Articles
Selected
01
Knowledge, Ignorance, and Stupidity in the context of the Epistemology of Ignorance
Traditionally seen as the mere absence of knowledge, ignorance remained outside epistemological inquiry until the late 20th century. This article explores how ignorance became a legitimate object of epistemology, presenting its main typologies: absence of knowledge, false beliefs, pluralistic ignorance, and structural or systemic forms. While often negative, ignorance can also be strategic—used by marginalized groups as a survival mechanism. We examine Charles Mills' concept of white ignorance and its role in sustaining racial injustice since the Enlightenment. Finally, we distinguish ignorance from stupidity and reflect on their implications for politics and democratic life.
02
Renaissance: Islamic or Italian Precedence?
This paper argues that the period between 756 and 1031, under Umayyad rule in the Iberian Peninsula, marked the most significant effort to recover classical Greek knowledge, laying the foundations for the later Italian Renaissance. It emphasizes that translation is an interpretive act shaped by linguistic and conceptual limits, as evidenced in the work of the Toledo School of Translators. The paper concludes that what is commonly called the Italian Renaissance was deeply dependent on earlier Islamic intellectual labor, supporting the view that the first true Renaissance was Islamic in origin.
03
Relativistic Language and the Natural Philosophy Big-Bang The Unity of Science and Transdisciplinarity: A New Agenda to Face Civilizational Problems
This article explores the emergence of Pre-Socratic Natural Philosophy using the Big Bang as an analogy: a sudden origin in space and time, followed by an “inflationary” phase of rapid expansion. Beginning with Thales, this intellectual explosion spanned five generations and culminated in the paradigmatic systems of Plato and Aristotle. The text argues that this Natural Philosophy Big Bang (NPBB) cannot be explained by external factors alone, but by the internal evolution of Greek thought—especially its language. Drawing on Bruno Snell’s linguistic relativism, the author suggests that the development of the Greek language shaped new cognitive structures, enabling abstract, critical thinking. The article revisits the transition from oral to written culture and its impact on memory, critique, and systematization. Classical authors like Burnet, Havelock, and Ong are discussed, though the author adopts a stronger position. The conclusion affirms that linguistic evolution was the key factor enabling the philosophical explosion that gave rise to science.
04
Fictional Socratic dialogues: A quantum journey through the history of philosophy
05
Tell Me What You've Read and I'll Tell You What You Can Write: Mental Models and Shakespeare's Authorship Question 400 Years after the First Folio
06
Plato’s fractal production machine, Neuroscience and Social Theory
This article presents a fictional Socratic dialogue between Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, and Hume, mediated by Socrates, to explore enduring philosophical questions: What is knowledge? How does ontology relate to mental reality? What role do imagination and evidence play in philosophy and science? Drawing from each thinker’s perspective—from Plato’s Forms to Hume’s skepticism—the dialogue offers a concise overview of key philosophical positions from antiquity to the Enlightenment. The discussion also touches on Kant’s synthesis and the challenges posed by quantum causality. Written in a style faithful to classical dialogues, the text encourages rigorous yet accessible engagement. It highlights the relevance of ancient wisdom for contemporary debates on science, mind, and reality. Over five days, the characters trace the boundaries—and intersections—between philosophy and science.
This article argues that intellectual creation presupposes a corresponding mental model, shaped by access to books, education, and cultural experience. It questions whether William of Stratford, known for his business activities but lacking documented intellectual background, could have developed the mental model required to author Shakespeare’s works. Citing his limited access to libraries and absence of reading habits, the article contrasts him with figures like Francis Bacon and Edward De Vere, who possessed extensive intellectual training. It concludes by proposing the mental model framework as a useful tool for reassessing the Shakespeare authorship debate.
The objective of this article is to offer an interpretation of the utopian society described in Plato's Republic from a simplified theory of fractals. Plato conceptualizes his Republic as a static society in terms of structure and its components, the people, as having a behavior that can be programmed as linear and not dynamic (LNDS). Based on this analogy, real social functioning (NLDS) is conceptualized, applying the concept of fractal and its corresponding fracton, as the force of attraction that acts in social groups. Thus, social groups obey a fractal geometry, a geometry that reproduces the pyramidal shape, the apex being the crystallization of authority, power or leadership. Modern society, in analogy with Plato's Republic, is also a fractal production machine, replicating pyramidshaped hierarchical structures and the respective fractons. Individuals are the basic unit of all these fractals. They are the building blocks of all groups at all levels of society. But replication is not self-similar due to fluctuations in cognition and behavior.