Giorgio Pini
Associate Professor
Philosophy Department, Fordham University
441 E Fordham Road
Bronx NY 10458
e-mail: pini@fordham.edu
office: 718-817-2775
My area of specialization is medieval philosophy. My research focuses on the thought of John Duns Scotus (1265/66-1308) and of other thinkers active in the second half of the thirteenth century (e.g., Henry of Ghent and Giles of Rome). So far, I have been mostly interested in issues in metaphysics and the theory of cognition, e.g. essences, individuation, intentionality and concepts. Recently, I have started to explore the philosophical significance of some key theological notions, such as Lucifer’s fall and God’s freedom to create alternative worlds.
I also have an interest in philology and paleography. Some years ago I discovered an hitherto lost work by Duns Scotus, the Remarks on the Metaphysics (Notabilia super Metaphysicam). I am currently working on a critical edition of that work.
Education
Licentiate in Medieval Studies, PIMS, Toronto, 2002
Ph.D. Philosophy, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy, 1997
M.A. Philosophy, University of Pisa, Italy, 1992
Academic appointments
Associate Professor, Philosophy Department, Fordham University, 2005–present
VIsiting Professor, Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, Fall 2010
Visiting Professor, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Institute of Philosophy, 2008–09
Research fellow, Scuola Normale Superiore, 2001–05
Fellowships
Research Fellowship, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Institute of Philosophy, 2008–09
Mellon Fellowship, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, 2000–01
Some of my papers
“Can God Create My Thoughts? Scotus’s Case against the Causal Account of Intentionality.” Journal of the History of Philosophy 49, 1 (2011): 39–63. (Click here for an abstract and to access JHP through MUSE).
“The Individuation of Angels from Bonaventure to Duns Scotus.” Forthcoming in A Handbook to Angels in the Middle Ages, edited by Tobias Hoffmann. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
“Two Models of Thinking: Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus.” Forthcoming in Intentionality, Cognition and Representation in the Middle Ages, edited by Gyula Klima. New York: Fordham University Press.
“Scotus on Doing Metaphysics in statu isto.” In John Duns Scotus, Philosopher. Edited by Mary B. Ingham and Oleg Bychkov. Archa Verbi. Subsidia 3, 29–55. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2010.
“Scotus on the Possibility of a Better World.” Acta Philosophica 18, 2 (2009): 283–306.
“Scotus on Knowing and Naming Natural Kinds.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 26 (2009): 255–72.
“Scotus on the Object of Cognitive Acts.” Franciscan Studies 66 (2008): 281–315.
“Scotus’s Realist Conception of the Categories: His Legacy to Late Medieval Debates.” Vivarium 43 (2005): 63–110.
“Univocity in Scotus’s Quaestiones super Metaphysicam: The Solution to a Riddle.” This is a slightly revised version of a paper originally appeared in Medioevo 30 (2005): 69–110.
“Scotus on Assertion and the Copula: A Comparison with Aquinas.” In Medieval Theories of Assertive and Non-Assertive Language. Edited by A. Maierù and L. Valente, 307–31. Firenze: Olschki, 2004.
