Nicola Simonetti

I was born in Novara, the city of the "Cupola of San Gaudenzio" of A. Antonelli, on 31st December, 1972. I attended Primary and High Schools in Novara, notably Scientific Liceo "A. Antonelli, obtaining scientific maturity in 1993, with the score of 50/60. I studied very much science and mathematics, but I was fascinated by philosophy, being convinced that philosophy without science is empty and science without philosophy is blind... and my heart chose philosophy! So I moved to Vercelli to study it, by "A. Avogadro" University. I attended many courses, both in history of philosophy and above all in philosophy of sciences, and I was captured by the philosophy of mind. I saw in it the possibility to build a bridge between sciences and philosophy, above all facing classic topics as mind-body problem and the new topics emerging from cognitive sciences (artificial intelligence, neurosciences, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, philosophy). During my studies for the Research Thesis I was struck by the concept of "supervenience" introduced by D. Davidson and interpreted in a reductive view by J. Kim (1993; 1998; 2005). I saw in it an important conceptual bridge to link body and mind! Finally I took a four-year Degree in Philosophy, July 6, 1998, with a Thesis in Philosophy of Mind (Supervisor Prof. Michele Di Francesco and co-author Prof. Alfredo Civita) entitled  “Sopravvenienza e causazione mentale”, with the outcome of 110/110 cum laude et mentione. In 1999-200 I passed the Ordinary Public Competition for exams and titles for the classes of competition A036 (philosophy and social sciences) and A037 (philosophy and history), held in Cuneo for the Piedmont Region in 1999-2000. Since the school year 2005-2006 I have been teaching as a permanent teacher in Philosophy/Social Sciences/History in different High Schools, notably Liceo. In 2008 I won the public exam for attending the PhD in Cognitive Sciences by the University of Siena and I got the PhD Degree in Cognitive Sciences on February 2, 2013. The PhD Research Thesis (Tutor Prof. Sandro Nannini, Referees Prof. Simone Gozzano and Prof. Telmo Pievani) was entitled “Sopravvenienza e riduzionismo nel pensiero di J. Kim e nel sistema specchio”. I'm very interested in the interdisciplinary debate around mirror neurons discovery, trying to understand what we may correctly state about this discovery from experiments and what is controversial. My studies and theories about mind-body problem in philosophy of mind and the interdisciplinary debate around mirror neurons discovery may be clearly read and deepened on my following works: Filosofia e scienze della mente, with Raffaella Zanardi, Armando Editore, Rome 2004; La mente incorporata. La lezione di J. Kim sino ai neuroni specchio, with the preface of  S. Nannini, Aracne Editrice, Rome 2012; Supervenience, Reductionism and Mirror Neurons system, Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP), Saarbrücken (Germany) 2012; La settimana del cervello. Il cervello tra neuroscienze e filosofia della mente (by Nicola Simonetti), with essays by N. Simonetti, Aldo and Luca Biolcati, and P. Car, Aracne, Rome 2014; Neuroscience and Philosophy of Mind. A Reductive Interpretation of Mirror Neurons System, Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP), Saarbrücken (Germany) 2015; Lo specchio della mente. Il problema mente-corpo e i neuroni specchio, Diogene Multimedia Università, Bologna 2016; Il problema mente-corpo e i neuroni specchio, Diogene Multimedia Ricerca, Bologna 2019, Riflessioni sullo specchio. Neuroscienze, Filosofia, Arte, with F. D'Amico and A. Biolcati (a cura di F. D'Amico), Aracne, Rome 2019. In the end I published my PhD Thesis of Research in Cognitive Sciences uploaded to the recent studies and researches, Filosofia della mente. Da J. Kim ai neuroni specchio, with Presentation of S. Nannini and Interview to J. Kim, Aracne, Rome 2020.