Paolo Totaro | UFAL - Universidade Federal de Alagoas (original) (raw)

Papers by Paolo Totaro

Research paper thumbnail of Authors’ Response: On the Cognitive Origins of Mental Self-evidence

Constructivist Foundations, 2024

Regardless of what our preferences are regarding the foundations of mathematics (for example Plat... more Regardless of what our preferences
are regarding the foundations
of mathematics (for example Platonism
or radical constructivism), the problem
remains of understanding why mathematical
concepts so often appear selfevident
in our cognitive experience. This
is the case with the continuum and the
discrete. Taking the opportunity offered
by the commentators’ observations, we
consider the formalization presented in
the target article from the perspective of
this particular problem.

Research paper thumbnail of The Cognitive Origin of the Continuum and the Discrete

Constructivist Foundations, 2024

Paper type: conceptual (philosophical-argumentative support). Background(s): cognitive science; m... more Paper type: conceptual (philosophical-argumentative support).
Background(s): cognitive science; mathematics.
Approach: Biology of Cognition
Context: According to Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, faced with perturbations from the environment, a living system reacts by reproducing its components under the condition of preserving the organization, that is, the set of relationships between all its components. This activity is recursive, as it operates to preserve its own ability to operate. It not only defines the living but also the way in which the living system understands its environment. This makes the concept of recursion a key interpretative framework for phenomena of life and cognition.
Problem: Since experience emerges from biological recursion, we address the question of how experiences of continuum and discrete can result from it.
Method: Even if we draw on set and number theories in our arguments, the topic is not primarily addressed as a mathematical problem, but rather as a cognitive one. The arguments are developed using tools of analytic philosophy.
Results: We argue that, as with all recursive processes, the operator of a biological process remains unchanged, while its results vary in an inductive (and therefore historical) manner. We conclude that the phenomenon of the continuum originates from the invariance of this operator, while that of the discrete originates from the operator’s results.
Implications: This work is part of the author’s research aimed at proposing a metamathematics based on the concept of number as a biological process rather than as a “thing.” This is done using the concepts of “objectivity in parentheses” and “without parentheses” introduced by Maturana. Furthermore, the article may contribute to studies on the relationship between digital systems and human intelligence. In contrast to the latter, the former are discrete not only concerning inputs and outputs but also in terms of operators, which are constituted by discrete sets of algorithms, themselves composed of discrete sets of instructions.
Constructivist content: This work employs the ideas of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela.
Key words: Artificial intelligence, biology of cognition, continuum and discrete, metamathematics, number theory, recursion.

Research paper thumbnail of The concept of algorithm as an interpretative key of modern rationality

According to Ernst Cassirer, the transition from the concept of substance to that of mathematical... more According to Ernst Cassirer, the transition from the concept of substance to that of mathematical function as a guide of knowledge coincided with the end of ancient and the beginning of modern theoretical thought. In the first part of this article we argue that a similar transition has taken place in the practical sphere, where mathematical function occurs in one of its specific forms, which is that of the algorithm concept. In the second part we argue that with the rise of modernity the idea of substance and the related concepts of category and classification, which are deeply embedded in Western culture, have not been totally supplanted by that of function. The intertwining of the concepts of substance and function has generated contradictory hybrids. These hybrids are used as a key for the understanding of the different repercussions of algorithmic logic on society in terms of communicative and social integration.

Research paper thumbnail of The Concept of Algorithm as an Interpretative Key of Modern Rationality

Theory, Culture & Society, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Algorithms and the Practical World

Theory, Culture & Society, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach

Cognitive Processing, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio ha... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion in cognitive processes. Emotion lies at the basis of any behavior. An emotional transition defines a transition from one domain of actions to the other, while emotions shared in human interaction define collective domains of action and thus also social identity. In this case, they may give rise to operational coherences within the same domain of action which is recognized as "rationality". The transition from one operational coherence to another within the same rationality does not therefore entail an emotional transition. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes social identities based only on emotions from those related to operational coherence. We call the former type of social identity "ontological", while the latter is referred to as "formal". To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci are used. According to the social self-categorization theory, the greater the distance between two groups' visions of the world, the greater the metacontrast between them. Using our model, metacontrast must thus be greater for ontological social identity and less for formal social identity. Our hypothesis was confirmed by the data. This outcome allows huge applications of the methodology proposed, as exemplified in the final considerations.

Research paper thumbnail of Biological Recursion and Digital Systems: Conceptual Tools for Analysing Man-Machine Interaction

Theory, Culture & Society

The theory of numbers, the theory of computation and well-known biological and neurological studi... more The theory of numbers, the theory of computation and well-known biological and neurological studies on cognition and consciousness all indicate the concept of recursion as their common denominator. Mathematical recursion owes its meaning and properties to a dual relationship between its results, which always constitute a sequence, and the operator that generated them, which is instead invariant. This article proposes that this duality in recursion originates from the duality between the biological homeostatic equilibrium in living systems and the adaptive physico-chemical changes required to sustain such equilibria. Such duality gives order and meaning to the experiences of a living system. One of the many implications of this innovative perspective is that this duality can decouple computational results from our intuitive order relations, and that this can cause a rarefaction of the capacity of digital systems to convey communication and favour adaptation to the environment.

Research paper thumbnail of The duality of social self-categorization in consumption

Journal of Consumer Culture

Research paper thumbnail of The duality of depersonalization in consumption

Several marketing theories have highlighted the role of depersonalization in consumer behavior. M... more Several marketing theories have highlighted the role of depersonalization in consumer behavior. Moving from “old” to “new” products, the consumer reduces the depersonalization generated by the excessive market diffusion of the product he has chosen and through which he searches for a social self-categorization. But this theoretical framework cannot justify in a convincing way those stable integrations of a community type around particular styles of consumption (for example, those that are called “neotribalisms”). On the basis of an empirical study, we argue that the depersonalization acts according to a duality neglected by marketing. On the one hand it can mean loss of the distinguishing characteristics, but on the other it can mean de-personalization in the sense of a translation of the “me” into a communal “us”. This second form of depersonalization does also exist in consumption and allows us to shed light on the apparent contradiction between the idea of several marketing theor...

Research paper thumbnail of Calculation and Classification as Dimensions of Social Interaction

Cassirer interpreted the transition from medieval to modern theoretical thinking as an epistemolo... more Cassirer interpreted the transition from medieval to modern theoretical thinking as an epistemological revolution which saw the concept of function to replace that of substance as a guide to knowledge. This article suggests that, in the practical world, classification into classes, types or genres is correlated to the concept of substance, while the concept of function is present in any practical calculation in the form of algorithmic procedures. The way in which algorithmic calculation and classification interact with each other has resulted in the preservation, expansion or loss of social interaction, understood as reciprocity between actors. The action of calculation and classification can then be used as epistemological coordinates to analyze social interaction. Such systematization results in a set of schemes presented in this paper along with ethnological studies supporting the theoretical model

Research paper thumbnail of Le origini logiche della disaggregazione sociale

The formal logic has found out that numeric functions and algorithms have a common root. This mea... more The formal logic has found out that numeric functions and algorithms have a common root. This means that either the dominant cognitive knowledge (the mathematical representation of the world), or the dominant performative knowledge (the organization of processes according to formal rules) are based on the same logic and on the same culture, which is that of the recursive formalism. Using the recursivity concept, it is possible to understand better the historical and conceptual relationships among phenomena which have marked the transition from the traditional world to the modern word. That allows us - and this is the goal of this paper - matching different approaches to the social disembedding problem, typical of modern society. Understanding that calculus (used by both science and capitalism) and algorithms (used by bureaucratic organizations) have worked with a common logic makes possible to overcome the apparent contrast between the recent concept of «disembedding» as a result of...

Research paper thumbnail of A cultura do cálculo e a desagregação social

Como nos informa a logica formal, calculo e algoritmo sao dois lados da mesma moeda, pois ambos c... more Como nos informa a logica formal, calculo e algoritmo sao dois lados da mesma moeda, pois ambos consistem em funcoes recursivas. Isso significa que tanto a linguagem cognitiva dominante (a representacao matematica do mundo), quanto a linguagem performativa dominante (os processos governados por regras formais) estao baseadas numa mesma logica. Utilizamos a logica do calculo nao somente quando lidamos com numeros, mas tambem quando estamos envolvidos em um esquema burocratico ou quando executamos as centenas de cliques que nos sao impostos pela logica dos computadores, dos telefones, dos controles remotos, etc. Com base nessa descoberta, que coloca a equivalencia logica entre calculo e algoritmo, a Tese se propoe dois objetivos: (1) esbocar uma unificacao teorica dos principais fenomenos ligados a racionalidade moderna (ciencia, mercado, burocracia e, na alta modernidade, consumismo e comunicacao mediada por computadores); (2) investigar os efeitos desses fenomenos sobre a integracao...

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach

Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have p... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion and rationality in cognitive processes. Emotion, rationality and sociality appear to be closely intertwined. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes one identity based on emotion from another based on rationality. To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci is used. Two studies are presented which confirm the hypothesis that the metacontrast of social identity based on emotion is significantly greater than the one based on rationality.

Research paper thumbnail of A neutralidade sub condicio da linguagem de Goffman

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 1, 2008

Freqüentemente os comentários sobre o trabalho de Goffman aludem a uma neutralidade em suas descr... more Freqüentemente os comentários sobre o trabalho de Goffman aludem a uma neutralidade em suas descrições dos fenômenos sociais. Mas a neutralidade é uma qualidade inalcançável em sociologia e atribuí-la à metodologia de Goffman é um equívoco. Em Goffman, a escolha de um ponto de vista, com a inevitável referência a valores, é sempre presente. Mesmo através dessa escolha consegue colocar o enfoque sobre as características da interação social que ele visa a destacar por meio de representações típico-ideais. Caso se queira chamar de neutral esse tipo de descrição, é preciso especificar que se trata sempre de uma neutralidade com referência a valores, uma neutralidade sub condicio. Palavras-chave: Goffman, Erving, neutralidade da linguagem, epistemologia das ciências sociais. THE SUB CONDICIO NEUTRALITY OF GOFFMAN'S LANGUAGE Many comments on Goffman's work allude to his neutrality in describing the social phenomena. But the neutrality is an unattainable quality in sociology and its attribution to Goffman's methodology is a misunderstanding. In Goffman, the choice of a point of view, along with the inevitable reference to values, is always present. Just through this choice he is able to place the focus upon the characteristics of the social interaction he aims to emphasizing through the ideal-typical representations. If someone desires to call neutral this type of approach, it is necessary to specify that it is always about a neutrality with reference to the values, that is a sub-condicio neutrality.

Research paper thumbnail of Os aristotelismos da linguagem das variáveis em sociologia

Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos, Oct 9, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Novos caminhos para a saída da marginalidade social no Brasil

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, Rationality and Social Identy

Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have p... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion in cognitive processes. Emotion lies at the basis of any behavior. An emotional transition defines a transition from one domain of actions to the other, while emotions shared in human interaction define collective domains of action and thus also social identity. In this case, they may give rise to operational coherences within the same domain of action which is recognized as “rationality”. The transition from one operational coherence to another within the same rationality does not therefore entail an emotional transition. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes social identities based only on emotions from those related to operational coherence. We call the former type of social identity “ontological”, while the latter is referred to as “formal”. To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci are used. According to the social self-categorization theory, the greater the distance between two groups’ visions of the world, the greater the metacontrast between them. Using our model, metacontrast must thus be greater for ontological social identity and less for formal social identity. Our hypothesis was confirmed by the data. This outcome allows huge applications of the methodology proposed, as exemplified in the final considerations.

Research paper thumbnail of O aprendizado da diversidade cultural e a patrimonialização da biodiversidade

Ciências Sociais Unisinos, 2016

Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional (... more Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0), sendo permitidas reprodução, adaptação e distribuição desde que o autor e a fonte originais sejam creditados.

Research paper thumbnail of A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo

Ciências Sociais Unisinos, 2013

A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo 1 1 O autor agradece a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento... more A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo 1 1 O autor agradece a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e a Fundação de Amparo e Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) pelos fi nanciamentos que permitiram as pesquisas cujos dados estão parcialmente analisados aqui.

Research paper thumbnail of A duality in recursion to analyse digital society

The concept of Recursion occurs in several contexts: mathematical reasoning (Poincaré), computabi... more The concept of Recursion occurs in several contexts: mathematical reasoning (Poincaré), computability theory (Turing, Church), cybernetics (von Foerster), linguistics (Chomsky), epistemology (Cassirer), sociology (Luhmann) and others. It is remarkable that recursion is also emerging as a fundamental key in unraveling biological processes (Maturana, Varela, Damasio, Edelman). We show that there is an isomorphism between biological recursion and all other type of recursions and it is precisely this isomorphism which gives order and therefore meaning to the multiplicity of our experience.

Research paper thumbnail of Authors’ Response: On the Cognitive Origins of Mental Self-evidence

Constructivist Foundations, 2024

Regardless of what our preferences are regarding the foundations of mathematics (for example Plat... more Regardless of what our preferences
are regarding the foundations
of mathematics (for example Platonism
or radical constructivism), the problem
remains of understanding why mathematical
concepts so often appear selfevident
in our cognitive experience. This
is the case with the continuum and the
discrete. Taking the opportunity offered
by the commentators’ observations, we
consider the formalization presented in
the target article from the perspective of
this particular problem.

Research paper thumbnail of The Cognitive Origin of the Continuum and the Discrete

Constructivist Foundations, 2024

Paper type: conceptual (philosophical-argumentative support). Background(s): cognitive science; m... more Paper type: conceptual (philosophical-argumentative support).
Background(s): cognitive science; mathematics.
Approach: Biology of Cognition
Context: According to Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, faced with perturbations from the environment, a living system reacts by reproducing its components under the condition of preserving the organization, that is, the set of relationships between all its components. This activity is recursive, as it operates to preserve its own ability to operate. It not only defines the living but also the way in which the living system understands its environment. This makes the concept of recursion a key interpretative framework for phenomena of life and cognition.
Problem: Since experience emerges from biological recursion, we address the question of how experiences of continuum and discrete can result from it.
Method: Even if we draw on set and number theories in our arguments, the topic is not primarily addressed as a mathematical problem, but rather as a cognitive one. The arguments are developed using tools of analytic philosophy.
Results: We argue that, as with all recursive processes, the operator of a biological process remains unchanged, while its results vary in an inductive (and therefore historical) manner. We conclude that the phenomenon of the continuum originates from the invariance of this operator, while that of the discrete originates from the operator’s results.
Implications: This work is part of the author’s research aimed at proposing a metamathematics based on the concept of number as a biological process rather than as a “thing.” This is done using the concepts of “objectivity in parentheses” and “without parentheses” introduced by Maturana. Furthermore, the article may contribute to studies on the relationship between digital systems and human intelligence. In contrast to the latter, the former are discrete not only concerning inputs and outputs but also in terms of operators, which are constituted by discrete sets of algorithms, themselves composed of discrete sets of instructions.
Constructivist content: This work employs the ideas of Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela.
Key words: Artificial intelligence, biology of cognition, continuum and discrete, metamathematics, number theory, recursion.

Research paper thumbnail of The concept of algorithm as an interpretative key of modern rationality

According to Ernst Cassirer, the transition from the concept of substance to that of mathematical... more According to Ernst Cassirer, the transition from the concept of substance to that of mathematical function as a guide of knowledge coincided with the end of ancient and the beginning of modern theoretical thought. In the first part of this article we argue that a similar transition has taken place in the practical sphere, where mathematical function occurs in one of its specific forms, which is that of the algorithm concept. In the second part we argue that with the rise of modernity the idea of substance and the related concepts of category and classification, which are deeply embedded in Western culture, have not been totally supplanted by that of function. The intertwining of the concepts of substance and function has generated contradictory hybrids. These hybrids are used as a key for the understanding of the different repercussions of algorithmic logic on society in terms of communicative and social integration.

Research paper thumbnail of The Concept of Algorithm as an Interpretative Key of Modern Rationality

Theory, Culture & Society, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Algorithms and the Practical World

Theory, Culture & Society, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach

Cognitive Processing, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio ha... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion in cognitive processes. Emotion lies at the basis of any behavior. An emotional transition defines a transition from one domain of actions to the other, while emotions shared in human interaction define collective domains of action and thus also social identity. In this case, they may give rise to operational coherences within the same domain of action which is recognized as "rationality". The transition from one operational coherence to another within the same rationality does not therefore entail an emotional transition. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes social identities based only on emotions from those related to operational coherence. We call the former type of social identity "ontological", while the latter is referred to as "formal". To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci are used. According to the social self-categorization theory, the greater the distance between two groups' visions of the world, the greater the metacontrast between them. Using our model, metacontrast must thus be greater for ontological social identity and less for formal social identity. Our hypothesis was confirmed by the data. This outcome allows huge applications of the methodology proposed, as exemplified in the final considerations.

Research paper thumbnail of Biological Recursion and Digital Systems: Conceptual Tools for Analysing Man-Machine Interaction

Theory, Culture & Society

The theory of numbers, the theory of computation and well-known biological and neurological studi... more The theory of numbers, the theory of computation and well-known biological and neurological studies on cognition and consciousness all indicate the concept of recursion as their common denominator. Mathematical recursion owes its meaning and properties to a dual relationship between its results, which always constitute a sequence, and the operator that generated them, which is instead invariant. This article proposes that this duality in recursion originates from the duality between the biological homeostatic equilibrium in living systems and the adaptive physico-chemical changes required to sustain such equilibria. Such duality gives order and meaning to the experiences of a living system. One of the many implications of this innovative perspective is that this duality can decouple computational results from our intuitive order relations, and that this can cause a rarefaction of the capacity of digital systems to convey communication and favour adaptation to the environment.

Research paper thumbnail of The duality of social self-categorization in consumption

Journal of Consumer Culture

Research paper thumbnail of The duality of depersonalization in consumption

Several marketing theories have highlighted the role of depersonalization in consumer behavior. M... more Several marketing theories have highlighted the role of depersonalization in consumer behavior. Moving from “old” to “new” products, the consumer reduces the depersonalization generated by the excessive market diffusion of the product he has chosen and through which he searches for a social self-categorization. But this theoretical framework cannot justify in a convincing way those stable integrations of a community type around particular styles of consumption (for example, those that are called “neotribalisms”). On the basis of an empirical study, we argue that the depersonalization acts according to a duality neglected by marketing. On the one hand it can mean loss of the distinguishing characteristics, but on the other it can mean de-personalization in the sense of a translation of the “me” into a communal “us”. This second form of depersonalization does also exist in consumption and allows us to shed light on the apparent contradiction between the idea of several marketing theor...

Research paper thumbnail of Calculation and Classification as Dimensions of Social Interaction

Cassirer interpreted the transition from medieval to modern theoretical thinking as an epistemolo... more Cassirer interpreted the transition from medieval to modern theoretical thinking as an epistemological revolution which saw the concept of function to replace that of substance as a guide to knowledge. This article suggests that, in the practical world, classification into classes, types or genres is correlated to the concept of substance, while the concept of function is present in any practical calculation in the form of algorithmic procedures. The way in which algorithmic calculation and classification interact with each other has resulted in the preservation, expansion or loss of social interaction, understood as reciprocity between actors. The action of calculation and classification can then be used as epistemological coordinates to analyze social interaction. Such systematization results in a set of schemes presented in this paper along with ethnological studies supporting the theoretical model

Research paper thumbnail of Le origini logiche della disaggregazione sociale

The formal logic has found out that numeric functions and algorithms have a common root. This mea... more The formal logic has found out that numeric functions and algorithms have a common root. This means that either the dominant cognitive knowledge (the mathematical representation of the world), or the dominant performative knowledge (the organization of processes according to formal rules) are based on the same logic and on the same culture, which is that of the recursive formalism. Using the recursivity concept, it is possible to understand better the historical and conceptual relationships among phenomena which have marked the transition from the traditional world to the modern word. That allows us - and this is the goal of this paper - matching different approaches to the social disembedding problem, typical of modern society. Understanding that calculus (used by both science and capitalism) and algorithms (used by bureaucratic organizations) have worked with a common logic makes possible to overcome the apparent contrast between the recent concept of «disembedding» as a result of...

Research paper thumbnail of A cultura do cálculo e a desagregação social

Como nos informa a logica formal, calculo e algoritmo sao dois lados da mesma moeda, pois ambos c... more Como nos informa a logica formal, calculo e algoritmo sao dois lados da mesma moeda, pois ambos consistem em funcoes recursivas. Isso significa que tanto a linguagem cognitiva dominante (a representacao matematica do mundo), quanto a linguagem performativa dominante (os processos governados por regras formais) estao baseadas numa mesma logica. Utilizamos a logica do calculo nao somente quando lidamos com numeros, mas tambem quando estamos envolvidos em um esquema burocratico ou quando executamos as centenas de cliques que nos sao impostos pela logica dos computadores, dos telefones, dos controles remotos, etc. Com base nessa descoberta, que coloca a equivalencia logica entre calculo e algoritmo, a Tese se propoe dois objetivos: (1) esbocar uma unificacao teorica dos principais fenomenos ligados a racionalidade moderna (ciencia, mercado, burocracia e, na alta modernidade, consumismo e comunicacao mediada por computadores); (2) investigar os efeitos desses fenomenos sobre a integracao...

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach

Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have p... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion and rationality in cognitive processes. Emotion, rationality and sociality appear to be closely intertwined. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes one identity based on emotion from another based on rationality. To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci is used. Two studies are presented which confirm the hypothesis that the metacontrast of social identity based on emotion is significantly greater than the one based on rationality.

Research paper thumbnail of A neutralidade sub condicio da linguagem de Goffman

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Dec 1, 2008

Freqüentemente os comentários sobre o trabalho de Goffman aludem a uma neutralidade em suas descr... more Freqüentemente os comentários sobre o trabalho de Goffman aludem a uma neutralidade em suas descrições dos fenômenos sociais. Mas a neutralidade é uma qualidade inalcançável em sociologia e atribuí-la à metodologia de Goffman é um equívoco. Em Goffman, a escolha de um ponto de vista, com a inevitável referência a valores, é sempre presente. Mesmo através dessa escolha consegue colocar o enfoque sobre as características da interação social que ele visa a destacar por meio de representações típico-ideais. Caso se queira chamar de neutral esse tipo de descrição, é preciso especificar que se trata sempre de uma neutralidade com referência a valores, uma neutralidade sub condicio. Palavras-chave: Goffman, Erving, neutralidade da linguagem, epistemologia das ciências sociais. THE SUB CONDICIO NEUTRALITY OF GOFFMAN'S LANGUAGE Many comments on Goffman's work allude to his neutrality in describing the social phenomena. But the neutrality is an unattainable quality in sociology and its attribution to Goffman's methodology is a misunderstanding. In Goffman, the choice of a point of view, along with the inevitable reference to values, is always present. Just through this choice he is able to place the focus upon the characteristics of the social interaction he aims to emphasizing through the ideal-typical representations. If someone desires to call neutral this type of approach, it is necessary to specify that it is always about a neutrality with reference to the values, that is a sub-condicio neutrality.

Research paper thumbnail of Os aristotelismos da linguagem das variáveis em sociologia

Universidade do Vale do Rio do Sinos, Oct 9, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Novos caminhos para a saída da marginalidade social no Brasil

Research paper thumbnail of Emotion, Rationality and Social Identy

Emotion, rationality, and social identity: a theoretical–methodological proposal for a cognitive approach, 2021

Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have p... more Humberto Maturana's biology of cognition and the studies of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio have proposed theories that indicate the role of emotion in cognitive processes. Emotion lies at the basis of any behavior. An emotional transition defines a transition from one domain of actions to the other, while emotions shared in human interaction define collective domains of action and thus also social identity. In this case, they may give rise to operational coherences within the same domain of action which is recognized as “rationality”. The transition from one operational coherence to another within the same rationality does not therefore entail an emotional transition. This article uses this theoretical framework to propose an interpretation of the phenomenon of social identity and distinguishes social identities based only on emotions from those related to operational coherence. We call the former type of social identity “ontological”, while the latter is referred to as “formal”. To empirically prove the theoretical proposal of the article, the concept of metacontrast found in social self-categorization theory and its quantification elaborated by Alberto Voci are used. According to the social self-categorization theory, the greater the distance between two groups’ visions of the world, the greater the metacontrast between them. Using our model, metacontrast must thus be greater for ontological social identity and less for formal social identity. Our hypothesis was confirmed by the data. This outcome allows huge applications of the methodology proposed, as exemplified in the final considerations.

Research paper thumbnail of O aprendizado da diversidade cultural e a patrimonialização da biodiversidade

Ciências Sociais Unisinos, 2016

Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional (... more Este é um artigo de acesso aberto, licenciado por Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0), sendo permitidas reprodução, adaptação e distribuição desde que o autor e a fonte originais sejam creditados.

Research paper thumbnail of A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo

Ciências Sociais Unisinos, 2013

A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo 1 1 O autor agradece a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento... more A dualidade da despersonalização no consumo 1 1 O autor agradece a Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) e a Fundação de Amparo e Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS) pelos fi nanciamentos que permitiram as pesquisas cujos dados estão parcialmente analisados aqui.

Research paper thumbnail of A duality in recursion to analyse digital society

The concept of Recursion occurs in several contexts: mathematical reasoning (Poincaré), computabi... more The concept of Recursion occurs in several contexts: mathematical reasoning (Poincaré), computability theory (Turing, Church), cybernetics (von Foerster), linguistics (Chomsky), epistemology (Cassirer), sociology (Luhmann) and others. It is remarkable that recursion is also emerging as a fundamental key in unraveling biological processes (Maturana, Varela, Damasio, Edelman). We show that there is an isomorphism between biological recursion and all other type of recursions and it is precisely this isomorphism which gives order and therefore meaning to the multiplicity of our experience.

Research paper thumbnail of Una dualità nella ricorsione per l'analisi della società digitale

NOTA: Questa è la prima versione in lingua italiana dell'articolo 'Biological Recursion and Digit... more NOTA: Questa è la prima versione in lingua italiana dell'articolo 'Biological Recursion and Digital Systems: Conceptual Tools for Analysing Man-Machine Interaction' pubblicato su Theory Culture & Society