Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini
- Professor, Linguistics
- Professor, Psychology
- Professor, Cognitive Science
- Professor, Cognitive Science - GIDP
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
- (520) 626-6913
- Communication, Rm. 305
- Tucson, AZ 85721
- massimo@u.arizona.edu
Biography
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini is (since August 1999 to present) Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of Arizona, member of the Cognitive Science Program, of the Department of Psychology, of the Department of Linguistics, and honorary member of the Department of Management and Organizations.
He obtained his doctorate in Physics at the University of Rome in 1968.
He has been (in reverse chronology):
- From January 1994 to July 1999 founder and director of the Department of Cognitive Science (DIPSCO), of the Scientific Institute San Raffaele, in Milan (Italy), and then professor of Cognitive Psychology at the San Raffaele University.
- From September 1985 to December 1993 Principal Research Scientist at the Center for Cognitive Science of MIT (Cambridge, MA);
- Visiting professor at: MIT (Department of Linguistics, Fall 2002 and Spring 1993), at Rutgers University, NJ (Center for Cognitive Science, Fall 1992), at Harvard University (Department of the History of Science, Spring 1988 and 1989, Linguistics Department, Spring 2007), at the University of Maryland College Park (Department of Linguistics, Fall 2006), at the Collège de France (Paris, France, May-June 2002) and at the University of Bologna (Spring 1997 and 1998).
- In 1990 chairman and organizer of the XII Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, held at MIT in August, and the editor of the proceedings.
- From 1980 to 1985 director of the Florence Center for the History and Philosophy of Science (Florence, Italy).
- From 1974 to 1979 director of the Royaumont Center for A Science of Man in Paris (Chaired by the French geneticist and Nobel Laureate Jacques Monod), and lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris- Sorbonne).
- From 1969 to 1971 chargé de recherche at the Pasteur Institute in Paris (under the supervision of Jacques Monod).
- From 1968 to 1969 post-doc researcher at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Rome (Italy), under the supervision of Prof. Alfonso Maria Liquori.
I - Member of:
American Psychological Society, Cognitive Science Society, American Philosophical Association, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Linguistic Society of America, European Association for Decision Making, Society for Philosophy and Psychology, European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Italian Council for the Social Sciences, Italian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science.
II - Member of the Editorial Boards of:
"Behavioral and Brain Sciences", "Cognition", “Biolinguistics” and "Trends in Cognitive Sciences"
III - Principal Domains of Interest:
Cognitive Science, Judgment and Decision Making, Biological Foundations of Language, Language Evolution, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science.
IV -Awards received:
1995. Accademia d’Abruzzo, Recipient of the prize Premio Il Rosone d’Oro, for the diffusion of science in the general public, Pescara, Italy
1996. Recipient of Premio Tevere for the best book of non-fiction (Item n. 4 here
below), Rome (Italy)
2006. Recipient of the Medal of the Chambers of Representatives (Medaglia della Camera dei Deputati) (one of the two branches of the Italian Parliament, Rome), for the diffusion of science. Ceremony of award held in Rimini (Italy) October 29.
V – Publications:
V.1. Books:
1. S come Cultura; Protagonisti, Luoghi e Idee delle Scienze Contemporanee, Saggi
Mondadori, Mondadori, Milan, 1987 (paperback edition, March 1992).
2. La voglia di studiare, Saggi Mondadori, Milan 1991. [With eleven prints, this book became a stable feature of the 1991 national list of best sellers – always ranking in the top five, and for several weeks in 1991 rated number one for non-fiction. As of July 1997 the total sales in Italy had already exceeded 115,000 copies]. Translated into French, Le gout des Etudes. (Editions Odile Jacob, Paris (30,000 copies sold)), German Lust am Lernen (Campus Verlag, Frankfurt, 1994), Spanish Las Ganas de Estudiar (Barcelona, Editorial Cultura, 2004) and Portuguese
3. L'illusione di sapere, Saggi Mondadori (March 1993). Ranking 3rd to 6th in the list of non-fiction best-sellers in Italy in the Spring of 1993, it has sold over 35, 000 copies in one year. Translations into: English: Inevitable Illusions, (J. Wiley & Sons, 1994). French: La réforme du jugement (O. Jacob, Paris, 1995). Spanish: Los tuneles de la mente, Editorial Critica, Barcelona, 1995. Dutch: Onvermijdelijke illusies, Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 1996. German: Die Illusion zu Wissen, Rowohlt, Renbeck bei Hamburg, 1997. Portuguese: A ilusao de saber, Difusau Cultural, Lisbon, 1997. Chinese (abridged edition) Bukebimian de cuojue (translated by Jiang Ouyang; Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press, 2005).
4. Ritrattino di Kant ad uso di mio figlio Piccoli Oscar Mondadori, 1994. Translation into French: Petit traité sur Kant à l’usage de mon fils. O. Jacob, 1996 (was awarded the Premio Tevere for non-fiction in 1996, see above).
5. L'arte di persuadere Saggi Mondadori (April 1995). French Edition: L’art de persuader (O. Jacob, Paris, March 1999)
6. I linguaggi della scienza. Milan (Italy): Mondadori. (2003) With a blurb by Noam Chomsky and one by Umberto Eco
7. Psicologia ed economia delle scelte: Quattro lezioni al Collège de France (in collaborazione con Jocelyn Raude). Torino: Codice Edizioni (2005). French edition Choix, décisions et préférences: Quatre leçons au Collège de France. Paris (France): Editions Odile Jacob (2006).
8. Le Scienze Cognitive Classiche; Un Panorama Einaudi, Torino (2008)
9. (with Jerry Fodor) What Darwin Got Wrong Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the US, Profile Books in the UK, Feltrinelli in Italy(February/April 2010). Paperback edition, with an update and replies to our critics February 2011
10. Chi Crediamo di Essere Mondadori, Milan (2012) (on better ways to know ourselves, based on recent developments in cognitive science)
V.2. Edited books
1. E. Morin, M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Eds.) L'unité de l'homme; Invariants biologiques et universaux culturels, Éditions du Seuil, Paris, 1974 (paperback edition, in three volumes, 1978); Spanish transl. in two separate volumes, La Unidad del Hombre (vol. I), El primate y el hombre, (vol. II), Editorial Argos Vergara, S.A., Barcelona 1983; Japanese transl., Heibonsha, Ltd., 1979; abridged Greek translation, Alexandria Publ., Athens, 1995.
2. M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Ed.), Théories du langage, théories de l'apprentissage: le débat entre Jean Piaget et Noam Chomsky, Editions du Seuil, Paris 1979; American edition: Language and Learning: the Debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1980; English edition, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1980; Spanish transl., Editorial Critica, Barcelona 1983; Portuguese transl., Editora Cultrix, Sao Paulo 1983. Italian translation: Jaca Books, Milan 1991.
3. M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Ed.), Livelli di realta’, Feltrinelli, Milan, 1984 (paperback edition, October 1987) (Contributors: Alfred J. Ayer, Thomas G. Bever, Italo Calvino, Nelson Goodman, André Green, Edmund Leach, Hilary Putnam, Giuliano Toraldo di Francia, Bas Van Fraassen)
4. G. Longobardi, M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Eds.), La Conoscenza del Linguaggio, Il Saggiatore - Mondadori, Milan, 1990 (Italian translation and adaptation of Noam Chomsky's Knowledge of Language -1986)
5. M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Ed.) Proceedings of the XII Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, (MIT, July 1990), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey (1990).
6. M. Motterlini and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (Eds.) Critica della Ragione Economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore (2005).
7. Piattelli-Palmarini, M., J. Uriagereka and P. Salaburu, Eds. (2009). Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press. (Contributors: Noam Chomsky, Cedric Boeckx, Christopher Cherniak, Janet Dean Fodor, Gabriel Dover, Angela Friederici, Lila Gleitman, Charles R. Gallistel, Rochel Gellman, Marc Hauser, James Higginbotham, Wolfram Hinzen, Itziar Laka, Nuria Sebastian, Juan Uriagereka, Donata Vercelli)
8. Piattelli-Palmarini M. and R. C. Berwick, Eds (2013) Rich Languages from Poor Inputs Oxford University Press (Contributors: Adriana Belletti, Robert Berwick, Thomas Bever, Noam Chomsky, Susan Curtiss, Janet Dean-Fodor, Lila Gleitman, Barbara Landau, Julie Legate, Merryl Goldberg, Itziar Laka, Jacques Mehler, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Charles Read, Luigi Rizzi, Rebecca Treiman, Ken Wexler, Charles Yang)
V.3. Articles and book chapters (selection, in chronological order):
1. "Nec tecum nec sine te". Communications Vol 18: pp. 128-131 (1972).
2. "Biological roots of the human individual". in: Law and Ethics of A.I.D. an
Embryo Transfer (G. Wolstenholme & D. Fitzsimmons Eds.), CIBA Foundation Symposium n.17, Elsevier Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam/London, pp.19-41 (1973).
3. "Selected bibliography of works on science and ethics in Italy". in: Newsletter, n.16, Harvard Program on Public Conceptions of Science, Cambridge MA, pp. 52-67 (1976)
4. "Anticipazione". In: Enciclopedia Einaudi, Vol. I, Einaudi, Turin, pp.122-148 (1977).
5. "L'entrepot biologique et le démon comparateur". In: Mémoires, special issue of the Nouvelle Revue de Psychanalyse, Paris, pp.105-123 (1977).
6. (with G. Ramunni). "Catalisi". In: Enciclopedia Einaudi, Vol. II, Einaudi, Turin, pp. 771-788 (1978).
7. "Structure distale et sensation proximale: critères de co-traduisibilité". Communications Vol 31: pp. 171-188 (1979).
8. "Structures cérébrales et entendement". In: Revue des Travaux de l'Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Paris, pp.189-209 (1979).
9. "Equilibria, crystals, programs, energetic models and organizational models". In: Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, XLVII, (M. L. Dalla Chiara Ed.), D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 341-359 (1981).
10. "Science et humilité". In: Images de la Science (A. Jacquard, Y. Pelicier, M. Tubiana Eds.), Economica, Paris, pp.189-193 (1984).
11. "On the possibility of applying biological laws to social phenomena: an epistemological point of view". in: Population and Biology, (N. Keyfitz Ed.), Ordina Editions, Liège (Belgium), pp. 53-67 (1984).
12. "The Waning of Parsimony". In: La vita e la sua storia, (L. Bullini, M. Ferraguti, F. Mondella & A. Oliverio Eds.), special issue of Scientia, Milano, pp. 265-292 (1985).
13. "The Rise of Selective Theories: a Case Study and Some Lessons from Immunology". In: Language Learning and Concept Acquisition: Foundational Issues, (A. Marras & W. Demopoulos Eds.), Ablex Publishing Co., Norwood, NJ, pp.117-130 (1987).
14. "Ten years later: more chance, less necessity. Language and learning in a selectivist framework". In: From Enzyme Adaptation to Natural Philosophy:
Heritage from Jacques Monod (E. Quagliariello, G. Bernardi & A. Ullmann Eds.), Elsevier Scientific Editions, Amsterdam, pp. 197-215 (1987).
15. "Evolution, Selection and Cognition: From 'Learning' to Parameter Setting in Biology and in the Study of Language". Cognition Vol 31: pp. 1-44 (1989).
16. "Sélection sémantique et sélection naturelle: le role causal du lexique". Revue de Synthèse (special issue on cognitive science) IV (1-2): pp 57-94 (1990).
17. "Evoluzione, selezione e cognizione: Dall'apprendimento al posizionamento di interruttori mentali". Sistemi Intelligenti, Vol 2 (3): pp. 277-322 (1990).
18."Probability blindness: Neither rational nor capricious". Bostonia (2): pp. 28-35 (1991).
19. "Probability blindness: Neither rational nor capricious". In Annual Editions Psychology 1992-1993 (Volume 22, K. G. Duffy Ed.), Dushkin Publishing Co., Guilford, Connecticut, pp. 114-121 (1992) (reprint in a psychology textbook of entry n. 18).
20. "Truth in dreaming". In: So Human a Brain: Knowledge and Values in the Neurosciences, (A. Harrington Ed.), Birkhäuser Press, Boston MA, pp.14-36 (1992).
21. "Ever since language and learning: afterthoughts on the Piaget-Chomsky debate". Cognition Vol 50: pp. 315-346 (1994). Also reprinted in Cognition on Cognition (Elsevier Science Publisher): pp. 361-392 (1995).
22. "Verso una scienza naturale del linguaggio", Lingua e Stile, XXXI / 3, Il Mulino, Bologna (1996).
23. with C. Cecchetto "The Problem of Meaning in Generative Grammar". In The Problem of Meaning: Behavioral and Cognitive Perspectives (C. Mandell and A. McCabe Eds), pp. 415-469, Elsevier Science USA (1997).
24. “Foreword” to Rhyme and Reason: An Introduction to Minimalist Syntax by J. Uriagereka, pp. xxi-xxxvi, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, (1998).
25. "La difficile naturalizzazione della mente". In: Introduzione al Naturalismo
Filosofico (Evandro Agazzi and Nicla Vassallo, Eds) Franco Angeli, Milan, Italy, (1999).
26. (with Claudio de' Sperati) “Cognizione”. In Enciclopedia Italiana (L'Universo del Corpo) (Vol. II, pp. 734-737). Roma (Italy): Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana (1999).
27. Cappa, S. F., Moro, A., Perani, D., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. “Broca's aphasia, Broca's area and syntax: A complex relationship (commentary of Grodzinsky's "The neurology of syntax: Language use without Broca's area"). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, pp. 27-28. (2000).
28. "An ‘irreducible’ component of cognition" in Thinking about Evolution: Historical, Philosophical and Political Perspectives (Essays in Honour of Richard Lewontin) (R. S. Singh, C. Krimbas, D. Paul and J. Beatty Eds) Cambridge University Press, pp. 353-376 (2001).
29. "The metric of open-mindedness", Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 18,
pp. 859-862 (2000) (actually published in 2001).
30. "Mente", in Enciclopedia Italiana, "L’Universo del Corpo", Volume IV. pp. 413-422 (2000), Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma. (actually published in 2001).
31. "Portrait of a ‘classical’ cognitive scientist: What I have learned from JacquesMehler", in Emmanuel Dupoux (Editor) Language, Brain and Cognitive Development: Essays in Honor of Jacques Mehler, Cambrige, MA, The MIT Press (pp. 3-21) (2001)
32. (with Heidi Harley) “Innateness, abstract names, and syntactic cues in How Children Learn the Meanings of Words” (Peer Commentary of Bloom's article). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, pp.1107-1108 (2001)
33. “Grammar: The barest essentials”. Nature, 416 (14 March), p. 129 (2002).
34. “To put it simply” (Basic concepts). Nature, 426 (11 December), p. 607 (2003).
35. (with Heidi Harley) “Arguments in the syntactic straightjacket (Commentary on the article "The neural basis of predicate-argument structure", by James R. Hurford). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26 (3), pp. 297-298 (2003).
36. (with Lynn Nadel) “What is cognitive science?” In L. Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (Vol 1 -of 4) (Vol. 1, pp. xiii-xli). London UK: Macmillan (2003).
37. “La cognizione dell'errore”, Networks Vol. 5, pp. 128-142 (2005).
38. Canessa, N., Gorini, A., Cappa, S. F., Piattelli-Palmarini, M., Danna, M., & Fazio, F. “The effect of social content on deductive reasoning: An fMRI study”. Human Brain Mapping, 26, pp. 30-43 (2005).
39. (with Juan Uriagereka) “The Immune Syntax: The Evolution of the Language Virus”. In L. Jenkins (Ed.), (Chapter 4 of) Variation and Universals in Biolinguistics (pp. 341-377). Amsterdam, Boston: Emerald Elsevier North-Holland (2004/2008).
40. (with Juan Uriagereka) “The evolution of the narrow faculty of language: The
skeptical view and a reasonable conjecture”. Lingue e Linguaggio, IV (1), pp. 27-79. (2005).
41. (with Matteo Motterlini) “Introduzione”. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & M. Motterlini
(Eds.), Critica della Ragione Economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith.
Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore. (2005).
42. (with Matteo Motterlini) “Galleria degli errori economici” (Capitolo 4). In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & M. Motterlini (Eds.), Critica della Ragione Economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore (2005).
43. (with Cedric Boeckx) “Language as a natural object - linguistics as a natural science”. The Linguistic Review, 22 (Special theme issue: "The Role of Linguistics in Cognitive Science" (Nancy Ritter Ed.)), pp. 447-466 (2005).
44. Boeckx, C. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2007). "Linguistics in cognitive science: The state of the art amended." The Linguistic Review 24: 421-433. (reply to critiques of item 43. Published in the same journal)
45. “The return of the laws of form”. In Life on the Edge (La Vita in Bilico). C. P. Manzu'. Roma (Italy), Centro Pio Manzu'. Volume 2 (Workshop 1): pp. 45-57.
46. Smith, E. D., Son, Y. J., Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Bahill, A. T. “Ameliorating mental
mistakes on tradeoff studies”. Systems Engineering, 10 (3), pp. 222-240 (2007).
47. Smith, E. D., M. Piattelli-Palmarini and A. T. Bahill (2008). “Cognitive biases affect the acceptance of tradeoff studies”. In Decision Modeling and Behavior in Complex and Uncertain Environments. T. Kugler, Smith, J. C., Connolly, T. and Son., Y. J., Eds. New York, Springer, Science+Business Media: pp. 227-249.
48. (with Juan Uriagereka) (2008) “Still a bridge too far? Biolinguistic questions for grounding language on brains” Physics of Life Reviews, 5 (4): pp. 207-224
49. “Events and Conservativity: Clues towards Language Evolution” in M. C. Amoretti and N. Vassallo (eds), Knowledge, Language, and Interpretation. On the Philosophy of Donald Davidson, Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt.: pp. 81-106 (2008)
50. (with Roeland Hancock and Thomas Bever) “Language as ergonomic perfection” (commentary of Christiansen and Chater “Language as shaped by the brain”) Behavioral and Brain Sciences Vol 31, pp. 530-531. (2008)
51. “What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language” (Chapter 10 of) R. K. Larson, V. Deprez and H. Yamakido (eds) The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge UK: pp. 148- 162; (2009)
52. Vercelli, D. and M. Piattelli Palmarini (2009). “Language in an epigenetic framework” (Chapter 7). In Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. M. Piattelli-Palmarini, Uriagereka, J. and Salaburu, P., Eds. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press: pp. 97-107.
52. “Introduccion”. Hizkuntza eta ikastea. Piageten eta Chomskyren arteko eztabaida. Bilbao, Klasikoak. "Introduccion (Introduction)", to the Basque translation of the volume “Language and Learning” (in print for 2009)
53. Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2010). " Survival of the fittest theory: Darwinism's limits " New Scientist Magazine (2746 (06 February)): 28-31.
54. "Verso una fisica della mente (Lectio Magistralis)." Atti delle Inaugurazioni degli Anni Accademici dell'Università di Verona - Anno 2009-2010: pp. 39-75.
55. Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language? The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives. R. K. Larson, Deprez, V. and Yamakido, H., Eds. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press: 148-162.
56. Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Ostracism without natural selection (An interview with Suzan Mazur). The Altenberg 16: An Exposé of the Evolution Industry. S. Mazur, Ed. Berkeley, CA, North Atlantic Books: 314-325.
57. Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). It is now blasphemy to criticise Darwin. The Spiked Review of Books. London UK. Friday 26 March.
58. Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). L'Illusione di Sapere. Enciclopedia Italiana XXI Secolo "Mente e Corpo". T. Gregory (Ed.). Roma (Italy), Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana: 133-140.
59. A-M. Sciullo, M. Piattelli-Palmarini, K. Wexler, R. C. Berwick, C. Boeckx, L. Jenkins, J. Uriagereka, K. Stromswold, L. L.-S. Cheng, H. Harley, A. Wedel, J. McGilvray, E. v. Gelderen and T. G. Bever (2010). "The Biological Nature of Human Language " Biolinguistics (in press)
60. Berwick, R. C., Chomsky, Noam, & Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2012). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & R. C. Berwick (Eds.), Rich Languages from Poor Inputs (pp. 19-42). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
61. Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2012). Biolinguistics yesterday, today and tomorrow. In C. Boeckx & K. K. Grohmann (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics (pp. 44-63). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
62. Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). Narrowing, but not bridging, the brain-mind gap. Comment on “Dissipation of 'dark energy' by cortex in knowledge retrieval” by Antonio Capolupo, Walter J. Freeman and Giuseppe Vitiello. Physics of Life Reviews, 10, 108-109.
63. Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (in press July 2013)). Chapter 13: On abstraction and language universals. In M. Sanz, I. Laka & M. Tanenhaus (Eds.), Language Down the Garden Path: The Cognitive and Biological Bases for Linguistic Structure. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press
64. Piattelli Palmarini, Massimo, & Uriagereka, Juan. (2011). A geneticist’s dream, a linguist’s nightmare: The case of FOXP2. In A. M. Di Sciullo & C. Boeckx (Eds.), The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty (pp. 100-125). Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
V.5. Book reviews (selection):
1. "The quest for animal language", Review of The Clever Hans Phenomenon: Communication with Horses, Whales, Apes and People (T. Sebeok and R. Rosenthal Eds.), Trends in Neurosciences, (June issue), pp. 213-214 (1982).
2. "The new measure of man", Review of M. Konner, The Tangled Wing, The Times Literary Supplement, February 18 (1983).
3. "The parliament of mind", Review of J. Fodor, The Modularity of Mind, The Times Literary Supplement, December 2 (1983).
4. "The substance is one". Review of N. Malcolm and D. Armstrong, Consciousness and Causality: A debate on the nature of mind, The Times Literary Supplement, January 11 (1985).
5. "(Chain) Reacting to Biogenetic Breakthroughs", Review of several books on bio-engineering, Bostonia, November/December (1989).
6. "Against whom the weapons of the night are blunted" Review of The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi, Bostonia, Fall issue (3): pp. 22-25 (1991).
7. "Whishful thinking?", review of D. Döner The Logic of Failure: Why Things Go
Wrong and What We Can Do to Make Them Right, Nature, 382, p. 505, August 8th
(1996).
8. "Evolution in mind", review of Henry Plotkin’s book by the same title, Nature, 391, pp. 138-139, January 8 (1998)
9. "The Universal Structure of Babbling", review of Benedicte De Boysson-Bardies’s How Language Comes to Children, Nature, 400, pp. 829-830, August 26 (1999).
10. "Tower of Babel", Review of Daniel Nettle's Linguistic Diversity, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 15 (4), pp. 173-174, April (2000).
11. Review of Fiona Cowie What's Within? Nativism Reconsidered, in Trends in
Cognitive Science, 4, p. 290, July (2000).
12. "Speaking in too many tongues", Review of Philip Lieberman’s Human Language and our Reptilian Brain: The Subcortical Bases of Speech, Syntax and Thought, Nature, 408, pp. 403-404, November 23 (2000).
13. "Speaking of learning: How do we acquire our marvelous facility for expressing ourselves in words?" Review of Pathways to Language: From Fetus to Adolescent by Kyra Karmiloff and Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Nature, 411, 21 June, pp. 887-888 (2001)
14. “Novel tools at the service of old ideas” (Commentary on the book Evolution in Four Dimensions MIT Press. 2005, by Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb)
Biolinguistics 2.2 (3) pp. 236-245 (2008)
V.6 Publications in press and manuscripts submitted for publication.
With David Medeiros “Steps to the physics of language” article to be submitted to “Information” in June 2013
VI - Courses taught at the University of Arizona:
- Fall 1999 Graduate course on Rationality and Cognition (PSYCH 596 F).
- Fall 2000 Undergraduate course INDV 101 Section 003 (honors Section) The Nature of Mind and Behavior
- Fall 2000 (in a team) Graduate course LING 600 001 Explorations into the History of Generative Grammar
- Spring 2000, First-Year undergraduate colloquium The Nature of our Mind (UNVR195A)
- Spring 2000, Coordinator and teacher (in a team) of the graduate course
Linguistic Theory: Concepts, Problems and Controversies (LING/PSY 696 F)
- Spring 2001 Graduate course on Rationality and Cognition (PSYCH 596 F).
-Spring 2001, First-Year undergraduate colloquium The Nature of our Mind (UNVR 195 A)
- Spring 2001, Coordinator and teacher (in a team) of the graduate course Linguistic Theory: Concepts, Problems and Controversies (LING/PSY 696 F)
- Fall 2001 Graduate course on Rationality and Cognition (PSYCH 596 F).
- Fall 2001, Coordinator and teacher (in a team) of the graduate course
Linguistic Theory: Concepts, Problems and Controversies (LING/PSY 696 F)
- Spring 2002, Co-teacher (with Prof. Heidi Harley) of the graduate course
Lexical Semantics: Linguistic and Philosophical Viewpoints (LING 522 F)
- Spring 2002, Undergraduate course Introduction to Cognitive Science
(INDV 101) (Honors section)
- Fall 2002, Team, Master Seminar on The Foundations of Linguistic Theories,
(PSYC/LING/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2002, (with Prof. Thomas G. Bever) graduate course Biological Foundations of
Language (PSYC/LING 496F/596F)
- Spring 2003, Undergraduate course Introduction to Cognitive Science (INDV
101) (Honors section)
- Spring 2003 Team, Master Seminar on Evolution Evolving (PSYC 596 F with
multiple cross-listing in genetics and in evolutionary biology)
- Fall 2003, On leave (at MIT, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, see below for a graduate course taught there)
- Spring 2004, Undergraduate course Introduction to Cognitive Science (INDV 101) (Honors section)
- Spring 2004, Team, Master Seminar on The Genetics of Complex Traits, Gene- Environment Interactions (PSYC 596 F with multiple cross-listings in genetics and in evolutionary biology)
- Spring 2004 (with Prof. Heidi Harley) graduate course Compositionality and the Semantics of Natural Language (LING/PHIL 596D)
- Fall 2004 Team, Master Seminar on The Foundations of Cognitive Science (LING/PSYC/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2004 Graduate and senior undergraduate course On induction: Cognitive and Philosophical Aspects (PSYC 496F/596F)
- Spring 2005 Introduction to Language: Language, Mind and Brain (First-year
plenary course INDV 101, also personally taught Section 58h – Honors Section)
- Spring 2005, (With Prof. Terry Connolly, Dept. of Management and Policy),
Master Seminar on the Foundations of Judgment and Decision-Making (PSYC 596 F, with multiple cross-listing in Philosophy and in Management and Policy)
- Fall 2005, Graduate and senior undergraduate course Rationality and Cognition: Probabilistic Illusions and Choice over Time (PSYC 496F/595F)
- Fall 2005, Coordinator of the Master Seminar on The Foundations of Cognitive Science (LING/PSYC/PHIL 696 E)
- Spring 2006, First year undergraduate course Introduction to Language: Language, Mind and Brain (First-year plenary course INDV 101, 422 students enrolled. Also taught Section 9 – Honors Section)
- Spring 2006, (With Prof. Andrew Wedel) graduate course The Biological
Foundations of Language and Cognition (LING/PSYCH/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2006 and Spring 2007, On sabbatical (see below for courses taught at the University of Maryland and at Harvard)
- Fall 2007, (team) coordinator of and teacher in the Graduate course Master Seminar on the Foundations of Cognitive Science (LING/PSYCH/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2007, Graduate and senior undergraduate course Biological foundations of language (PSYCH 496F/596F)
- Spring 2008 Undergraduate course (honor course) An Introduction to Cognitive Science (PSYCH 423H)
- Spring 2008, Graduate course “New approaches to evolution” (LING/PSYCH 696 F)
- Fall 2008, (in a team) coordinator of and speaker in the Graduate course Master Seminar on the Foundations of Cognitive Science (COGS/LING/PSYCH/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2008, (with Heidi Harley and Andrew Barss) Graduate course Topics in Linguistics and Philosophy (merging LING 596D and LING/PHIL 696A)
- Spring 2009, Undergraduate course (honors course) “An Introduction to Cognitive Science” (PSYCH 424H)
- Spring 2009, Senior undergraduate and graduate course “Issues in the biology of language” (PSYCH/LING 496F/596F)
- Fall 2009, Undergraduate course (honors course) “An Introduction to Cognitive Science” (PSYCH 424H)
- Fall 2009, First activation of a new senior undergraduate and graduate course LING/PSYCH/PHIL 449A/549A “Biolinguistics”
- Spring 2010 On leave, no courses
- Fall 2010 (team) coordinator of and teacher in the Graduate course “Master Seminar on Natural Selection: Theory, Data, Models and Critiques” (LING/PSYCH/PHIL 696E)
- Fall 2010 (with Heidi Harley and Andrew Barss) Graduate course Topics in Linguistics and Philosophy (merging LING 596D and LING/PHIL 696A) “Compositionality and its limits”
- Spring 2011 LING/PSYCH/PHIL 449A/549A “Biolinguistics”
- Spring 2011 “Judgment and decision making” PSY 333
- Fall 2011 Organizer of the “Master Seminar: The evolution of mind and brain”
(COGS 696E)
-Fall 2011 LING/PHIL 211 “Meaning in Language and Society”
-Fall 2011 Organizer of the Linguistic Colloquium LING 495A/595A
-Spring 2012 “Judgment and decision making” PSY 333
-Spring 2012 LING/PHIL 211 “Meaning in Language and Society”
-Spring 2012 Organizer of the Linguistic Colloquium LING 495A/595A
-Fall 2013 Co-organizer (with Prof. Terry Connolly) of the “Master Seminar on
Foundations of Judgment and Decision Making” (COGS/PHIL/MGMG/PSY/LAW/PSY 696E)
-Fall 2013 LING/PHIL 211 “Meaning in Language and Society”
-Fall 2013 Organizer of the Linguistic Colloquium LING 495A/595A
-Spring 2013 LING/PSYCH/PHIL 449A/549A “Biolinguistics”
-Spring 2013 “Judgment and decision making” PSY 333
-Spring 2013 Organizer of the Linguistic Colloquium LING 495A/595A
VII – Full semester courses taught in other universities
From 1973 to 1979 Lecturer (Chargé de cours) of the graduate course Theory of
Self-Organizing Systems, École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris-
Sorbonne).
1988 and 1989 (Spring sem.) (with Prof. Stephen Jay Gould) graduate course n. 212, on Evolution and Cognition, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University
1992 (Fall sem.) Graduate course on Rationality and Cognition (830/1635),
Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
1993 (Spring sem.) Undergraduate course n. 9.66 on Rationality and Cognition,
Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT (Cambridge, MA)
Fall 1995 to the Fall 2001 Graduate course The Mind: A User’s Guide,
Duxx (formerly Integer), Graduate School of Business Leadership, Garza
Garcia (Monterrey), Mexico.
1997 and 1998 (Spring sem.) Introduzione alle Scienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di
Scienze della Comunicazione, The State University of Bologna (Italy).
1997 and 1998 (Spring sem.) Post-doctoral course Metodi e tecniche quantitative in
psicologia clinica, Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicologia Clinica, Facoltà di
Medicina e Chirurgia, The State University of Milan (Italy).
1997 (Fall sem.) Psicologia Cognitiva (with Prof. Paolo Legrenzi) Facolta’ di Psicologia, Università Vita Salute San Raffaele, Milan (Italy).
1998 (Fall sem.) Psico-economia, Facolta’ di Psicologia Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan.
1998 and 1999 (Spring semester) Psicologia Cognitiva, Facolta’ di Psicologia Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan.
2003 (Fall sem.) Issues in the Biology of Language, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT (graduate and senior undergraduate course n. E51-393)
2006 (Fall sem.) Seminar in Language and Biology, Department of Linguistics, University of Maryland, College Park (graduate course LING 889A).
2007 (Spring sem.) Biolinguistics, Department of Linguistics, Harvard University (graduate and senior undergraduate course LING 188R)
2010 (Spring semester) Introduzione alle Scienze Cognitive IUAV (University of Venezia, Department of Architecure and Design, Italy) full senior undergraduate course
2010 (Spring semester) Biolinguistics (in English) Graduate School in Linguistics, Universita’ Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, Italy. A course of 21 hours
2010 (Spring semester) Facolta’ di Filosofia, Universita’ San Raffaele, Milan (Italy)
Ripensare l’evoluzione Senior undergraduate course 21 hours.
VIII -Institutions where short courses, lectures, conferences and seminars were given (in chronological order - selection)
Trinity College, Oxford, England;
Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, Paris;
Laboratoire de Neuropsychologie Expérimentale, INSERM, Bron, at Université de Lyon, France;
European Molecular Biology Organization, Pavia, Italy;
Département d’Ergonomie et Ecologie, Université de Paris, France;
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy;
McGill University, Department of Psychology, Montreal, Canada;
Department of Experimental and Applied Psychobiology, University of Geneva, Switzerland;
Department of Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ;
Polytechnic of Zurich/Italian Institute of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;
Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA;
Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA;
Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA;
Department of Linguistics and Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD;
Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY;
Boston Colloquia for the Philosophy of Science, Boston University, Boston, MA;
Department of Cognitive Science, Brown University, Providence, RI;
University Professors Program, Boston University, Boston, MA;
Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA;
International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy;
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA;
Department of Philosophy, George Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri;
Società Italiana di Psicologia, XIII Convegno Nazionale Divisione Ricerca di Base, Padua, Italy (keynote speech);
Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italy;
Collegio Sant'Anna di Pisa, Italy;
Società Italiana di Terapia Comportamentale e Cognitiva, Lugano, Switzerland;
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, Italy;
Third Meeting of Studies in Generative Grammar, Universidade Federal do Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil (a course in 5 lectures);
Institut des Sciences Cognitives (CNRS), Lyon (France);
Centre de Recherches en Epistémologie Appliquée, Ecole Polytéchnique, Paris;
French National Convention of Cognitive Science Research (Projects funded by the
CNRS over 5 years), Chinagora (Paris); (Conclusive "wrap-up" invited speech)
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (Italy);
Centre Jean Nicod, Paris (France)
University of Amsterdam (Holland), A cycle of 5 lectures on “Biological Foundations of Language” taught as part of the Summer School “The Language of Thought” (June 2006)
Seoul National University (Seoul, Korea)
International Science Festival, Genova (Italy)
City University of New York, Graduate Center, New York, NY.
Department of Psychology, Harvard University.
Department of Linguistics, University of Verona (Italy)
Inaugural lecture (Lectio Magistralis) for the inauguration of the 2010-2011 academic year, University of Verona
Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello e Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive
Rovereto (Italy)
School of Doctorate in Linguistics, University of Venezia (Italy)
URQUAM, McGill University, Montreal (Canada)
School of Medicine, University of Milan (Italy)
University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian (Spain)
Barrow Neurological Institute, Arizona State University
Department of Applied Linguistics, Arizona State University (Tempe AZ)
Department of Linguistics, University of Kyoto (Japan)
Italian Institute of Culture, Los Angeles
Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California
IX -Lectures and short courses given in managerial-industrial organizations:
Gruppo Ambrosetti, Milan, Italy; Gruppo Ambrosetti, Fabriano, Italy; Gruppo Ambrosetti, Rome, Italy; Gruppo Ambrosetti Preganziol (Italy); Observatoire Cidil, Paris, France; IBM, Novedrate, Italy; Glaxo Management School, Rome, Italy; Olivetti School for Managers, Ivrea, Italy; Young Presidents Organization, annual meeting 1995 (Florence, Italy); Associazione Italiana Fulbright, Camera di Commercio, Milan, Italy; Istituto Dalle Molle per l'Intelligenza Artificiale, Lugano, Switzerland; Graduate School of Business Leadership, Monterrey, Mexico; Air Liquide, Grandes Industries, Bruges, Belgium.
X - Science Journalism
From 1995 to the present, regular contributor to the daily Il Corriere della Sera (Milan, Italy) (an average of 12 articles a year, sometimes printed on the front page). Previously: regular contributor to the daily La Repubblica (Rome, Italy), and La Stampa (Turin, Italy).
Degrees
- Ph.D. Physics
- University of Rome (Italy), Rome (Italy), Italy
- Conformational changes in simple proteins by means of NMR spectroscopy
Work Experience
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (1999 - Ongoing)
- Universita' San Raffaele (1997 - 1999)
- Universita' di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienza della Comunicazione (1996 - 1998)
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive (DIPSCO) Istituto San Raffaele (1994 - 1999)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Cognitive Science (1985 - 1994)
- Centro Fiorentino di Storia e Filosofia della Scienza (1980 - 1985)
- Centre Royaumont pour Une Science de l'Homme (1975 - 1979)
- Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (1971 - 1979)
- Istitut Pasteur (1969 - 1974)
- Universite' d'Orsay (France) (1969 - 1970)
- University if Rome, Institute of Physical Chemistry (1968 - 1969)
Awards
- Visiting Scholar
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, Fall 2013
- MIT, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Fall 2013
- Keynote speech at EVOLANG IX
- What type of organization made the award?: Organizers of the international conference;Description: When Noam Chomsky, after having initially accepted, canceled his participation, the organizers asked him who they could invite to give the keynote speech. He suggested my name, and they invited me, and I gave the speech.;, Fall 2012
- Lezione inaugurale Anno Accademico 2010
- What type of organization made the award?: University of Verona (Italy);Description: I owe this award to the good offices of my linguist friends and colleagues Alessandra Tomaselli and Giorgio Graffi (both professors of linguistics in the University of Verona) and of Giovanni Berlucchi, professor of neuroscience. The lecture was recorded and broadcast by the local TV station.;, Fall 2010
- Medal of the (Italian) Chambers of Representatives (Medaglia della Camera
- What type of organization made the award?: Government;Description: Awarded the Medal of the (Italian) Chambers of Representatives (Medaglia della Camera dei Deputati) (one of the two Chambers of the Italian Parliament, Rome) for the diffusion of science. Ceremony of award held in Rimini (Italy) October 29, 2006. ;, Fall 2006
- Newspaper articles
- What type of organization made the award?: Various Italian newspapers;Description: Articles in no less than 8 different major Italian daily papers (all on March 9, 2005) about results in the paper Canessa, Piattelli-Palmarini et al. in Human Brain Mapping (see publications). 5 of these articles underline the collaboration between the San Raffaele team in Milan and the University of Arizona. As a result, we have received several requests of reprints from Italy, and I havereceived, also from Italy, some requests of information about research at the UofA.;, Fall 2005
Interests
Teaching
Biolinguistics, language evolution, brain and language, introduction to semantics, judgment and decision making
Research
Biological foundations of language, the physics of language, philosophy of language
Courses
2024-25 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
COGS 549A (Spring 2025) -
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2025) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2025) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 549A (Spring 2025) -
Biolinguistics
PSY 549A (Spring 2025) -
Judgment+Decision Making
PSY 333 (Spring 2025) -
Colloquium
COGS 595 (Fall 2024) -
Language Development
LING 341 (Fall 2024) -
Language Development
PSY 341 (Fall 2024) -
Language Development
SLHS 341 (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2024) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2024) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2024) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 549A (Spring 2024) -
Thinking about thinking
PSY 220 (Spring 2024)
2022-23 Courses
-
Rationality and Cognition
CGSC 201 (Spring 2023) -
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Fall 2022) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Fall 2022) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Fall 2022) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 549A (Fall 2022) -
Independent Study
NSCS 499 (Fall 2022) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Fall 2022) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Honors Thesis
NSCS 498H (Spring 2022) -
Issues/Themes in Cognitive Sci
NSCS 320 (Spring 2022) -
Thinking about thinking
PSY 220 (Spring 2022) -
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Fall 2021) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Fall 2021) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Fall 2021) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 549A (Fall 2021) -
Honors Thesis
NSCS 498H (Fall 2021) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Fall 2021) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2021) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2021) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2021) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 549A (Spring 2021) -
Thinking about thinking
PSY 220 (Spring 2021) -
Independent Study
LING 599 (Fall 2020) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Fall 2020) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Spring 2020) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Spring 2020) -
Thinking about thinking
PSY 220 (Spring 2020) -
Issues/Themes in Cognitive Sci
NSCS 320 (Fall 2019) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Fall 2019) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Fall 2019)
2018-19 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2019) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2019) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2019) -
Cognitive Psychology
PSY 496F (Spring 2019) -
Cognitive Psychology
PSY 596F (Spring 2019) -
Honors Thesis
LING 498H (Spring 2019) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Fall 2018) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Fall 2018) -
Topics/Syntax+Semantics
LING 696A (Fall 2018)
2017-18 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2018) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2018) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2018) -
Biolinguistics
PSY 449A (Spring 2018) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
LING 211 (Spring 2018) -
Meaning In Lang+Society
PHIL 211 (Spring 2018) -
Honors Independent Study
LING 399H (Fall 2017) -
Issues/Themes in Cognitive Sci
NSCS 320 (Fall 2017) -
Master Smnr Cognitve Sci
COGS 696E (Fall 2017) -
Master Smnr Cognitve Sci
LAW 696E (Fall 2017) -
Master Smnr Cognitve Sci
LING 696E (Fall 2017) -
Master Smnr Cognitve Sci
PHIL 696E (Fall 2017)
2016-17 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2017) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2017) -
Judgment+Decision Making
PSY 333 (Spring 2017) -
Linguistics
LING 495A (Spring 2017) -
Linguistics
LING 595A (Spring 2017) -
Issues/Themes in Cognitive Sci
NSCS 320 (Fall 2016) -
Linguistics
LING 495A (Fall 2016) -
Linguistics
LING 595A (Fall 2016)
2015-16 Courses
-
Biolinguistics
COGS 549A (Spring 2016) -
Biolinguistics
LING 449A (Spring 2016) -
Biolinguistics
LING 549A (Spring 2016) -
Biolinguistics
PHIL 449A (Spring 2016) -
Biolinguistics
PSY 449A (Spring 2016) -
Biolinguistics
PSY 549A (Spring 2016) -
Cognitive Psychology
BIOC 596F (Spring 2016) -
Cognitive Psychology
CMM 596F (Spring 2016) -
Cognitive Psychology
LING 596F (Spring 2016) -
Cognitive Psychology
PSY 496F (Spring 2016) -
Cognitive Psychology
PSY 596F (Spring 2016) -
Linguistics
LING 495A (Spring 2016) -
Linguistics
LING 595A (Spring 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Books
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). Blad Darwina (Polish translation of "What Darwin Got Wrong"). Warshaw Widawnictwo Naukowe PWN: Warshaw Widawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2015). Il Nono Giorno della Creazione (The Ninth Day of Creation). Milan (Italy): Mondadori Saggi.More infoA totally naturalistic popularized critical summary of new data and theories (last 10 years approximately) in genetics, epigenetics, microbiomics and neuroscience. The title is a reference to the great (but now old - 1979) book by the late Horace Judson "The Eight Day of Creation" and a homage to his memory.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Berwick, R. (2013). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs. Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoProceedings (with many updates) of the original woskshop at MIT;Your Role: Co-editor and co-organizer of the workshop at MIT;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Berwick, R. C. (Eds.). (2013). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Robert Berwick (MIT) as co-editor and with all the authors;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Berwick, R. C. (2013). Rich Langauges from Poor Inputs. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.More infoProceedings of the MIT conference in honor of the late Carol Chomsky Contributors: Noam Chomsky, Robert C. Berwick, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Xuan-Nga Kam, Janet DeanFodor, Susan Curtiss, Lila Gleitman, Barbara Landau, Jean-Rémy Hochmann, Jacques Mehler, Adriana Belletti, Luigi Rizzi, Itziar Laka, Ken Wexler, Julie Ann Legate, Carles Yang, Thomas G. Bever, Charles Read, Rebecca Traiman, Stephanoe Gottwald, Maryanne Wolf, Wayne O'Neil, Merryl Goldberg, plus a reprint of a classic paper by Carol Chomsky.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Chi crediao di essere. MIlan (Italy): Mondadori (Milan, Italy).More infoA popular book about some relevant findings "about us" from cognitive science;Your Role: Author;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011). Chi crediamo di essere. Mondadori.More infoA book for a popular audience, about results from cognitive science and linguistics that tell us something about ourselves. French translation forthcoming at Editions Odile Jacob. English translation under consideration;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli Palmarini, M. (2011). Chi Crediamo di Essere. Milano (Italy), Saggi Mondadori.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2011). What Darwin Got Wrong. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroud.More infoA radical critique of neo-Darwinian gradualistic, adaptationist explanations in general, with special relevance to the evolution of language and cognition;Your Role: Co-author;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is professor at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. A. (2011). Gli Errori di Darwin. Feltrinelli, Milano (Italy).More infoPaperback of the 2010 hardcover edition, with an update and a reply to our critics;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini e Jerry A. Fodor (2011) "Gli Errori di Darwin". Feltrinelli Paperbacks, Milan, Italy;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is a Professor at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. A. (2011). What Darwin Got Wrong (Paperback, with an update and a reply to our critics).More info;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2011). What Darwin Got Wrong (Paperback, with an update, and a reply to our critics). New York, NY, Picador Macmillan.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is a Professor at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Basque Edition of Languge and Learning. Klasikoak Publisher (Bilbao).More infoBasque translation (after many years) of the Chomsky-Piaget debate, edited by me in 1980;Your Role: Editor;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., Ed. (2010). Hizkuntza eta ikastea. Piageten eta Chomskyren arteko eztabaida (Basque translation of "Language and Learning: The Debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky"). Bilbao, Klasikoak.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). Gli Errori di Darwin. Feltrinelli (Milan, Italy).More infoItalian translation, with a special update and reply to our critics;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli Palmarini, M. and J. Fodor (2010). Gli Errori di Darwin. Milano (Italy), Feltrinelli.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: See above;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong (paperback). Picador Press.More infoThe update and reply to our critics is not the same as in the Italian edition;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli Palmarini (February 2011). What Darwin Got Wrong (Paperback, with an update, and a reply to our critics), Picador ;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: See above;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.More infoUS Edition;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. New York NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. Profile Books.More infoUK Edition;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. London UK, Profile Books.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. A. (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). Of Minds and Language. Oxford University Press.More infoAmong the Contributors: Noam Chomsky, Tom Bever, Janet Fodor, Lila Gleitman, Rochel Gelman, Charles R. Gallistel, James Higginbotham, Marc Hauser, Luigi Rizzi, Donata Vercelli;Your Role: Co-editor, co-organizer of the conference, co-author of the introduction and of one chapter (see above);Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., J. Uriagereka and P. Salaburu, Eds. (2009). Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Co-edited with Juan Uriagereka (University of Maryland) and Pello Salaburu (University of the Basque Country);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2009). What Darwin Got Wrong. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.More infoDate of publication February 4 2010. Published in contemporary in the UK by Profile Books, in Italian translation by Feltrinelli (April 2010). Blurbs by Noam Chomsky, Gabriel Dover, Stuart Newman, Norbert Hornstein and Dan Osherson;Your Role: Coauthor;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2010). What Darwin Got Wrong. New York NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jerry Fodor is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Uriagereka, J., & Salaburu, P. (2007). Of Minds and Language: The Basque Country Encounter with Noam Chomsky. Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoPapers presented, and edited transcripts of the discussions, at an international conference. Distinguished authors, from Chomsky to Gallistel, from Gleitman to Rizzi, and Janet Fodor, with many more;Your Role: Principal organizer of the conference (June 2006), principal editor and author of commentaries and of one paper in it;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Many authors, from different universities and Countries, a collective book co-edited with Juan Uriagereka (University of Maryland) and Pello Salaburu (University of the Basque Country);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008). Le Scienze Cognitive Classiche: Un Panorama. Einaudi, Torino (Italy).More infoAfter years of re-working and updating, a complete textbook on cognitive science, based on my original course notes. The MIT Press will publish an English translation, after considerable re-workind and updating.;Your Role: Main author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2008). Le Scienze Cognitive Classiche: Un Panorama. Torino, Einaudi.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Editing and two chapters by two former graduate students of mine at the San Raffaele University (now two young colleagues): Nicola Canessa and Alessandra Gorini;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007). Le Scienze Cognitive Classiche: Un Panorama. Casa Editrice Einaudi.More infoA whole (500 pages) textbook of cognitive science. The English version, to be published by The MIT Press, is in preparation.;Your Role: Author of the whole manual, save 2 chapters, co-authored with Nicola Canessa.;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini Massimo (2008) "Le Scienze Cognitive Classiche: Un Panorama", Einaudi, Turin (Italy);Collaborative with undergraduate student: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: The editors, Alessandra Gorini and Nicola Canessa were my undergraduate students at the San Raffaele University in Milan when the project started. They are now post-docs.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006). Choix, décisions et préférences: Quatre leçons ou Collège de France. Editions Odile Jacob (Paris).More infoThe outcome of 4 lectures held at the Collège de France;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2006). Choix, décisions et préférences: Quatre leçons ou Collège de France. Paris (France): Editions Odile Jacob. The Italian edition is: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2005). Psicologia ed economia delle scelte: Quattro lezioni al Collège de France (in collaborazione con Jocelyn Raude). Torino, Codice Edizioni.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Jocelyn Raude is a post-doc at the University of Paris;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006). Le scienze cognitive classiche: Un'introduzione. Turin (Italy): Einaudi Editore.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Uriagereka, J., & Salaburu, P. (2006). Minds and Language: The Basque Country Encounter with Noam Chomsky. Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005). Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds. Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press..More infoQuite rewarding to have a book translated into Chinese and published in Mainland China;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2005). Bukebimian de cuojue (Chinese abridged edition of "Inevitable Illusions: How Mistakes of Reason Rule Our Minds", translated by Jiang Ouyang). Beijing: Central Compilation & Translation Press. ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005). Psicologia ed economia delle scelte: Quattro lezioni al Collège de France. Codice Edizioni.More infoThe Italian version has preceded by several months the French original;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2005). Psicologia ed economia delle scelte: Quattro lezioni al Collège de France (in collaborazione con Jocelyn Raude). Torino: Codice Edizioni. (Italian version of my lectures at the Collège de France, see below for the original edition) ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & , M. M. (2005). Critica della ragione economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Il Saggiatore.More infoThis book has been adopted as a textbook in at least 5 courses in Italian Universities;Your Role: Co-editor with Motterlini and co-author of 2 chapters;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & M. Motterlini (Editors). (2005). Critica della ragione economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore. (Three Nobel Lectures with two chapters by us, the editors) ;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Matteo Motterlini is a Professor at the San Raffaele University in Milan (Italy);
Chapters
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2022). M. Piattelli-Palmarini "The language(s) of sailing"
. In The Sailing Mind…. edited by R. Casati. Springer Nature 2022. - Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2023). Edgar avait raison ou au-delà du néo-darwinisme. Entretien avec Claude Fischler.. In Fischler, Claude et Pascal Ory (sous la direction de) : Edgar Morin : les cent premières années. Colloque de Cerisy.. Paris (France): Hermann.More infoA follow-up of my presentation at the Cérisy Colloquium
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2022). Minds with meanings (pace Fodor and Pylyshyn). In 2020 Vol. 11 Issue 1 Pages 1-18(pp 1-18). Italy: RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA. doi:DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2020.0001
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Medeiros, D. (2018). The Golden Phrase: Steps to the Physics of Language. In A. Gallego & R. Martin (Eds.),. In Language, Syntax, and the Natural Sciences(pp 333-350). Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. (2017). Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. Third factors in language design: some suggestions from Quantum Field Theory. In J. McGilvray (Ed.). In The Cambridge Companion to Chomsky, 2nd Edition(pp 134-152). Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). Fodor and the Innateness of all (Basic) Concepts. In On Concepts, Modules and Language: Cognitive Science at its Core(pp 211-237). Oxford University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). Fodor and the innateness of all (basic) concepts (Chapter 6).. In Concepts, Modules, and Language: Cognitive Science at its Core. R. G. de Almeida & L. R. Gleitman (Eds.)(pp 211-237). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoShowing why Fodor's theory of the innateness of all basic concepts is right. Adding some updates.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). Spanish translation of my contribution to the special issue of Biolinguistics on Eric Lenneberg. De Cero a Cincuenta: Consideraciones y actualizaciones sobre “Fundamentos Biológicos del Lenguaje” de Eric Lenneberg. In Homenaje a Eric Lenneberg Cincuenta Años despues. Alianza Editorial.More infoTranslation into Spanish of my chapter, revised by me, in a volume edited by Miguel Angel Mahecha Bermuda
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). The Golded Phrase: Steps to the Physics of Language. In Language, Syntax and the Natural Sciences(pp 333-350). Cambridge University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). The Golden Phrase: Steps to the physics of Language. In Language, Syntax and the Natural Sciences(pp 333-350). Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.More infoThis chapter is about some previously unnoticed (and, we suspect, significant)properties of the celebrated X-bar schema (Chomsky 1970, Jackendoff 1977). Weobserve that the X-bar schema is a uniquely special recursive format; this Golden Phraseis “just right” with respect to certain fundamental mathematical properties, of the kindthat crop up repeatedly in the study of physical systems.2,3 We focus on three propertiesthat seem likely to be of significance, noting that the X-bar form is the only kind ofstructure with all three properties.Co-authored with Dr. David Medeiros
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Third factors in language design: some suggestions from Quantum Field Theory.. In The Cambridge Companion to Chomsky, 2nd Edition (Edited by J. McGilvray)(pp 134-152). Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.More infoWe introduce [Feynman] story because there seems to us to be an interesting parallel between Feynman’s sum of all histories and Chomsky’s unrestricted Merge. The idea that a particle does anything it pleases, goes anywhere, forward or backward in time, until one computes the so-called path integral under the constraint of minimal action, is a close parallel (we think) to Chomsky’s suggestion that the most elementary syntactic operation (recursive binary Merge) operates totally freely until it interfaces with the interpretive apparatus, where it meets the constraints of minimal computation and strict locality. As we will see in what follows, the collapse of all possible paths onto the highest probability of the arrival of a particle, when it interacts with the macroscopic measurement apparatus, resembles the way in which free Merge yields structure, labeling, and meaning only at the interface with the conceptual intentional system (CI). We suggest that QFT may make sense of this further transition to a bare economy of factors in syntax. Moreover, Feynman’s emphasis on the ultimate “evidence” of physical laws parallels Chomsky’s emphasis on simplicity and/as depth of explanation.Co-authored with Giuseppe Vitiello
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Third factors in language design: some suggestions from Quantum Field Theory.. In The Cambridge Companion to Chomsky, 2nd Edition(pp 134-152). Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.More infoHighlighting interesting parallels between the Minimalist syntactic approach and data and formalisms in quantum field theory
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013). Biolinguistics yesterday, today and tomorrow. In The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics(pp 12-21). Oxford UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.More infoA short personal reconstruction of the history of biolinguistics ever since 1974;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). Biolingusitics yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In C. Boeckx & K. K. Grohmann (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics (pp. 12-21). Chapter 3. Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013). On abstraction and language universals. In Language Down The Garden Path: The Cognitive And Biological Basis for Linguistic Structures.(pp 263-271). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoChapter 14; Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). On abstraction and language universals. In M. Sanz, I. Laka & M. Tanenhaus (Eds.), Language Down The Garden Path: The Cognitive And Biological Basis for Linguistic Structures. (pp. 263-271) Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013). Remembering Rita Levi-Montalcini. In Rita Levi Montalcini. MIlan (Italy): Corriere della Sera Saggi.More infoA personal reminiscence of the Italian neurobiologist Nobel Prize Rita Levi-Montalcini, recently deceased;Your Role: Author;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Berwick, R. (2013). Introduction to the volume. In Rich Languages from Poor Inputs(pp 1-18). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoGeneral introduction to the volume;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo, & Berwick, R. C. (2013). Introduction. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & R. C. Berwick (Eds.), Rich Languages from Poor Inputs (pp. 1-18). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with Robert Berwick (MIT);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Berwick, R., & Chomsky, N. (2013). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail. In Rich Languages from Poor Inputs(pp 19-42). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoProceedings of the MIT conference in honor of the late Carol Chomsky;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Berwick, Robert C., Chomsky, Noam, & Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & R. C. Berwick (Eds.), Rich Languages from Poor Inputs (pp. 19-42). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Position paper in a volume co-edited by Robert Berwick (MIT);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012). Chapter in Festschrift. Oxford University Press.More infoChapter 14;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (in press). On abstraction and language universals. In M. Sanz, I. Laka & M. Tanenhaus (Eds.), Language Down The Garden Path: The Cognitive And Biological Basis for Linguistic Structures. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012). Remembering Rita Levi-Montalcini. Corriere della Sera Saggi.More infoA personal reminiscence of the Italian neurobiologist Nobel Prize Rita Levi-Montalcini, recently deceased;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). La liberta' di indignarsi in Rita Levi-Montalcini "Abbi il coraggio di conoscere" (pp. 23-28): Corriere della Sera Grandi Saggi (Milan, Italy).;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012). Short History of Biolinguistics. Cambridge University Press.More infoA short personal reconstruction of the history of biolinguistics ever since 1974;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). Biolingusitics yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In C. Boeckx & K. K. Grohmann (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics (pp. 12-21). Chapter 3. Cambridge UK and New York: Cambridge University Press.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Berwick, R. (2012). Introduction to the volume. Oxford University Press.More infoGeneral introduction to the volume;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo, & Berwick, R. C. (2013). Introduction. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & R. C. Berwick (Eds.), Rich Languages from Poor Inputs (pp. 1-18). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Collaborative with Robert Berwick (MIT);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Berwick, R., & Chomsky, N. (2012). Book chapter with Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky. Oxford University Press.More infoProceedings of the MIT conference in honor of the late Carol Chomsky;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Berwick, Robert C., Chomsky, Noam, & Piattelli-Palmarini, Massimo. (2013). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & R. C. Berwick (Eds.), Rich Languages from Poor Inputs (pp. 19-42). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Position paper in a volume co-edited by Robert Berwick (MIT);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2010). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: the case of FOXP2. In The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty(pp 100-125). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Ptess.More infoPiattelli-Palmarini, M. and J. Uriagereka (in press ). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of Human Language. A. M. Di Sciullo and C. Boeckx. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Your Role: Co-author;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Juan Uriagereka is professor of linguistics at the University of Maryland College Park;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2011). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. Oxford University Press.More info;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli Palmarini, M. and J. Uriagereka (2011). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty. Di Sciullo, A. M. and C. Boeckx, (Eds).Oxford UK, Oxford University Press: 100-125.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Juan Uriagereka id a Professor at the University of Maryland;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Berwick, R. C., & Chomsky, N. (2011). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail. Oxford University Press.More infoThe volume will be published in November 2012;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Berwick, R. C., N. Chomsky and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (in press). Poverty of the Stimulus Stands: Why Recent Challenges Fail in "Rich Languages from Poor Inputs". Piattelli-Palmarini, M. and R. C. Berwick, (Eds).Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Berwick and Chomsky are both Professors at MIT;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Introduction to the Basque Edition. Klasikoak Bilbao.More infoAn update and a new introduction;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Introduccion (Introduction). Hizkuntza eta ikastea. Piageten eta Chomskyren arteko eztabaida (Basque translation of "Language and Learning"). I. Lakar (Ed). Bilbao, Klasikoak.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). L'illusione di sapere. Enciclopedia Italiana.More infoThe illusion of knowing. Article for the official Italian Encyclopedia;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). L'Illusione di Sapere. Enciclopedia Italiana XXI Secolo "Mente e Corpo". T. Gregory. Roma (Italy), Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana: 133-140.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Ostracism without natural selection. Nort Athlantic Books (Berkeley, CA).More infoAn interview with Susanne Mazur for her book of criticism on Darwin;Your Role: Interviewee;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Ostracism without natural selection (An interview with Suzan Mazur). The Altenberg 16: An Exposé of the Evolution Industry. S. Mazur. Berkeley, CA, North Atlantic Books: 314-325.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Preface to Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius. Edizioni RCS Il Corriere della Sera.More infoPreface to the reprint of the great classic by Galileo Galilei "Sidereus Nuncius;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Prefazione alla ristampa del "Sidereus Nuncius" di Galileo Galilei. Sidereus Nuncius (Galileo Galilei). A. Battistini. Milano (Italy), Edizioni de "Il Corriere della Sera" RCS.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). Verso una fisica della mente. Universita' di Verona.More infoPublication of my inaugural lecture (see below);Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli Palmarini, M. (2010). "Verso una fisica della mente (Lectio Magistralis)." Atti delle Inaugurazioni degli Anni Accademici dell'UniversitĂ di Verona - Anno 2009-2010: pp. 39-75.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). What is langauge that it mayhave evolved. Cambridge University Press.More info;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language? The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives. R. K. Larson, V. Deprez and H. Yamakido. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press: 148-162.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language. In The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives(pp 148-162). Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). Introduccion. Klasikoak.More infoIntroduction to the Basque language translation of the Chomsky-Piaget debate, edited by me in English and French in 1980;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Introduccion (Introduction). Hizkuntza eta ikastea. Piageten eta Chomskyren arteko eztabaida (Basque translation of "Language and Learning"). I. Lakar, Ed. Bilbao, Klasikoak.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). L'illusione di sapere. Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.More infoEncyclopedia entry for "The Illusion of Knowing;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010 in press). L'illusione di sapere. Enciclopedia Treccani Terzo Millennio. T. Gregory, Ed. Roma (Italy), Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). What is language, that it may have evolved. Cambridge University Press.More infoPaper initially presented at a conference;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language? In "The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives". R. K. Larson, Deprez, V. and Yamakido, H., Eds. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press: 148-162.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2011). A geneticist's dream a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. In The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of the Human Language Faculty(pp 100-125). Oxford UK and New York: Oxford University Press.More infoPiattelli-Palmarini, M. and J. Uriagereka (2011). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. The Biolinguistic Enterprise: New Perspectives on the Evolution and Nature of Human Language. A. M. Di Sciullo and Boeckx, C., Eds. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Your Role: Co-author;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Juan Uriagereka is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Vercelli, D. (2009). Language in an epigenetic framework. Oxford University Press.More infopaper presented at the conference, then modified and published in the proceedings;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Vercelli, D. and M. Piattelli Palmarini (2009). Language in an epigenetic framework (Chapter 7). Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. M. Piattelli-Palmarini, Uriagereka, J. and Salaburu, P., Eds. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press: 97-107.;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008). Introduccion (Introduction). Klasikoak, Bilbao.More infoTranslation into Basque of the original volume edited by me "Language and Learning: The Debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky" (Harvard University Press);Your Role: Author of this introduction and editor of the original volume;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2009 (in print)). Introduccion. Hizkuntza eta ikastea. Piageten eta Chomskyren arteko eztabaida. Bilbao, Klasikoak.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Itziar Laka (formerly at MIT, now Professor at the University of the Basque Country) has translated this introduction (written by me in English) into Basque;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008). Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2008). Events and Conservativity: Clues towards Language Evolution.More infoPublication of the proceedings of a conference (see previous years);Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2008). Events and Conservativity: Clues towards Language Evolution. Knowledge, Language, and Interpretation. On the Philosophy of Donald Davidson,. M. C. Amoretti and Vassallo, N., Eds. Frankfurt, Ontos Verlag/Transaction Books: pp. 81-105.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008). What is language, that it may have evolved. Cambridge Universit Press.More infoProceedings of a conference held at the University of New York at Stony Brooks in 2005;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2008, in press). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution, that it may apply to language? The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives. R. K. Larson, Deprez, V. and Yamakido, H., Eds., Cambridge University Press.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2008). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare. The MIT Press.More infoOn the dubious linguistic interpretations of the famous case of a mutation in the gene FOXP2;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. and J. Uriagereka (2008 (in press)). A geneticist's dream, a linguist's nightmare: The case of FOXP2. Biolingustics Investigations. A. M. Di Sciullo and Aguero, C., Eds. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Co-authored with Juan Uraiagereka, professor at the University of Maryland;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Vercelli, D. (2008). Language in an epigenetic framework. Oxford University Press.More infoAn epi-genetic approach to language evolution;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Vercelli, D. and M. Piattelli Palmarini (2009). Language in an epigenetic framework (Chapter 7). Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. M. Piattelli-Palmarini, Uriagereka, J. and Salaburu, P., Eds. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press: 97-107.;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., , E. S., & Bahill, A. T. (2008). Cognitive biases and tradeoff studies. Springer.More infoOn the effect of cognitive biases in tradeoff studies, important in engineering;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Smith, E. D., M. Piattelli-Palmarini and A. T. Bahill (2008). Cognitive biases affect the acceptance of tradeoff studies. Decision Modeling and Behavior in Complex and Uncertain Environments. T. Kugler, Smith, J. C., Connolly, T. and Son., Y. J., Eds. New York, Springer, Science+Business Media: 227-249.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Smith, E., & Bahill, A. (2008). Cognitive Biases Affect the Acceptance of Tradeoff Studies. In Decision Modeling and Behavior in Complex and Uncertain Environments(pp 227-249). New York: Springer, Science+Business Media.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Uriagereka, J., & Salaburu, P. (2008). Introduction to. Oxford University Press.More infoGeneral introduction to the contents and authors of the different chapters of the volume;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., P. Salaburu and J. Uriagereka (2009). Introduction. Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. M. Piattelli-Palmarini, Uriagereka, J. and Salaburu, P., Eds. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press: pp. 1-12.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Co-authored with Juan Uriagereka (U. Maryland) and Pello Salaburu (University of the Basque Country);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006). The return of the laws of form. Centro Pio Manzu'.More infoEdited trancription of teh conference given in Rimini, with bot an Italiana nd an English version;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2006). The return of the laws of form. Life on the Edge (La Vita in Bilico). C. P. Manzu'. Roma (Italy), Centro Pio Manzu'. Volume 2 (Workshop 1): 45-57.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Motterlini, M. (2005). Galleria degli errori economici. Il Saggiatore.More infoA brief summary of the main cognitive illusions;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Motterlini, M. (2005). Galleria degli errori economici (Capitolo 4). In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & M. Motterlini (Eds.), Critica della ragione economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore. ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Motterlini, M. (2005). Introduzione. Il Saggiatore.More info;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Motterlini, M. (2005). Introduzione. In M. Piattelli-Palmarini & M. Motterlini (Eds.), Critica della ragione economica. Tre Nobel: McFadden, Kahneman, Smith. Milano (Italy): Il Saggiatore. ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2004). The Immune Syntax: The Evolution of the Language Virus.More info;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & J. Uriagereka. (2004) “The Immune Syntax: The Evolution of the Language Virus”. In Jenkins, L. (Ed.), (Chapter 4 of) Variations and Universals in Biolinguistics (pp. 341-377). Amsterdam, Boston: Elsevier North- Holland. ;
Journals/Publications
- Karimi, S. N., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. N. (2017). Introduction to the special issue of Linguistic Analysis on parameters. Linguistic Analysis, 41 (3-4), 1-18.. Linguistic Analysis, 41(3-4), 1-18.More infoIntroduction to a special issue on parameters, edited by Simin Karimi and myself
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). From Zero to Fifty: Considerations on Eric Lenneberg’s Biological Foundations of Language and Updates.. Biolinguistics, 11(Special Issue), 423-444.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Le intelligenti autocritiche di Darwin. Rivista di Filosofia, CVIII(1), 99-107.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2020). Minds with meanings (pace Fodor and Pylyshyn). Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 11(1), 1-18. doi:10.4453/rifp.2020.0001
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019). Reflections on Piaget Chomsky, Fodor, Epigenetics and the Baldwin Effect.. Paradigmi (mostly published in English), XXXVII Special Issue Piaget 40 years later (Edited by Sara Campanella)(1), 23-52.More infoSummarizing the main points of the Royaumont debate between Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky and several other key participants, several issues are highlighted as being still relevant today. The main focus here is the theory of syntax, the fixation of basic concepts and language acquisition, explaining why some suggestions then made by Piaget, Inhelder, Céllerier and Papert do not stand the evidence and the theoretical developments accumulated since the debate. Piaget’s focal interest in epigenetics and the Baldwin Effect is critically re-examined in the light of many crucial developments in genetics, epigenetics and the evo-devo revolution. It is stressed that Piaget was right in his critique of canonical neo-Darwinism and that his observations of inherited acquired traits in the mollusk Lymnea stagnalis were correct, in spite of perplexities unjustifiably raised by the biologists then participating in the debate (the present author, alas, included). A plea for a better, future post-Darwinian integration between evolution and psychology is offered.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019). Reflections on Piaget, Chomsky, Fodor and the Baldwin Effect. Paradigmi.More infoPublished in English in PARADIGMI special issue “Piaget 40 years later” (Edited by Sara Campanella)
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019). Reflections on Piaget, Chomsky, Fodor, epigenetics and the Baldwin Effect. Paradigmi, special issue on Piaget, XXXVII(1), 23-52.More infoA reflection on the impact of the Chomsky-Piaget debate all the way to the present
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2020). Minds with meanings (pace Fodor and Pylyshyn). RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA, 11(1), 1-18. doi:10.4453/rifp.2020.0001
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018). Risposta a Telmo Pievani. Rivista di Filosofia.More info(In Italian) A reply to a critique of the paper on the intelligent auto-critiques of Darwin
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Karimi, S. (2018). Introduction to the special issue of Linguistic Analysis on parameters (S. Karimi and M. Piattelli-Palmarini Editors). Linguistic Analysis.More infoA little history of the very idea of principles and parameters and summaries of the remarkable contributions to this issue
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). From Zero to Fifty: Considerations on Eric Lenneberg’s Biological Foundations of Language and Updates. , 1-22.. Biolinguistics, 1-22.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). From Zero to Fifty: Considerations on Eric Lenneberg’s Biological Foundations of Language and Updates. Biolinguistics, 11 Special issue: Lenneberg 50 years later, 423-444.More infoHad I been teaching a graduate course in biolinguistics in the years 1968-1975, I would have had the perfect textbook: Eric H. Lenneberg’s Biological Foundations of Language. Everything was right in it: general considerations, updated expositions of neuroscience, genetics, developmental biology and, of course, language, beautifully complemented by an appendix by Noam Chomsky. The prudence with which extrapolations are suggested and Lenneberg’s unwavering honesty in pointing out the tentativeness of some suggestions, are a model for us all. I am teaching biolinguistics now, but so many things have happened in the intervening fifty years that I could not use it as a textbook, possibly with the exception of the last chapter “Toward a biological theory of language development (general summary)”, with only some minor additions and clarifications.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). From Zero to Fifty: Considerations on Eric Lenneberg’s “Biological Foundations of Language” and updates. Biolinguistics (Special issue celebrating 50 years after the publication of Lenneberg's book.More infoEverything was right in Lenneberg's book: general considerations, updated expositions of neuroscience, genetics, developmental biology and, of course, language, beautifully complemented by an appendix by Noam Chomsky. The prudence with which extrapolations are suggested and Lenneberg’s unwavering honesty in pointing out the tentativeness of some suggestions, are a model for us all.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Le intelligenti autocritiche di Darwin. Rivista di Filosofia, CVIII(1 (Aprile)), 91-107.More infoHow Darwin himself had anticipated conditions and discoveries that would radically compromise his theory. I stress that these conditions have now materialized and these discovery have been made, opening a post-Darwinian period. (in Italian)
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Le intelligenti autocritiche di Darwin. Rivista di Filosofia, CVIII(4), 99-107.More info(In Italian) Showing that Darwin had explicitly designated crucial conditions under which his theory would "absolutely collapse" and that these conditions have all presently be satisfied.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Normal language in abnormal brains. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (NBR) special issue ‘The Biology of Language’ (Johan J. Bolhuis and Martin Everaert Eds.), 1-12.More infoMore than one century and a half after Broca’s pioneering studies of patients Leborgne and Lelong (Broca 1861, 1865), there is little doubt that, in the adult, specific brain lesions cause specific language deficits. Some of these language deficits can be remarkably specific, almost to the point of being unbelievable (Semenza, Zettin, & Borgo, 1998) (loss of proper names only, mass nouns only, count nouns only, animal nouns only, names of landmarks only, names of Countries only, and several other stunning deficits). (For a recent review, see (Curtiss, 2013). Yet, brain localizations of linguistic functions are made problematic by several reported cases of normal language in spite of major brain anomalies, mostly, but not exclusively, occurring early in life. It is my opinion that these two horns of the dilemma deserve a closer analysis.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Normal language in abnormal brains.. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 81, 188-193. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.02.008
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017). Quantum field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism.. Journal of Physics: Conf. Series, 880, 1-16. doi:doi :10.1088/1742-6596/880/1/012016
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Karimi, S. (2017). Parameters: What are they, where are they. Linguistic Analysis.More infoSimin Karimi and I have edited a special issue of Linguistic Analysis on parameters. Contributors are: Cedric Boeckx, Luigi Rizzi, Guglielmo Cinque, Robert Berwick, Charles Yang, Mark Baker, Giuseppe Longobardi, Hagit Borer, David Lightfoot, Noam Chomsky, Samuel Epstein, Matilde Marcolli, Tarald Taraldsen. Deadline January 2017
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., Bever, T. G., & Medeiros, D. (2016). Commentary on Christiansen and Chater: Many important language universals are not reducible to processing or cognition. Invited commentary on Christianen, Morten H., and Nick Chater, “The Now-or-Never Bottleneck: A Fundamental Constraint on Language.”.. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Special Issue Vol. 39, 39, 42-43.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. (2015). Linguistics and Some Aspects of Its Underlying Dynamics.. Biolinguistics, 9, 96-115.More infoIn recent years, central components of a new approach to linguistics, theMinimalist Program, have come closer to physics. In this paper, an interestingand productive isomorphism is established between minimaliststructure, algebraic structures, and many-body field theory opening newavenues of inquiry on the dynamics underlying some central aspects oflinguistics. Features such as the unconstrained nature of recursive Merge,the difference between pronounced and un-pronounced copies of elementsin a sentence, and the Fibonacci sequence in the syntactic derivation ofsentence structures, are shown to be accessible to representation in termsof algebraic formalism.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. (2015). Linguistiics and some aspects of its underlying dynamics. Cornell University Library arXiv.org > cs > arXiv:1506.08663 arXiv:1506.08663v1 [cs.CL],, 1-17. doi:arXiv.org > cs > arXiv:1506.08663 arXiv:1506.08663v1 [cs.CL],More infoAbstract: In recent years, central components of a new approach to linguistics, the Minimalist Program (MP) have come closer to physics. Features of the Minimalist Program, such as the unconstrained nature of recursive Merge, the operation of the Labeling Algorithm that only operates at the interface of Narrow Syntax with the Conceptual-Intentional and the Sensory-Motor interfaces,the difference between pronounced and un-pronounced copies of elements in a sentence and the buildup of the Fibonacci sequence in the syntactic derivation of sentence structures, are directly accessible to representation in terms of algebraic formalism. Although in our scheme linguistic structures areclassical ones, we find that an interesting and productive isomorphism can be established between the MP structure, algebraic structures and many-body field theory opening new avenues of inquiry on the dynamics underlying some central aspects of linguistics.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013). Narrowing, but not bridging, the brain-mind gap. Comment on;Dissipation of 'dark energy' by cortex in knowledge retrieval; by Antonio Capolupo, Walter J. Freeman and Giuseppe Vitiello. Physics of Life Reviews, 10, 108-109.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012). Narrowing, but not bridging, the brain-mind gap. Comment on “Dissipation of 'dark energy' by cortex in knowledge retrieval” by Antonio Capolupo, Walter J. Freeman and Giuseppe Vitiello. Physics of Life Reviews, 10, 108-109.More infoA critical commentary of an otherwise very interesting article (comment elicited by the Editors of the journal);Your Role: Commentator of the article:Dissipation of dark energy by cortex in knowledge retrieval By Antonio Capolupo, Walter J. Freeman and Giuseppe Vitiello
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011). Darwinismo, streghe e MacDonald. Scienza in Rete.More infoA pointed rebuttal of critiques to my book with Fodor in a quite popular Italian electronic journal on science;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2011) "Darwinismo, Streghe e MacDonald." Scienza in Rete 12.;Electronic: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). Survival of the fittest theory: Darwinism's limits. The New Scientist, 2746(06 February), 28-31.More infoA brief summary of our book, published February 2010. Your Role: co-author;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Fodor is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Several, s. a. (2011). The biological nature of human language. Biolinguistics.More infoA kind of manifesto for biolinguistics, which has been in the making for a long time;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Sciullo, A. M. D., M. Piattelli-Palmarini, K. Wexler, R. C. Berwick, C. Boeckx, L. Jenkins, J. Uriagereka, K. Stromswold, L. L.-S. Cheng, H. Harley, A. Wedel, J. McGilvray, E. v. Gelderen and T. G. Bever (2010). "The biological nature of human language." Biolinguistics 4(1): 04-034.;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Many co-authors, form different Universities. Including Thomas Bever, Heidi Harley and Andrew Wedel of this University;
- Fodor, J., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). Survival of the fittest theory. NEW SCIENTIST, 205(2746), 28-31.
- Fodor, J., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). The Theory of Natural Selection. TLS-THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, 6-6.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010). It's now blasphemy to criticize Darwin. The Spiked Review of Books.More infoA pointed (spiked) reply to some earlier critics of "What Darwin Got Wrong;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2010). "It is now blasphemy to criticise Darwin." The Spiked Review of Books Friday 26 March.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Fodor, J. (2010). Survival of the fittest theory. New Scientist Magazine.More infoA summary of our book;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Fodor, J. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2010). " Survival of the fittest theory: Darwinism's limits " New Scientist Magazine (2746 (06 February)): 28-31.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: See above;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Many, f. (2010). The Biological Nature of Human Language. Biolinguistics, 4(1), 4-34.More infoThe idea started here at the University of Arizona during the workshop in February 2008 (see report for 2008). A manifesto for bio-linguistics. Initially submitted to and not accepted by "Current Biology". Now submitted to "Biolinguistics" and accepted pending modifications suggested by the referees.Full citation: Anna Maria Di Sciullo, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Kenneth Wexler, Robert C. Berwick, Cedric Boeckx, Lyle Jenkins, Juan Uriagereka, Karin Stromswold, Lisa Lai-Shen Cheng, Heidi Harley, Andrew Wedel, James McGilvray, Elly van Gelderen, and Thomas G. Bever (under revision) "The Biological Nature of Human Language" ;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: A manifesto for bio-linguistics, co-authored with several colleagues from several Universities (Heidi Harley, Thomas Bever and Andrew Wedel from this University).;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & many, T. (2010). The biological nature of human language. Biolinguistics, 4(1), 4-34.More infoAnna Maria Di Sciullo, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Kenneth Wexler, Robert C. Berwick, Cedric Boeckx, Lyle Jenkins, Juan Uriagereka, Karin Stromswold, Lisa Lai-Shen Cheng, Heidi Harley, Andrew Wedel, James McGilvray, Elly van Gelderen & Thomas G. Bever "The Biological Nature of Human Language;Your Role: co-author;Electronic: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Several distinguished colleagues have cooperated, including Tom Bever, Heidi Harley and Andrew Wedel.Initally siubmitted to "Current Biology". Not accepted there, now in press for "Biolinguistics", after some modifications.;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., Bever, T. G., Di Sciullo, A., Berwick, R. C., Wexler, K., Boeckx, C., van Gelderen, E., Harley, H. B., Uriagareka, J., Wedel, A. B., Stromswold, K., Jenkins, L., & McGilvray, J. (2010). The Biological Nature of Human Language. Biolinguistics, 4(1), 4-34.More infoBiolinguistics aims to shed light on the specifically biological nature of human language, focusing on five foundational questions: (1) What are the properties of the language phenotype? (2) How does language ability grow and mature in individuals? (3) How is language put to use? (4) How is language implemented in the brain? (5) What evolutionary processes led to the emergence of language? These foundational questions are used here to frame a discussion of important issues in the study of language, exploring whether our linguistic capacity is the result of direct selective pressure or due to developmental or biophysical constraints, and assessing whether the neural/computational components entering into language are unique to human language or shared with other cognitive systems, leading to a discus- sion of advances in theoretical linguistics, psycholinguistics, comparative animal behavior and psychology, genetics/genomics, disciplines that can now place these longstanding questions in a new light, while raising chal- lenges for future research.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007). Novel tools at the service of old ideas. (Commentary on the book Evolution in Four Dimensions MIT Press. 2005, by Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb). Biolinguistics, 2(3), 236-245.More info;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (in preparation) “Novel tools at the service of old ideas; (Commentary on the book Evolution in Four Dimensions MIT Press. 2005, by Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb). Biolinguistics (new electronic journal edited by Cedric Boeckx and Kleanthes Grohman
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2008). Still a bridge too far? Biolingusitic questions. Physics of Life Reviews.More infoOn the role of physical principles and computational optimality (Fibonacci numbers) in syntax;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. and J. Uriagereka (2008). "Still a bridge too far? Biolinguistic questions for grounding language on brains." Physics of Life Reviews 5(4 (December)): pp. 207-224.;Electronic: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Co-authored with Juan Uriagereka, professor at the University of Maryland;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2008). Still a bridge too far? Structure in physics, biology and linguistics. Physics of Life Reviews, 5(4), 207-224.More info;Other collaborative: Yes;Please specify if you select "Other collaborative" : With Juan Uriagereka (University of Maryland);Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. and Juan Uriagereka “Still a bridge too far? Structure in physics, biology and linguistics; The Physics of Life Reviews;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Hancock, R., & Bever, T. G. (2008). Language as ergonomic perfection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.More infoPeer commentary of the article by Christiansen and Chater in the same issue;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., R. Hancock and T. Bever (2008). "Language as ergonomic perfection." Behavioral and Brain Sciences 31(05): 530-531.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Sciullo, D., M., A., , M. H., , K. W., , R. B., , T. B., Boeckx, C., , L. J., , J. U., , K. S., , L. C., , H. H., , A. W., , J. M., Gelderen, E. v., & , A. E. (2008). The biological nature of human language. Biolinguistics, 4(1), 4-34.More infoA "manifesto" of biolingustics.Your Role: member of the founding group, co-author and co-organizer, with Prof. Anna-Maria Di Sciullo of the meeting in Tucson;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: As a result of the meeting on Biolinguistics (University of Arizona) February 23-24 2008, this collective is writing a report/manifesto to be submitted to Current Biology. Current Biology has manifested an interest in publishing such a piece;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Boeckx, C. (2007). Linguistics in cognitive science: The state of the art amended. The Linguistic Review.More infoA reply to a long comment by Ray Jackendoff on the previous special issue of the journal. We defend the Minimalist Program and refute or resize several of jackendoff's objections.;Your Role: Co-author;Full Citation: Boeckx, C. and M. Piattelli-Palmarini (2007). "Linguistics in cognitive science: The state of the art amended." The Linguistic Review 24: 421-433.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Boeckx is a professor at Harvard Linguistics;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Smith, E. D., Jun, S. Y., & Bahill, T. A. (2007). Ameliorating mental mistakes on tradeoff studies. Systems Engineering.More infoA journal in which I would not have normally published. An interesting access to a different readership;Your Role: Contributed with some classical cases of mental mistakes and planned some experiments;Full Citation: Smith, Eric D., Son Young Jun, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini and Terry A. Bahill, (2007) "Ameliorating mental mistakes on tradeoff studies." Systems Engineering 10(3): 222-240.;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006). La rosa e il numero 5, al Colosseo, a mezzogiorno. Progetto Italia.More infoA special issue on collective decision-making;Your Role: Author;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M (2006) “La rosa e il numero 5, al Colosseo, a mezzogiorno” in Progetto Italia, n. 3, gennaio 2006, pagg. 6-12. (on cognitive illusions and focal equilibrium points) ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Smith, E., Son, Y. J., & Bahill, A. T. (2007). Ameliorating Mental Mistakes in Tradeoff Studies. Systems Engineering, 10(3), 222-240.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005). La cognizione dell'errore. Networks.More infoIntroducing a special kind of cognitive errors, named in Italian "smaccature;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2005). La cognizione dell'errore, Networks (Vol. 5, pp. 128-142). ;Electronic: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Bever, T. (2005). The fractionation of miracles.More info;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini M. and T. G. Bever (2005) “The fractionation of miracles”. Peer commentary, for The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, of the article by Michael Arbib: “From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics” Vol 28, n.2 Electronic version of BBS. http: / /www.bbsonline.org/Preprints /Arbib-05012002/Supplemental/. ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Boeckx, C. (2005). Language as a natural object; linguistics as a natural scienc. The Linguistic Reviews.More infoA defense of teh Minimalist Program on the basis of interesting parallels with theories in physics and biology;Full Citation: Cedric Boeckx and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini (2005) Language as a natural object; linguistics as a natural science”, in Ritter, N. (Editor) The Linguistic Review Vol 22 (n. 2-4) (Special issue “The Role of Linguistics in Cognitive Science”) pp. 447-466. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Cedric Boeckx is an assistant professor at Harvard;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2005). The evolution of the narrow faculty of language: The skeptical view and a reasonable conjecture. Lingue e Linguaggio (in English).More infoProceedings of a conference in which I did not participate, but was asked to contribute to the proceedings all the same;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Uriagereka, J. (2005). “The evolution of the narrow faculty of language: The skeptical view and a reasonable conjecture”. Lingue e Linguaggio, IV (1), 27-79. ;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Canessa, N., Gorini, A., Cappa, S., Danna, M., & Fazio, F. (2005). The effect of social content on deductive reasoning: An fMRI study. Human Brain Mapping.More infoWe show that the hypothesis of a "cheater detector" (Cosmides and Tooby) has no neurobiological basis, though the detection of social interactions does have one.;Your Role: co-author;Full Citation: Canessa, N., Gorini, A., Cappa, S. F., Piattelli-Palmarini, M., Danna, M., & Fazio, F. (2005). “The effect of social content on deductive reasoning: An fMRI study”. Human Brain Mapping, 26, 30-43. ;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Two graduate students and two and colleagues from the University San raffaele in Milan;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2003). Basic concepts: to put it simply... Nature, 426(6967).
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2002). Grammar: the barest essentials. Nature, 416(6877).
Proceedings Publications
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, Summar). Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. (2017). Quantum field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism. In 8th International Workshop DICE2016: Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics, 880.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, Fall). Quantum field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism.. In 8th International Workshop DICE 2016: Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics (880), 880, 1-16.More infoBy resorting to recent results, we show that an isomorphism exist between linguisticfeatures of the Minimalist Program and the quantum field theory formalism of condensed matter physics. Specific linguistic features which admit a representation in terms of the many-body algebraic formalism are the unconstrained nature of recursive Merge, the operation of the Labeling Algorithm, the difference between pronounced and un-pronounced copies of elements in a sentence and the build-up of the Fibonacci sequence in the syntactic derivation of sentence structures. The collective dynamical nature of the formation process of Logical Forms leading to the individuation of the manifold of concepts and the computational self-consistency of languages are also discussed.Co-authored with Giuseppe Vitiello.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Vitiello, G. (2017, April). Quantum Field theory and the linguistic Minimalist Program: a remarkable isomorphism.. In 8th International Workshop (DICE 2016) Spacetime, Matter, Quantum Mechanics, Journal of Physics, Conference Series (JPCS).More infoPresenting the essentials of Generative Grammar to an audience of physicists and suggesting deep, interesting parallels with Quantum Field Theory
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, May). Events and Conservativity: Clues towards Language Evolution. In Knowledge, Language, and Interpretation. On the Philosophy of Donald Davidson, 81-105.More infopaper presented at a conference on Donald Davidson, held in Genova (Italy) in May 2007. M. C. Amoretti and N. Vassallo (Eds) Knowledge, Language, and Interpretation. On the Philosophy of Donald Davidson. Frankfurt, Ontos Verlag.;Your Role: Author;
Presentations
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, December). Steps to the physics of language. UofA - ASU Conclave. University of Arizona: UofA and ASU.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June 2019). Normal language in abnormal brains. Seminario di Studi per Laonardo Maria Savoia. Universita' di Firenze. Facolta' di Scienze Umanistiche: Istituto di Linguistica.More infoMore than one century and a half after Broca’s pioneering studies of patients Leborgne and Lelong (Broca 1861, 1865), there is little doubt that, in the adult, specific brain lesions cause specific language deficits. Some of these language deficits can be remarkably specific, almost to the point of being unbelievable (Semenza, Zettin, & Borgo, 1998)loss of proper names only, mass nouns only, count nouns only, animal nouns only, names of landmarks only, names of Countries only, and several other stunning deficits.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June 2019). The Golden Phrase. NEtS linguistics seminars at Scuola IUSS.. Pavia (Italy): Istituto di Studi Superiori Avanzati, Universita' di Pavia.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June 2019). The Golden Phrase. The Linguistics Research Seminar of the University of Geneva. Geneva (Switzerland): Faculte' des Lettres de l"universite' de Geneve.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June 2019). What Jerry and I got right about what Darwin got wrong. Symposium in Honor of Jerry Fodor. Rutgers University: Center for Cognitive Science.More infoIf the mechanism of natural selection (as it is currently formulated) is correct, then it is a paradigm example of intensional causation. Intensional causation requires either (1) there be a mind involved in the causal process, or (2) the causal mechanism has access to nomological laws. Since there is neither (1) nor (2) at the biological level, the theory of natural selection cannot be correct.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June). On Piaget, Chomsky, Fodor, epigenetics and the Baldwin effect. Talks of the Centro Internazionale Mente e Cervello CIMeC. Rovereto (Trento - Italy): Centro Internazionale Mente e Cervello CIMeC.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, June). The Golden Phrase. Seminari di Linguistica del Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati. Universita’ di Venezia: Seminari di Linguistica del Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2019, May). Science and Literature in Italy: Primo Levi, Montale and Calvino. Literature and Molecules: Remembering Primo Levi on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth . University of California San Diego: Department of Modern Languages.More infoRemembering the Italian poet Eugenio Montale (Nobel Prize for Literature) and the novelist Italo Calvino and their relations to science.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018, April). Participation in a plenary session, with Jean-Pierre Changeux, Noam Chomsky and Thomas Bever. Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on the Science of Consciousness. Ventana Canyon: Annual Interdisciplinary Conferences on Consciousness.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018, December 10-11 2018). From Zero to Fifty: Reflections on Lenneberg's Biological Foundations of Language and updates. Generative Grammar at the Speed of 90. University of Arizona: Department of Linguistics.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2018, Fall). Normal language in abnormal brains. Cogntive Science Colloquium. New York: CUNY.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, February 25). Language as a natural object, linguistics as a natural science (Keynote Speaker). 23rd Annual Graduate Linguistics/TESOL Symposium. Arizona State University, Memorial Union, Tempe Campus: TESOL-ASU.More info(1) General considerations(2) The emptiness of the morpho-spaces(3) Why languages that do exist do exist and why those that do not do not.(4) Omnipresent structures in nature(5) Present also in language(6) Towards the physics of languageCONCLUSION
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, June 7). Normal language in abnormal brains. PREMESOR TALK Laboratori ACN del CIMeC – Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello dell’Università di Trento (Italy). Laboratori ACN del CIMeC – Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello dell’Università di Trento (Italy): Laboratori ACN del CIMeC – Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello dell’Università di Trento (Italy).More infoMore than one century and a half after Broca’s pioneering studies of patients Leborgne and Lelong, there is little doubt that, in the adult, specific brain lesions cause specific language deficits. Some of these language deficits can be remarkably specific, almost to the point of being unbelievable: loss of proper names only, mass nouns only, count nouns only, animal nouns only, names of landmarks only, names of Countries only, and several other stunning deficits. YETBrain localizations of linguistic functions are made problematic by several reported cases of normal language in spite of major brain anomalies, Mostly, but not exclusively, occurring early in life. These two horns of the dilemma deserve a closer analysis.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, May 29). Normal language in abnormal brains. Weeekly Seminars of the Réseau Thématique Langage et Communication, University of Geneva (Switzerland). Réseau Thématique Langage et Communication, University of Geneva (Switzerland) : Réseau Thématique Langage et Communication, University of Geneva (Switzerland).More infoMore than one century and a half after Broca’s pioneering studies of patients Leborgne and Lelong , there is little doubt that, in the adult, specific brain lesions cause specific language deficits. Some of these language deficits can be remarkably specific, almost to the point of being unbelievable: loss of proper names only, mass nouns only, count nouns only, animal nouns only, names of landmarks only, names of Countries only, and several other stunning deficits. YETBrain localizations of linguistic functions are made problematic by several reported cases of normal language in spite of major brain anomalies, Mostly, but not exclusively, occurring early in life. These two horns of the dilemma deserve a closer analysis.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, May 30). On Piaget, Chomsky, Fodor, epigenetics and the Baldwin effect (Invited presentation). Celebration of the Archives 40 years after Piaget's death. Archives Jean Piaget - University of Geneva (Switzerland): Archives Jean Piaget - University of Geneva (Switzerland).More infoComparing these two approaches:Piaget: Language is a special application of general cognition (semiotic function)The reflex of an abstract, logical necessity Deeply rooted in formal structures and the continuous construction of cognitive equilibria Self-organization and self-equilibration are the central forces. Learning is a progressive, step-wise construction.ChomskyLanguage is a specialized mental organ, a module The product of our genetic endowmentIts formal structures are language-specific and cannot be derived from experience (POS)The core process is one of projection of internal structures onto the surface linguistic expressions Learning is essentially “growth” and selection.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2014, Fall 2014). On referring to oneself. Conclave UofA/ASU Tempe. Arizona State University: Department of Psychology UofA and Department of Psychology ASU.More infoPresentation of ongoing work on the philosophy, syntax and semantics of self-referring expressions (the De Se contexts)
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2011-05-01). Steps toward the physics of language. Seminar for the Doctorate in Lingustics. University of Venezia (Italy).More infoSeminar (in English) for the Doctorate in Linguistics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-02-01). Colorless Green Ideas: The Chomskyan Revolution. Preparatory seminar in view of Chomsky's imminent visit. University of Arizona.More infoOpen to all University faculty and students, a round table aimed at presenting is a simple and accessible way the essentials of Chomsky's contribution to linguistics, philosophy and political thinking;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-03-01). Steps towards the Physics of Language. International Workshop on Biolinguistics. University of Kyoto, Japan.More infoInvited talk given at the international workshop in biolinguistics in Kyoto (convenors: Anna Maria Di Sciullo - McGill Univ. Montreal and Cedric Boeckx - University of Barcelona);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-03-01). Three models (and a half) for the description of language evolution. Evolang iX (Ninth International Conference on the Evolution of Language). University of Kyoto (Japan).More infoKeynote speech at the opening of the 4 days conference. Invited as a substitute of Noam Chomsky (if any such replacement could really exist), upon a suggestion by Chomsky.;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-05-01). Italian Scientists and Italian Politics; A Diificult Relation. Month of Italian Science (Opening Session). Italian Institute of Culture, Los Angeles.More infoConference (in English) for a general public, on the occasion of the Month of Italian Science (opening ceremony);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Italian Institute of Culture;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-05-01). Poverty of the stimulus revisited: recent challenges reconsidered. School of Doctorate in Linguistics. University of Venezia (Italy).More infoSecond lecture to the School of Doctorate in Linguistics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-05-01). Toewards a new science of the brain. Poiesis (Festival of the Sciences and the Arts). Fzbriano, Italy.More infoRound table on new developments in neurobiology (for a general public). Other presenters: Anirban Bandjopaydyai (National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan) and Giuseppe Vitiello (University of Salerno, Italy);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2012-10-01). Genes and language. Series of lectures. OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute).More infoOne lecture in the series of 12 organized by the UofA Department of Linguistics. A very successful series, highly praised by the OLLI organizers;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2013, 2013-05-01). How to improve decision making. Lecture to Italian top managers. Ambrosetti European House.More infoA 4-hours presentation on how to better make decisions to a group of 75 Italian top managers of various industrial, financial and administrative organizations;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Medeiros, D. (2013, 2012-12-01). Steps to the Physics of Language. Conclave of UofA/ASU Psychology Departments. Arizona State University.More infoA short (20 minutes) presentation of the basics of the work with Dave Medeiros;Your Role: Co-author;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2011-05-01). Steps toward the physics of language. Seminar for the Doctorate in Lingustics. University of Venezia (Italy).More infoSeminar (in English) for the Doctorate in Linguistics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-02-01). Colorless Green Ideas: The Chomskyan Revolution. Preparatory seminar in view of Chomsky's imminent visit. University of Arizona.More infoOpen to all University faculty and students, a round table aimed at presenting in a simple and accessible way the essentials of Chomsky's contribution to linguistics, philosophy and political thinking;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-03-01). Steps towards the Physics of Language. International Workshop on Biolinguistics. University of Kyoto, Japan.More infoInvited talk given at the international workshop in biolinguistics in Kyoto (convenors: Anna Maria Di Sciullo - McGill Univ. Montreal and Cedric Boeckx - University of Barcelona);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-03-01). Three models (and a half) for the description of language evolution. Evolang iX (Ninth International Conference on the Evolution of Language). University of Kyoto (Japan).More infoKeynote speech at the opening of the 4 days conference. Invited as a substitute of Noam Chomsky (if any such replacement could really exist), upon a suggestion by Chomsky.;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-05-01). Italian Scientists and Italian Politics; A Diificult Relation. Month of Italian Science (Opening Session). Italian Institute of Culture, Los Angeles.More infoConference (in English) for a general public, on the occasion of the Month of Italian Science (opening ceremony);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-05-01). Poverty of the stimulus revisited: recent challenges reconsidered. School of Doctorate in Linguistics. University of Venezia (Italy).More infoSecond lecture (in English) to the School of Doctorate in Linguistics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-05-01). Towards a new science of the brain. Poiesis (Festival of the Sciences and the Arts). Fabriano, Italy.More infoRound table on new developments in neurobiology (for a general public). Other presenters: Anirban Bandjopaydyai (National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan) and Giuseppe Vitiello (University of Salerno, Italy);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2012-10-01). Genes and language. Series of lectures. OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute).More infoOne lecture in the series of 12, organized by the UofA Department of Linguistics. A very successful series, highly praised by the OLLI organizers;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2012, 2013-05-01). How to improve decision making. Lecture to Italian top managers. Ambrosetti European House.More infoA 5-hours presentation on how to better make decisions to a group of 75 Italian top managers of various industrial, financial and administrative organizations;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Medeiros, D. (2012, 2012-12-01). Steps to the Physics of Language. Conclave of UofA/ASU Psychology Departments. Arizona State University.More infoA short (20 minutes) presentation of the basics of the work with Dave Medeiros;Your Role: Co-author;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011, 2011-05-01). Il Linguaggio. Lecture in the College of Medicine. University of Milan, Department of Physiology.More infoA general introduction to language for clinicians and physiologists;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011, 2011-05-01). La filosofia di Kant e le scienze cognitive. Lecture to three classes. Liceo Galileo Ferraris.More infoA lecture with discussion on Kant and modern cognitive science for three classes (united) of this Liceo;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: A high school in Turin (Italy);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011, 2011-10-01). Poverty of the stimulus stands: why recent challenges fail. Joint conference on linguistics ASU/UofA. Arizona State University (Tempe).More infoPresentation at the joint annual conference on linguistics ASU/UofA;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2011, 2011-12-01). Abstract Language Universals. Psychology Conclave ASU/UofA. University of Arizona.More infoShort presentation (15 minutes), followed by a very live discussion;Your Role: Presentation at the Psychology ASU/UofA Conclave (organized by Lynn Nadel);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Boncinelli, E., & Oliverio, A. (2011, 2011-05-01). La Mente e le Emozioni. Round Table. Fondazione del Corriere della Sera.More infoA round table on emotions and cognition, for a large public, broadcast live on the local radio station;Your Role: Participant in the panel;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Boncinelli is Professor of Genetics, San Raffaele University, Milan and Oliverio is Professor of Psychology, University of Rome;Type of Presentation: Panel Discussant (Reporting Research);
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-01-01). Traps of the mind: how to decide better. The European House Ambrosetti Workshops. Hotel Villa Pace, Preganziol (near Vicenza).More infoSole speaker in a course in Italian, for Italian managers (36 of them), a full day (3 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon), on cognitive illusions and decision making. ;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-01-01). Verso una fisica della mente (Towards a physics of the mind). Inauguration of the Academic Year. Universita' di Verona (Italy).More infoKeynote speaker (in robe and cap) at the formal inauguration of the academic year, in the presence of the Rector, all Professors and the civil and military Authorities. Locally broadcast by a television station. Text and slides published in the proceedings (see above);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-02-01). Knowing our errors. Incontri MindLab. Mestre, Liceo Tecnico.More infoA lecture for Italian high-school teachers of science (from several cities) ;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-03-01). Deep Abstracts in Language: Fibonacci patterns. Plenary lecture, in English. University of Verona, Graduate School in Humanistic Studies.More infoEspecially addressed to graduate students in the humanities (my hosts were Proff. Giorgio Graffi and Alessandra Tomaselli);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-03-01). Origins of language. Graduate Seminars Series. University of Verona, Graduate School in Humanistic Studies (Second lecture).More infoSecond lecture (in English) in the Scuola di Dottorato in Studi Umanistici. This lecture addressed to students with a wider range of backgrounds (including biology);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-03-01). Perverse scientific communication: how science turns into a secular religion. The case of Darwinism. International Workshop on Graphic Aids to Decision Making. University of Venice (Italy).More infoA workshop in which experts on decision making from Italy, France, England and the US participated;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-03-01). Re-thinkng evolution. INTEGRAMM Spring School. Venice (Italy).More infoA lecture at an international intensive (one week) advanced school for European geneticists and molecular biologists;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-03-01). Why language cannot be an adaptation. Dipartimento di Scienze Cognitive. Universita' di Trento / Rovereto.More infoConference (in English) at the Center for Mind and Brain and Department of Cognitive Science, in Rovereto;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-04-01). Deep abstracts invariants of language. Research Seminars of the Graduate School in Linguistics. University of Venice.More infoOne of the weekly research seminars for graduate students and post-docs (in English);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-04-01). Gli errori di Darwin. Presentation of the book with Jerry Fodor. University Library (Trieste).More infoPresentation of the Italian version of my book with Jerry Fodor to academics, students and a general public.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-04-01). Gli errori di Darwin. Round table on evolution. University of Venice (Italy).More infoPresentation of the Italian version of my book with Jerry Fodor, followed by a round table with Alessandro Minelli (Evo-Devo specialist, University of Padua) and Paolo Garbolino (philosopher of science, University of Venice);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-04-01). Windows of opportunity in science. Scienza a Regola d'Arte. Villa Caldogno, Vicenza (Italy).More infoAn evening lecture for the general public, on how science and art meet, when they do.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-05-01). Gli errori di Darwin. Book Forum. Libreria Feltrinelli (Milan, Italy).More infoPresentation of the Italian version of my book with Jerry Fodor, at the central bookshop of the publisher (Feltrinelli) followed by a round table with Riccardo Chiaberge (science journalist), Marco Santambrogio (philosopher, University of Parma) and Telmo Pievani (historian of biology, University of Milan) ;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-05-01). Il linguaggio. Course in General Physiology. Faculty of Medicine, University of Milan (Italy).More infoA wide panorama on the nature of language for medical students (in Italian);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-05-01). Introduction and chairing of the first session. BrainForum. Teatro Adriano, Roma (Italy).More infoIntroduction (in English and in Italian) and chairing of the first session of the international Forum on the brain, broadcast by television and interactive live with audiences in 4 different locations abroad.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-05-01). Language design and evolution in a new perspective. International Biolinguistics Workshop. University of Montreal (Canada).More infoPaper presented at the international workshop "The Language Design", University of Montreal;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-06-01). Language evolution in a new perspective. Undrestanding Language: 40 Years into the Garden Path. University of the Basque Country (Spain).More infoPaper presented at the international conference on language (in honor of Thomas Bever);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-06-01). Towards a physics of the mind. Workshop of the Center of Cognitive Science and Language. Medical Faculty, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain).More infopaper presented (in English) at the workshop on the present and the future of cognitive science;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-10-01). Language and thought. Salon Spirit of the Senses. Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix.More infoMy fifth talk (in 3 years, see previous reports) to a cultural association of professionals (lawyers, physicians, architects, engineers etc.) ;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2010, 2010-11-01). Comprehension, production and linearization in a new evolutionary perspective. Applied Linguistics Speaker Series. Arizona State University (Tempe).More infoMy host was Prof. Jeff MacSwan (ASU Linguistics);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-03-01). On Evans and Levinson's paper. Informal presentation. Prof. Thomas G. Bever's weekly lab meetings.More infoA critical personal exposition of the paper by Evans and Levinson criticizing the very idea of language universals, (then) to be published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-03-01). On Fibonacci in language. Informal presentation. Prof. Thomas G. Bever's weekly lab meeting.More infoA summary of the main theses in the 2008 paper by Juan Uriagereka and myself (see report for 2008);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-03-01). On the evolution of cognition and symbolic thought. Lecture to a professional organization. Salon Spirit of the Senses (Phoenix, AZ).More infoThis organization regularly invites academic speakers and professionals for evening lectures and discussion. It convenes architects, lawyers, teachers and business people;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-04-01). On Mark Baker's theory of parameters. Weekly meetings of Thomas G. Bever's Laboratory.More infoA personal summary of a workshop (then) just held at ASU, starring Mark Baker (of Rutgers) on agreement and the theory of parameters;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-05-01). Re-thinking evolution. Full intensive course (30 hours). Universita' San Raffaele, Milan (Italy).More infoCourse for senior undergraduates in the "Corso di Perfezionamento in Filosofia". 30 hours of teaching, then final papers correction and grading.Facolta' di Filosofia, Universita' San Raffaele, May-June 2009;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-06-01). What Darwin Got Wrong. Academic conference Rutgers-Siena. University of Siena (Italy).More infoTitle of my presentation "What Darwin Got Wrong", title of the international, interdisciplinary conference: "Mind and Culture: Joint Workshop Rutgers-Siena". ;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-09-01). On Fodor theory of concepts. Guest Lecturer in the graduate course of Andrew Barss's. LING 564 “Formal Semantics”.More infoGuest lecture;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-09-01). What Darwin Got Wrong. Guest Lecture in this course, main instructor Prof. Mailyn Halonen. Course PHCL 195c.More infoAn outline of the arguments and data of teh forthcoming book with Jerry Fodor (see above);Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-09-01). What Darwin Got Wrong. Lecture to a professional oganization. Salon Spirit of the Senses.More infoSecond (for 2009) lecture to the Phoenix (AZ) organization "Salon Spirit of the Senses". See above for a description. ;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-12-01). Introduction to bio-linguistics. Three guest lectures in the course taught by Harley, Carnie and Barss. LING 403/503 Foundations of Syntactic Theory.More infoThree guest lectures on the essentials of bio-linguistics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009, 2009-12-01). Off with Darwinian counters to the Poverty of the Stimulus. Rich Languages from Poor Inputs. MIT.More infoCountering some 30 years of Darwinian objections to specific language innatism and the poverty of the stimulus argument;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Harley, H., Garrett, M., Vercelli, D., & Francom, J. (2009, 2009-04-01). Presentation of the volume. Public presentation. Integrated Learning Center Room 130.More infoA presentation of the volume (then just published), event under the auspicesof the University Bookstore, Oxford University Press and the Cognitive Science Program;Your Role: Co-presenter, co-editor of the volume and co-author of a chapter in it;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Collaborative with graduate student: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member at UA: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Uriagereka, C. J., & Vitiello, G. (2009, 2009-06-01). Embodiments of Language. Academic conference (coorganized by myself). Institute for Scientific Interchange Foundation (Turin, Italy).More infoThe international, interdisciplinary conference "At the roots of Complexity: The emergence of structures in Matter, Brain, Life, Language” Torino, ISI, Villa Gualino,22-24 June, 2009. It gathered physicists, biologists, linguists and cognitive scientists.;Your Role: Co-organizer and author of a presentation;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Juan Uriagereka is Professor of Linguistics at Maryland, Giuseppe Vitiello is Professor of Physics at the University of Salerno (Italy);Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-05-01). DOVE Ă. Scienze della Mente e Scienze del Cervello. University of Genova (Italy).More infoOn the mind/body problem, from the point of view of modern cognitive science;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-05-01). La conservativita' dei determinatori: conseguenze per l'evoluzione del linguaggio. Linguistics colloquia. University of Venezia (Italy).More infoJoint colloquium of Dipartimento di Scienze del Linguaggio and Dipartimento di Economia e Direzione Aziendale, Universita' di Venezia;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-05-01). La matematica e le scienze cognitive. La Matematica per la Cittadinanza. Town-Hall of Turin (Italy).More infoA summary of mathematical cognition for the Association of Italian High School Teachers of Mathematics;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-05-01). Some major problems in the evolution of language and cognition. Weekly seminars. Salon Spirit of the Senses.More infoA talk on evolution of language and cognition for a non-academic audience of professionals in various fields (physicians, architects, entrepreneurs, high school teachers);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-05-01). Verso una scienza della buona decisione. Scuola di Dottorato IV edizione del Corso trasversale in: Epistemologia della Ricerca scientifica e tecnica “Guido Nardi”. Politecnico di Milano.More infoA summary of cognitive illusions for graduate students and professors in engineering and architecture of the Milan Polytechnic;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-06-01). La conservativita' dei determinanti: conseguenze per l'evoluzione del linguaggio. Neuroscience colloquium. Universita' di Parma Dipartimento di Neuroscienze Sezione di Fisiologia.More infoWeekly colloquia of the Neuroscience Laboratory of the University of Parma (Italy), directed by Prof. Giacomo Rizzolatti;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-06-01). La teoria dell'evoluzione oggi. La teoria dell'evoluzione. Unversita' San Raffaele, Facolta' di Filosofia (Milan).More infoThe nature and impact of the "evo-devo" revolution;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: An open debate-presentation with Prof. Telmo Pievani, professor of the history of biology at the Universita' Statale of Milan (Italy);Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-06-01). Rethinking evolution: the return of the laws of form and the case of language. Weekly colloquia (in English). European Brain Research Institute (Rome, Italy).More infoThe EBRI Institute has been founded and is directed by the Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-10-01). Issues in the evolution of language. Weekly colloquia on linguistics, Arizona State (Tempe). Department of Language and Literature ASU.More infoGuest of Prof. Elly Van Gelderen;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-10-01). The Illusion of Knowing. Weekly conferences. Salon Sprit of the Senses.More infoAn interdisciplinary salon in Phoenix, gathering various kinds of professionals (physicians, lawyers, architects, engineers, managers, high school teachers etc.);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, 2008-10-01). The return of the laws of form and (some) perfection in language. Center for Human Development Seminar. University of California San Diego.More infoOver and above the talk, I met several colleagues and graduate students. A whole-day visit.;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2008, 2009-02-01). (One of) Two talks on linearization. First meeting of the International Network of Biolinguistics. Universiity of Arizona.More infoHow the linearization of hierarchical structures in language poses interesting analogies (and differences, of course) with bird-songs;Your Role: Co-author;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Juan Uriagereka, professor at the University of Maryland, is a frequent co-author of mine;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-01-01). Attribute substitution, perception and reasoning. School of Engineering, UofA. MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative).More infoSeminar in video-link with Phoenix;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-04-01). Rethinking Evolution. Department of Philosophy, Seminar in the Philosophy of Mind. Rutgers University (NJ).More infoSpecial session of Fodor's graduate course, with faculty also attending;Your Role: Detailing recent discoveries and changes in theories in evolutionary biology;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Part of my collaboration with Jerry Fodor;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-04-01). The case of FOXP2 (the so-called “language gene”) revisited. Linguistic Colloquia. Harvard University.More infoWeekly Harvard Linguistic Colloquia;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-06-01). Come decidere meglio. One-day course for Italian managers. Ambrosetti The European House.More infoA one-day course on decision-making and cognitive illusions with applications;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-06-01). La micro-irrationalité quotidienne. Special course for Belgian and French industrial managers. Bruges, Belgium.More infoA one-afternonn mini-course (4 hours) organized by the French conglomerate Air Liquide;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-09-01). Re-thinkinking language evolution: The case of conservativity. Cognitive Science Brown Bag Colloquia. University of Arizona.More info;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2007, 2008-11-01). Ripensare l'evoluzione: Cio's che Darwin non poteva sapere. Annual Science Festival. Genova, Italy.More infoThe Science Festival lasts two weeks and has attracted, all in all, in 2008, 250,000 visitors;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Uriagereka, J. (2007, 2008-06-01). The case of FOXP2 revisited. Biolinguistics: Language Evolution and Variation. University of Venice.More infoAn international conference organized by Anna-Maria Di Sciullo with Canadian funds from the University of Montreal;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Two papers, side by side, with Juan Uriagareka;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & none, . (2007, 2006-12-01). Rethinking evolution. City University of New York Graduate Center, Cognitive Science Symposium.More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & none, . (2007, 2008-02-01). Rethinking Evolution, Language, and the Evolution of Language. . Conference “Biolinguistic Investigations”. Dominican Republic.More infoAn international conference on biolinguistics;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & none, . (2007, 2008-02-01). The return of the laws of form. Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative special colloquium on “Finding Perfection: Perspectives on Optimality. Harvard University.More infoA one-day interdisciplinary symposium on optimal design in several domains. Mine was the keynote speech;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & none, . (2007, 2008-04-01). Rethinking Evolution, Language, and the Evolution of Language. Department of Psychology and Department of Philosophy joint colloquium. Northeastern University (Boston MA).More infoA formal lecture to psychologists and philosophers;Invited: Yes;Interdisciplinary: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Carnie, A. H., Wedel, A. B., Gerken, L. -., & Mckee, C. M. (2007, September). Poverty of the Stimulus. Cognitive Science Master Seminar. University of Arizona.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-01-01). Debate. International Science Festival. Rome, Italy.More info;Type of Presentation: Public Debate;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-03-01). The Psychology of Mistakes: Micro-Irrationality. Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Tucson, AZ.More info;Type of Presentation: Lecture;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-05-01). A plea for re-thinking language, evolution and the evolution of language. Department of Cognitive Sciences. University of California, Irvine.More info;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-05-01). Re-thinking the evolution of language. Department of Comparative Human Development. University of Chicago.More info;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-06-01). Biological Foundations of Language. Summer School. University of Amsterdam.More info;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-06-01). The biological foundations of language reconsidered. Dipartimento di Neuroscienze. Universita' di Parma, Italy.More info;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-06-01). The birth and rise of selectivism. San Raffaele University, Italy.More info;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-08-01). LING 889: Biological Foundations of Language. University of Maryland.More info;Type of Presentation: Lecture;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-10-01). The Return of the Laws of Form. The Eternal Solution of Life. Rimini, Italy.More info;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-11-01). Real-life decisions; neither rational nor capricious. International Science Festival. Genova, Italy.More info;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2006-12-01). Rethinking evolution, language and the evolution of language. Cuny Graduate Center Cognitive Science Symposia.More info;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2006, 2007-05-01). Of Minds and Language: An Encounter with Noam Chomsky. 25th Anniversary of the University of the Basque Country Summer Schools. San Sebastian, Spain.More info;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-04-01). How words compose into sentences and how sentences map onto thoughts. Institute of Cognitive Science. Seoul (Korea) National University.More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-04-01). The rapid, and probably infectious, evolution of the narrow faculty of language. Language Research Institute. Seoul (Korea) National University.More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-05-01). Judgment and Decision Making (in Italian). A whole course module (40 hours). San Raffaele University.More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-05-01). Some limits of compositionality in the semantics of natural languages. Facolta' di Letetre conferences. University of Genova.More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-06-01). Psicologia ed Economia delle Scelte. Book presentation. Fondazione Lelio Basso.More infoPresentation with debate of my book by the same title;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Other participants: Proff. Massimo Marraffa and Vittorio Bo;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-06-01). Psicologia ed Economia delle Scelte. Book presentation. Libreria Feltrinelli (Milan, Italy).More info;Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Prof. Edoardo Boncinelli;Type of Presentation: Community Outreach;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-06-01). Some limits of compositionality in the semantics of natural languages. Department of Psychology seminars. Universty of Milano (Satatale - Bicocca).More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-06-01). Syntax, semantics and compositionality. Facolta' di Lettere symposia. University of Venezia (Italy).More info;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2005, 2005-10-01). What is language, that it may have evolved, and what is evolution. Morris Symposium on Langauge Evolution. NY University of Stony Brook.More infoPaper to be published (in 2008) in the proceedings (see report for 2007);Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Harley, H. (2005, 2005-05-01). Some limits of some compositionality. Festschrift in honor of James Higginbotham. Rutgers University.More infoCommentators: Josh Dever and Zoltan Szabo;Invited: Yes;Collaborative with faculty member in unit: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Motterlini, M. (2005, 2005-06-01). Economic Rationality and Decision Making. Round table. Universita' San Raffaele.More infoOccasioned by the publication of our edited book (see publications);Invited: Yes;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Matteo Motterlini is a professor in that University;Type of Presentation: University;
Reviews
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008. Novel tools at the service of old ideas.More infoReview of an influential book that, in my opinion, gets it wrong on the evolution of language;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2008). "Novel Tools at the Service of Old Ideas (review of Jablonka, Eva & Marion J. Lamb. 2005. Evolution in Four Dimensions. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.)." Biolinguistics 2.2(3): pp. 236-245.;Electronic: Yes;
Others
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2021, July). Where does math meet biology? Long technical interview with Andrew van Wagner. https://join.substack.com/p/where-does-math-meet-biology.More infoA long technical interview on math and biology, following similar interviews with Noam Chomsky, Charles Randy Gallistel and others
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2023, June). La biologie systémique (In French). Colloques de Cérisy (France). Conference in honor of French Sociologist and epistemologist Edgar Morin.More infoA colloquium in honor of the well known French sociologist and epistemologist Edgar Morin on his 100th birthday
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Pennetta, E. (2019, June 2019). A 70 minutes interview and debate on "What Darwing Got Wrong" for an Italian network called ByoBlu. 57,421 viewers in July 2019 alone. : https://brave.com/byo469. : https://brave.com/byo469More infoClaudio Messora, anchorman and interviewer, interviewed me and Prof. Enzo Pennetta (evolutionary biologist, University of Rome) on the Italian translation of "What Darwin Got Wrong". Objections, counters and expansions of the topic.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2017, Fall). Parameters: Special Issue of Linguistic Analysis. The Journal Linguistic Analysis, Volume 41, Number 3-4.More infoA special issue, edited by Simin Karimi and myself, on parameters, pro and con. What are they, where are they
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. (2013, MAR). Narrowing, but not bridging, the brain-mind gap Comment on "Dissipation of dark energy by cortex in knowledge retrieval" by Antonio Capolupo, Walter J. Freeman and Giuseppe Vitiello. PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Many, s. (2012). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs.More infoProceedings (with many updates) of the original woskshop at MIT;Your Role: Co-editor and co-organizer of the workshop at MIT;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., & Berwick, R. C. (Eds.). (2013). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Robert Berwick (MIT) as co-editor and with all the authors;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., & Berwick, R. C. (2011). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs.More infoProceedings of the workshop organized by myself and Robert Berwick at MIT (December 2009) in honor of Carol Chomsky. All papers are originals. The authors are: Adriana Belletti, Thomas Bever, Noam Chomsky, Susan Curtiss, Janet Fodor, Itziar Laka, Barbara Landau, Julie Legate, Lila Gleitman, Merryl Goldberg, Jacques Mehler, Wayne O'Neill, Charles Reid, Luigi Rizzi, Rebecca Treiman, Kenneth Wexler, MaryAnn Wolf, Charles Yang;Your Role: Co-editor;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M. and R. C. Berwick, Eds. (in press). Rich Languages from Poor Inputs. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: Berwick is a Professor at MIT;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). Intervista.More infoAn interview in Italian on science and literature;Your Role: Interviewee;Full Citation: http://www.anobii.com/anobi/forum_thread.php?tid=36276&pid=130&lid=#new_thread;Electronic: Yes;Type of Publication: Interview on a website;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2009). Ostracism w/out natural selection.More infoAn anticipation of the main topics covered in the book with Fodor "What Darwin Got Wrong" (see above);Your Role: Interviewee;Full Citation: Suzan Mazur Piattelli-Palmarini: Ostracism W/out Natural Selection 09/05/2008Follow up and updated in 2009;Electronic: Yes;Type of Publication: Interview;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, February). Co-organization (with Prof. Anne-Marie Di Sciullo) of the First Meeting of the International Network on Biolingusitics.More infoCo-organization (with Prof. Anne-Marie Di Sciullo) of the First Meeting of the International Network in Biolinguistics (INB), at the UofA Tucson Arizona (23-24 February 2008) sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research council of Canada, by the University of Quebec and by the University of Arizona.Among the participants: Robert Berwick (MIT), Kenneth Wexler (MIT), Cedric Boeckx (Harvard), Juan Uriagereka (Maryland), Richard K. Larson (Stony Brook), Elly Van Gelderen (ASU), Lisa Lai-Chen Sheng (Leiden), Marc Hauser (Harvard), Karin Stromswold (Rutgers)From this university: Heidi Harley, Thomas Bever, Andrew Wedel and David Medeiros.This first meeting si being followed by a collective "manifesto" (see above) and by the organization of Summer Schools, further conferences and research applications.
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -. (2008, May). L'illusione di sapere. Enciclopedia Treccani del Terzo Millennio.More infoContribution to a new encyclopedia of the Treccani Series (the encyclopedia of the third millennium). My article is a survey of the various kinds of illusions of knowing.;Type of Publication: Encyclopedia entry;
- Piattelli-Palmarini, M. -., Uriagereka, J., & Salaburu, P. (2008). On Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky.More infoMuch re-worked proceedings of the conference held in San Sebastian in June 2006 (see previous years). Among the contributors: Noam Chomsky, James Higginbotham, Lila Gleitman, Janet Fodor, Charles R. Gallistel, Rochel Gellman, Marc Hauser.;Your Role: Principal co-editor, principal organizer of the original conference in San Sebastian;Full Citation: Piattelli-Palmarini, M., J. Uriagereka and P. Salaburu, Eds. (2009). Of Minds and Language: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky in the Basque Country. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.;Other collaborative: Yes;Specify other collaborative: In collaboration with Juan Uriagereka, professor at the University of Maryland, and Prof. Pello Salaburu, director of the Summer School in San Sebastian (Basque Country);