Dr FRANCESCO BERTO

Dr FRANCESCO BERTO The University of Aberdeen School of Divinity, History & Philosophy Senior Lecturer work +44 (0)1224 272372 work fax +44 (0)1224 273750 pref f.berto@abdn.ac.uk Academia web page
PhilPapers web page
pref Department of Philosophy King's College, High Street Old Brewery OBG14 Aberdeen AB24 3UB

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Biography

I have obtained my PhD in philosophy at the University of Venice-Ca’Foscari; two postdocs: one in theoretical philosophy at the University of Padua, one in ontology at the Sorbonne of Paris, where I have been a Chaire d'Excellence fellow at the IHPST-CNRS; and a scholarship in philosophy of mind at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA).

I have lectured in ontology and metaphysics at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris and at the Universities of Padua and Milan-San Raffaele; in logic and philosophy of science at the University of Venice and at the SSIS (School of Specialization for High School Professors) of Venice and Padua; I have been an invited professor at the Institut Wiener Kreis of the University of Vienna, and a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Notre Dame.

I won the 2007 Castiglioncello Prize for young philosophers for the book Teorie dell'assurdo, Rome (english edition: How to Sell a Contradiction, London)

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Research Interests

My AOC: Continental philosophy (AOS: Hegel’s dialectics, continental rationalist philosophers); Ontology & Metaphysics (AOS: Meinongian ontology, coincident objects, ontological commitment, modal metaphysics); Philosophy of logic (AOS: logical paradoxes, paraconsistent logics, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, impossible worlds); Philosophy of language (AOS: inferential semantics, non-standard model-theoretic semantics); and Philosophy of computation (AOS: cellular automata).

My favourite philosopher is Ludwig Wittgenstein, and my favourite book is the Tractatus logico-philosophicus. I love logical paradoxes, for I think they point at ineffable truths – and I like those philosophers that don’t take themselves too seriously.

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Research Grants

2010 Ca' Foscari Research Prize, University of Venice, € 10,000.

2010-11 One-year research fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study, University of Notre Dame (USA), $ 58,000.

2010-12 Two-year research grant at the Department of Philosophy, University of Venice: "The Gödel Paradox and Wittgenstein's Reasons", € 28,000.

2013-15 Two-year AHRC Early Career Researcher grant at the Northern Institute of Philosophy: "The Metaphysical Basis of Logic", £ 240,000. (Stay tuned!)

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Teaching Responsibilities

UG courses: Metaphysics (Sub-Hons), Ontology (Hons), Logical Paradoxes (Hons).

PG courses: Conference Skills.

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External Responsibilities

I run the entries "Dialetheism" (with Graham Priest), "Cellular Automata" (with Jacopo Tagliabue), and "Impossible Worlds" of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

I am a consultant of iLabs Milan, the research laboratory in applied Artificial Intelligence.

I have refereed for the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Quarterly, Dialectica, Mind, Philosophical Studies, Review of Symbolic Logic, Journal of Philosophical Logic, Logique et Analyse, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Erkenntnis, Synthèse, Australasian Journal of Logic, Analytic Philosophy, Logica Universalis, Disputatio, Southern Journal of Philosophy, Continuum, and Oxford University Press.

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Admin Responsibilities

Disciplinary Leader of Research for Philosophy.

Member of the Research Committee, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy.

Member of the REF Working Group, College of Arts and Social Sciences.

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Office Hours

Mondays 11:00-12:30PM, Old Brewery OBG14.

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Recent Talks

- Philosophy Club, University of St Andrews, February 20, 2013. Talk: Either the World Is Digital, Or It Is Not.

- Conference “25 Years In Contradiction”, University of Glasgow, December 7-9, 2012. Talk: Exclusion vs. Explosion: Going Predicative? 

- Edinburgh Philosophy Society Conference, University of Edinburgh, April 5, 2012. Talk: The Empire Strikes Back: the Law of Non-Contradiction after Dialetheism.

- Dundee Philosophy Society Conference, University of Dundee, March 29, 2012. Talk: The Ontology of Sherlock Holmes.

- Philosophy Senior Seminar, University of Glasgow, March 20, 2012. Talk: The Empire Strikes Back: the Law of Non-Contradiction after Dialetheism

- Conference at the Master in Philosophy for Children, University of Padua, Italy, February 25, 2012. Talk: Intuizioni, argomenti e paradossi [Intuitions, Arguments and Paradoxes].

- “7th European Conference of Analytic Philosophy”, University of Milan-San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, September 1-6, 2011. Talk: Non-Normal Worlds and Representation.

- Conference “Inconsistency Robustness”, University of Stanford (CA, USA), August 16-18, 2011. Talk: Worlds Semantics and Inconsistency.

- Conference “Logica 2011”, Prague, Czech Republic, June 20-24, 2011. Talk: Non-Normal Worlds and Inconsistent Representation.

- Conference “Contradictions: Logic, History and Actuality”, Technische Universität, Berlin, Germany, June 3-5, 2011. Talk: Representing the Contradictory.

- Workshop “Esistenza e natura”, University Ca’Foscari of Venice, Italy March 16, 2011. Talk: Essere è avere poteri causali.

- Six talks at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, University of Notre Dame (IN, USA), September 2010-May 2011, within the research project “The Metaphysical Foundations of Logic: the Law of Non-Contradiction as Basic Knowledge”.

- SIFA 2010 – the workshop of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy, University of Padua, Italy, September 23-25, 2010. Talk: There’s Plenty of Boole at the Bottom! (with J. Tagliabue).

- The 4th Italian Workshop of Analytic ontology, University of Bergamo, Italy, June 17-18, 2010. Talk: Incontri ravvicinati (con inesistenti) del terzo tipo.

- ECAP 2010 – the 2010 European Conference on Computing and Philosophy, University of Munich, Germany, October 4-6, 2010. Talk: There’s Plenty of Boole at the Bottom! (with J. Tagliabue).

- Workshop “Foundations of Logical Consequence”, University of St Andrews, Scotland UK, March 20-21, 2010. Talk: Impossible Worlds and Propositions.

- Conference at COGITO-research centre in philosophy, University of Bologna, Italy, February 2010. Talk: Mondi impossibili e proposizioni.

- Conference “Logica 2009”, Prague, Czech Republic, June 22-26, 2009. Talk: Impossible Worlds and Propositions: Against the parity Thesis.

- Conferences at the Institut Wiener Kreis, University of Vienna, Austria, January 22-23, 2009. Titles: What Is Hegel’s Dialectics?, and How to Rule Out Things with Words.

- Workshop “Propositions: Ontology, Semantics and pragmatics”, Venice, Italy, November 17-19, 2008. Talk: Impossible Worlds and Propositions: a Case against the Parity Thesis.

- SIFA 2008 – the workshop of the Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy, Bergamo, Italy, September 25-27, 2008. Talk: How to Rule Out Things with Words.

- ECAP 6 – “6th European Conference of Analytic Philosophy”, Jagellonian University, Krakow, Poland, August 21-26, 2008. Talk: Leibniz’s Law, Coincident Entities and Question-Begging Predicates: an Issue in Meta-ontology.

- Congress “Logic, Being and Non-Being in History”, University of Sydney, Australia, July 21-22, 2008. Talk: Close Encounters (with Nonexistents) of the Third Kind.

- WCP4 – “The Fourth World Congress of Paraconsistency”, Melbourne, Australia, July 13-18, 2008. Talk: The Gödel Paradox and Wittgenstein’s Reasons.

- Workshop “Logica 2008”, Prague, Czech Republic, June 17-20, 2008. Talk: Strong Paraconsistency, Contradiction, and Exclusion Negation.

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Publications

Contributions to Journals

Articles

• Berto, F. (in press). 'Absolute Contradiction, Dialetheism, and Revenge'. Review of Symbolic Logic.
• Berto, F. (2013). 'Coincident Entities and Question-Begging predicates: An Issue in Meta-Ontology'. Metaphysica: international journal for ontology and metaphysics, vol 14, no. 1, pp. 1-15.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/s12133-012-0106-x
• Berto, F. (in press). 'Modal Noneism: Transworld Identity, Identification, and Individuation'. Australasian Journal of Logic.
• Berto, F. & Tagliabue, J. (2012). 'Cellular Automata'. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Berto, F. (2012). 'The Selection Problem'. Revue Internationale de Philosophie, vol 66, pp. 519-537.
• Berto, F. (2011). 'Modal Meinongianism and Fiction: the Best of Three Worlds'. Philosophical Studies, vol 152, no. 3, pp. 313-335.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/s11098-009-9479-2
  [Online] AURA: Modal_Meinongianism_and_Fiction_the_Best_of_Three_Worlds.pdf
• Berto, F., Tagliabue, J. & Rossi, G. (2011). 'Come ti sconfiggo l'entropia informazionale: Automi cellulari e computazione reversibile'. Sistemi Intelligenti, vol 3, pp. 427-446.
  [Online] AURA: Paper_Sistemi_Intelligenti.pdf
• Berto, F. (2010). 'Impossible Worlds and Propositions: Against the Parity Thesis'. The Philosophical Quarterly, vol 60, no. 240, pp. 471-486.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9213.2009.627.x
  [Online] AURA: Impossible_Worlds_and_Propositions.doc
• Berto, F. (2009). 'The Goedel Paradox and Wittgenstein's Reasons'. Philosophia Mathematica, vol 17, no. 2, pp. 208-219.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1093/philmat/nkp001
• Berto, F. & Massimiliano Carrara, MC. (2009). 'To Exist and to Count: A Note on the Minimalist View'. Dialectica, vol 63, no. 3, pp. 343-356.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-8361.2009.01198.x
• Berto, F. (2009). 'Impossible Worlds'. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Berto, F. (2008). 'Modal Meinongianism for Fictional Objects'. Metaphysica: international journal for ontology and metaphysics, vol 9, no. 2, pp. 205-218.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/s12133-008-0033-z
• Berto, F. (2008). 'Adynaton and Material Exclusion'. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol 86, no. 2, pp. 165-190.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1080/00048400801886199
  [Online] AURA: Adynaton_and_Material_Exclusion.doc
• Berto, F. & Priest, G. (2008). 'Dialetheism'. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Berto, F. (2007). 'Is Dialetheism an Idealism?: The Russellian Fallacy and the Dialetheist's Dilemma'. Dialectica, vol 61, no. 2, pp. 235-263.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-8361.2007.01101.x
• Berto, F. (2007). 'Hegel's Dialectics as a Semantic Theory: An analytic reading'. European Journal of Philosophy, vol 15, no. 1, pp. 19-39.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0378.2007.00241.x
• Berto, F. (2006). 'Characterizing Negation to Face Dialetheism'. Logique et Analyse, vol 195.
• Berto, F. (2006). 'Meaning, Metaphysics, and Contradiction'. American Philosophical Quarterly, vol 43.
• Berto, F. (2005). 'Some Topics Concerning Identity and Contradiction in Philosophical Logic'. Epistemologia, vol 28.

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Chapters

• Berto, F. (2012). 'How to Rule Out Things with Words'. G Restall & Gillian Russell (eds), in: New Waves in Philosophical Logic. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 169-189.
• Berto, F. (2012). 'Wittgenstein on Incompleteness Makes Paraconsistent Sense'. K Tanaka, F Berto, E Mares & F Paoli (eds), in: Paraconsistency: Logic and Applications. Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, vol. 26, Springer, pp. 257-276.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-4438-7_14
• Berto, F. (2012). 'Non-Normal Worlds and Representation'. M Pelis & V Puncochar (eds), in: The Logica Yearbook 2011. College Publications, London, pp. 15-30.
• Berto, F. (2012). '"To Be Is To Have Causal Powers": Existence and Nature in Analytic Metaphysics'. M Favaretti & M Plebani (eds), in: Existence and Nature: New Perspectives. Ontos, Frankfurt, pp. 33-63.
• Berto, F. (2009). 'Strong Paraconsistency and Exclusion Negation'. in: The Logica Yearbook 2008. College Publications, London, pp. 15-25.

Books and Reports

Books

• Tanaka, K., Berto, F., Mares, E. & Paoli, F. (eds) (2012). 'Paraconsistency: Logic and Applications'. Springer.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-4438-7
• Berto, F. (2012). 'Existence as a Real Property: The Ontology of Meinongianism'. Synthèse Library, vol. 346, vol. 356, Springer, Dordrecht.
  [Online] DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-4207-9
• Berto, F. (2010). 'L'esistenza non è logica: Dal quadrato rotondo ai mondi impossibili'. Editori Laterza, Rome, Italy.
• Berto, F., Rossi, G. & Tagliabue, J. (2010). 'The Mathematics of the Models of Reference'. Texts in Computing, no. 12, College Publications, London, United Kingdom.
• Berto, F. (2009). 'There's Something about Goedel. The Complete Guide to the Incompleteness Theorem'. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
• Berto, F. (2007). 'Logica da zero a Gödel'. Editori Laterza, Rome, Italy.
• Berto, F. (2007). 'How to Sell a Contradiction: The Logic and Metaphysics of Inconsistency'. Studies in Logic, vol. 6, College Publications, London, United Kingdom.
• Berto, F. (2006). 'Teorie dell'assurdo: I rivali del Principio di Non-Contraddizione'. Carocci editore, Rome.
• Berto, F. (2005). 'Che cos'e' la dialettica hegeliana?: un'interpretazione analitica del metodo'. Poligrafo, Padua.

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