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none 2 no Not only has the philosophical debate on causation been gaining ground in the last few decades, but it has also increasingly addressed the sciences. The biomedical sciences are among the most prominent fields that have been considered, with a number of works tackling the understanding of the notion of cause, the assessment of genuinely causal relations and the use of causal knowledge in applied contexts. Far from denying the merits of the debate on causation and the major theories it comprises, this paper is meant as a stimulus for theorists of causation in the philosophy of biomedicine, with a focus on clinical matters. Without aiming at putting forward an original theory of causation and starting from the narration of two actual but paradigmatic cases at the joints between biomedical research and clinical practice, we want to point out that some pathological situations addressed by molecular medicine actually prove resistant to (at least) some of our major epistemological accounts of causal explanation. Given this scenario, which is very frequent in our hospitals, our analysis aims to provide a stimulus for the debate among theorists of causation in biomedicine interested in real cases in science in practice. We believe that this might in turn encourage some more general rethinking of the complex intertwinement of science, philosophy of science and ethics, as well as of the role of philosophy of science for clinical medicine itself. First Online: 06 October 2017 Giovanni, Boniolo; Raffaella, Campaner Giovanni, Boniolo; Raffaella, Campaner

none 1 no This chapter addresses the genesis, sources, structure, contents, and fortune of the toxicological Book on Poisons and the Protection against Lethal Drugs (also referred to here as On Poisons) by the famous Jewish intellectual and physician Moses Maimonides (d. 1204). The discussion is placed in the context of Maimonides' medical contributions and the medical and toxicological knowledge of the Islamic world. The transmission of the work in its Arabic original, and Hebrew and Latin translations, is analyzed, and a survey of modern scholarship on this work is provided. mixed Ferrario G. Ferrario G.

none 1 no At the roots of quantum physics we find two “specular” principles: a principle of distinguishability, which arranges the “uncertainty” of quantum measurement, and a principle of continuity, which drives the evolution of quantum systems. The vital link between the two principles was sharply captured by Leibniz. In his Theodicy, the issue of continuity (and indivisibles) is presented as one of “the two famous labyrinths” in which our reason can lose its way; the other concerns “the great question of freedom and necessity.” According to Leibniz, only geometry can provide a thread for the labyrinth of continuity. However, escaping from the labyrinth of Fate, Fortune, and Freedom requires a different perspective on nature. Leibniz’s perspective on the mechanism of nature is significantly different from Descartes’ or Newton’s. It reveals notable affinities with the Chinese correlative thinking. Surprisingly, the rationale behind these affinities may find a coherent setting in quantum information. mixed Lupacchini, Rossella Lupacchini, Rossella

none 2 no The representation space of Renaissance painting is compared to the representation space of quantum physics in [this chapter]. The action of a “semi-transparent” mirror splitting the trajectory of a photon, or any quantum particle, resembles the action of “Alberti’s window” in painting. According to Alberti, painting must recreate a view through a window. To accomplish this task, the light coming from the scene (to be painted) must be caught by the painter’s eye and projected on the plane surface of an ideal veil. The pictorial image results from a “double projection,” for that window acts both as a glass intersecting the visual pyramid and as a mirror reflecting the painter’s eye. When Narcissus realizes how a mirror acts, the shadow which he observes allows him to see another side of himself. When physicists realize how quantum interference acts, “photon-shadows” become “observables.” The awareness shared by Narcissus, Renaissance perspectivists, and quantum observers involves a revision of the function of shadow with respect to the Platonic condemnation and to the “fantastic” conception of the classic world. In the girl’s attempt to fix her lover’s image (told by Pliny), one can already see a “measuring her self against the other” that Plato’s myth had not envisaged. Despite the separation from the young man, the image she drew, the “artificial” representation, would maintain the link (of her self) with the “other.” This view of painting giving shape to “relational” forms marks itself off from a view of science describing “objective” properties of physical reality, hence losing or denying any link between the scientist-observer and the observed object. mixed Angelini A.; Lupacchini R. Angelini A.; Lupacchini R.

none 3 no We investigated how the reach-to-grasp movement is influenced by the presence of another person (friend or non-friend), who was either invisible (behind) or located in different positions with respect to an object and to the Agent, and by the perspective conveyed by linguistic pronouns (“I”, “You”). The interaction between Social Relationship and Relative Position influenced the latency of both maximal fingers aperture and velocity peak, showing shorter latencies in presence of a non-friend than in presence of a friend. However, whereas the relative position of a non-friend did not affect the kinematics of the movement, the position of a friend mattered: latencies were significantly shorter with friends only in positions allowing them to easily reach for the object. Finally the investigation of the overall reaching movement time showed an interaction between the Speaker and the Pronoun: participants reached the object more quickly when the Other spoke, particularly if she used the “I” pronoun. This suggests that speaking, and particularly using the “I” pronoun, evokes a potential action. Implications of the results for embodied cognition are discussed. Gianelli C.; Scorolli C.; Borghi A.M. Gianelli C.; Scorolli C.; Borghi A.M.

none 3 Language comprehension requires a simulation process that taps perception and action systems. How speciWc is this simulation? To address this question, participants listened to sentences referring to the lifting of light or heavy objects (e.g., pillow or chest, respectively). Then they lifted one of two boxes that were visually identical, but one was light and the other heavy. We focused on the kinematics of the initial lift (rather than reaching) because it is mostly shaped by proprioceptive features derived from weight that cannot be visually determined. Participants were slower when the weight suggested by the sentence and the weight of the box corresponded. This eVect indicates that language can activate a simulation which is sensitive to intrinsic properties such as weight. Scorolli C.; Borghi A.M.; Glenberg A.M. Scorolli C.; Borghi A.M.; Glenberg A.M.