Giovanni Spitale
Biographic Data
| ID | 8313727 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Giovanni Spitale |
| GIVEN NAMES | Giovanni |
| FAMILY NAME | Spitale |
| SIGNATURE | SPITALE G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6812-0979 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Analyzing freedom
The making of digital ghosts
The rapid proliferation of AI-mediated digital afterlife technologies, from chatbots trained on personal data to voice clones and posthumous avatars, has generated a substantial body of ethical literature identifying the moral risks of posthumous simulation. Yet this growing consensus has not been matched by frameworks capable of translating ethical principles into operational design constraints. This paper addresses that gap from the perspective…
The structural fingerprints of disinformation
Infodemics fuel the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, often outpacing the effectiveness of existing countermeasures. Current interventions—such as debunking and psychological inoculation—typically address either specific instances of false or misleading content or the known manipulative tactics through which such content spreads. While these approaches are effective and scalable, most remain inherently corrective and struggle to…
Perceptions and misconceptions of PSA screening in Switzerland
PSA screening for prostate cancer remains controversial due to the trade-offs between potential benefits and harms, particularly overdiagnosis and overtreatment. This study applies a preference epidemiology approach to explore how individuals evaluate these trade-offs and identify thresholds at which screening is perceived as acceptable or burdensome. We examined both personal and societal perspectives on PSA screening to better understand the ro…
Moral contentions in the Covid-19 discourses
Moral Key Terms (MKTs) have been used in public discourses to challenge or support efforts to manage COVID-19. We developed four themes that illustrate this through a theory-driven qualitative content analysis of a dataset consisting of newspaper articles, social media posts, and responses from the online platform PubliCo. MKTs were used to contend how democratic decisions are legitimately formed, how to balance safety and freedom, how to foster …
Conspiracy theory as a component of religious biopolitics
Mastering critical thinking skills is strongly associated with the ability to recognize fakeness and misinformation
Introduction In the current era of digital information overload, individuals are inundated with content of varying quality and truthfulness. Critical evaluation of such content is essential to distinguish between legitimate information and misinformation or fakeness. Despite this need, there is limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of training in critical thinking skills for enhancing such discernment. Methods This study operationalized…
Psychedelics beyond medicine
The current revival of interest in classic psychedelics and other psychoactives such as ketamine and MDMA, coupled with changes to their regulatory status in many jurisdictions, necessitates rigorous ethical guidelines both within and beyond clinical and scientific contexts. This paper examines crucial ethical, philosophical, and policy considerations needed to ensure psychedelic use across various settings remains equitable, beneficial, consensu…
On Religious Influence in Bioethics
The World Congress of Bioethics held in Qatar in 2024 (WCB 2024) sparked controversy around the role of religion in bioethics, highlighting the need for critical discussions. During the congress, there was a strong push for incorporating religious values into bioethical discourse, raising questions about the validity and implications of such an approach. This paper examines the influence of religious thought on bioethical discussions, and the ong…
Cross country analysis of qualitative interviews
ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive) provides open and worldwide access to the research and scholarly output of the University of Zurich, Switzerland. A focus is on qualified scientific publications. ZORA is operated by the University Library together with the Central IT of the University of Zurich
Covid-19 and the ethics of quarantine
The recent outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is posing many different challenges to local communities, directly affected by the pandemic, and to the global community, trying to find how to respond to this threat in a larger scale. The history of the Eyam Plague, read in light of Ross Upshur’s Four Principles for the Justification of Public Health Intervention, and of the Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the …
No prominent works on this page.
Covid-19 and the ethics of quarantine
The recent outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is posing many different challenges to local communities, directly affected by the pandemic, and to the global community, trying to find how to respond to this threat in a larger scale. The history of the Eyam Plague, read in light of Ross Upshur’s Four Principles for the Justification of Public Health Intervention, and of the Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the …
Cross country analysis of qualitative interviews
ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive) provides open and worldwide access to the research and scholarly output of the University of Zurich, Switzerland. A focus is on qualified scientific publications. ZORA is operated by the University Library together with the Central IT of the University of Zurich
Mastering critical thinking skills is strongly associated with the ability to recognize fakeness and misinformation
Introduction In the current era of digital information overload, individuals are inundated with content of varying quality and truthfulness. Critical evaluation of such content is essential to distinguish between legitimate information and misinformation or fakeness. Despite this need, there is limited empirical evidence on the effectiveness of training in critical thinking skills for enhancing such discernment. Methods This study operationalized…
Psychedelics beyond medicine
The current revival of interest in classic psychedelics and other psychoactives such as ketamine and MDMA, coupled with changes to their regulatory status in many jurisdictions, necessitates rigorous ethical guidelines both within and beyond clinical and scientific contexts. This paper examines crucial ethical, philosophical, and policy considerations needed to ensure psychedelic use across various settings remains equitable, beneficial, consensu…
On Religious Influence in Bioethics
The World Congress of Bioethics held in Qatar in 2024 (WCB 2024) sparked controversy around the role of religion in bioethics, highlighting the need for critical discussions. During the congress, there was a strong push for incorporating religious values into bioethical discourse, raising questions about the validity and implications of such an approach. This paper examines the influence of religious thought on bioethical discussions, and the ong…
Analyzing freedom
The making of digital ghosts
The rapid proliferation of AI-mediated digital afterlife technologies, from chatbots trained on personal data to voice clones and posthumous avatars, has generated a substantial body of ethical literature identifying the moral risks of posthumous simulation. Yet this growing consensus has not been matched by frameworks capable of translating ethical principles into operational design constraints. This paper addresses that gap from the perspective…
The structural fingerprints of disinformation
Infodemics fuel the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, often outpacing the effectiveness of existing countermeasures. Current interventions—such as debunking and psychological inoculation—typically address either specific instances of false or misleading content or the known manipulative tactics through which such content spreads. While these approaches are effective and scalable, most remain inherently corrective and struggle to…
Perceptions and misconceptions of PSA screening in Switzerland
PSA screening for prostate cancer remains controversial due to the trade-offs between potential benefits and harms, particularly overdiagnosis and overtreatment. This study applies a preference epidemiology approach to explore how individuals evaluate these trade-offs and identify thresholds at which screening is perceived as acceptable or burdensome. We examined both personal and societal perspectives on PSA screening to better understand the ro…
Moral contentions in the Covid-19 discourses
Moral Key Terms (MKTs) have been used in public discourses to challenge or support efforts to manage COVID-19. We developed four themes that illustrate this through a theory-driven qualitative content analysis of a dataset consisting of newspaper articles, social media posts, and responses from the online platform PubliCo. MKTs were used to contend how democratic decisions are legitimately formed, how to balance safety and freedom, how to foster …
Conspiracy theory as a component of religious biopolitics
Misinformation and Its Impacts (4 works) · Political science (3 works) · Qualitative research (3 works) · 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak (2 works) · Bioethics (2 works) · Digital Education and Society (2 works) · Disinformation (2 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (2 works) · Law (2 works) · Medicine (2 works)