tense realism, according to which reality is div…
Time travel and coincidence-free local dynamical theories
The indeterminate present and the open future
Frightening times
In this paper, we discuss the inherent temporal orientation of fear, a matter on which philosophers seem to have contrasting opinions. According to some, fear is inherently present ‐oriented; others instead maintain that it is inherently future ‐oriented or that it has no inherent temporal orientation at all. Despite the differences, however, all these views seem to understand fear's temporal orientation as one ‐dimensional—that is, as uniquely d…
Explanation, persistence, and location
According to the “received view” the disagreement between endurantism and perdurantism is ontological and concerns the existence of temporal parts of continuants. In a recent paper, (Wasserman 2016) argues that the ontological conception of these theories does not address the crucial point: explaining the way things persist. According to Wasserman, perdurantism is not just the view that things have temporal parts; it is the view that things persi…
Materiality, parthood, and possibility
Fear of the Past
A widespread (and often tacit) assumption is that fear is an anticipatory emotion and, as such, inherently future-oriented. Prima facie, such an assumption is threatened by cases where we seem to be afraid of things in the past: if it is possible to fear the past, then fear entertains no special relation with the future—or so some have argued. This seems to force us to choose between an account of fear as an anticipatory emotion (supported by pre…
The Ways of Presentness
The idea that the present moment is in some sense experientially privileged has been used in various arguments from presentness in favour of the existence of an objective present. Roughly speaking, in the literature we find two different approaches. Either by having an experience of something present we are aware of it as present (perceptual presentness), or by having an experience located in the present we are aware of our experience as present …
Plural metaphysical supervaluationism
It has been argued that quantum mechanics forces us to accept the existence of metaphysical, mind-independent indeterminacy. In this paper, we provide an interpretation of the indeterminacy involved in the quantum phenomena in terms of a view that we call Plural Metaphysical Supervaluationism. According to it, quantum indeterminacy is captured in terms of an irreducibly plural relation between the actual world and various misrepresentations of it
Taste Fragmentalism
This paper explores taste fragmentalism , a novel approach to matters of taste and faultless disagreement. The view is inspired by Kit Fine’s fragmentalism about time, according to which the temporal dimension can be constituted—in an absolute manner—by states that are pairwise incompatible, provided that they do not obtain together. In the present paper, we will apply this metaphysical framework to taste states. In our proposal, two incompatible…
The closed future
Many philosophers take for granted that there is a strong pre‐theoretical intuition that the future is open and that it is worth trying to make sense of that intuition in theoretical terms. In this paper, I give a characterisation of the ordinary intuition in terms of three elements: our sense of agency, the difference in normativity between memories and expectations and naïve understanding of causality. Those intuitions allow us to pin down cert…
Moving spotlight, robust passage, and the unity of time
The idea that the metaphor of the present as moving along the temporal dimension could lead to a problematic duplication of time itself has seen many incarnations. In this paper, we will argue that recent versions of the moving spotlight theory can avoid the charge by committing themselves to fundamental temporal perspectives. However, in doing so, they lose the unity of the temporal dimension
Double vowels, double fairness? Assessing the viability of diphthongs as novel strategies for gender fairness in Italian
Proposals for gender-fair language in Italian include Alternative grammatical Gender Encoding Devices (AGEDs) such as the schwa (ə) or asterisk, potentially also accommodating non-binary identities. These solutions, though, often pose challenges for oral communication, accessibility, and social acceptance, as they may be perceived as external to the Italian language system. We examined the possibility of employing diphthongs—integral components o…
Philosophy (13 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Philosophy and Theoretical Science (11 works) · Metaphysics (7 works) · Mathematics (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Ontology (5 works) · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics (4 works) · Law (4 works)