Elena Casetta

Qualification
Post-doctoral Fellow

Areas of Competence
Philosophy of Biology, Analytic Ontology and Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language.

Education
2009-10 Post-doctoral fellow at University of Torino (Department of Philosophy).
2008 Discussion of PhD. Dissertation, SESA, European School of Advanced Studies, Napoli. Title: La sfida delle Chimere. Realismo, pluralismo, e convenzionalismo in filosofia della biologia [The Challenge of Chimeras. Realism, Pluralism, and Conventionalism in Philosophy of Biology]. Supervisors: Prof. Achille Varzi, Prof. Roberto Esposito.
2006-7 September-February, Visiting Scholar at the Department of Philosophy, Columbia University, NY.
2005-8 PhD student at SESA, European School of Advanced Studies, Napoli.
2004 Three-month stage at University of Geneva, Department of Philosophy, under the supervision of Professor Kevin Mulligan.
2003 B.A. in Philosophy, University of Torino, supervisor Prof. M. Ferraris (University of Torino) and A.C. Varzi (Columbia University, NY), mark: 110/110 magna cum laude. Title: Tra ontologia e biologia: la nicchia ecologica [Between Ontology and Biology: the Ecological Niche].
1994 School leaving exams, high-school ‘V. Alfieri’ (classic languages) of Torino.

Prizes and Grants
2004 One-year grant for post-graduate research (‘Fondazione Bottrigari’, University of Bologna).
2004 ‘Marco Polo’ grant for specialization studies abroad (University of Bologna).
2003 Prize ‘Optime’ to the best graduates of University of Torino (‘Unione Industriale’ of Torino).

Publications

Books and Edited Volumes
(2009a) La sfida delle chimere. Realismo, pluralismo e convenzionalismo in filosofia della biologia, Milano, Mimesis.
(2009b) “Convenzioni” (with A.C. Varzi), monographical issue of Rivista di Estetica, n.s. 44/2.

Articles and Reviews
(2011) (with A. Borghini) “Tratti, sessi e generi. Un dialogo”, Bioetica, 1/2011: 35-53.
(2010a) “Note in margine a Documentalità. Perché è necessario lasciar tracce di Maurizio Ferraris”, Biblioteca della libertà , XLV (2010), settembre-dicembre, n. 199 online: 1-12.
(2010b) “Dall’ornitorinco alle chimere: una sfida al realismo tassonomico”, Intersezioni, 2: 277-296.
(2010c) “Categories, Taxa, and Chimeras”, in M. D’Agostino, G. Giorello, F. Laudisa, T. Pievani and C. Sinigaglia (eds.), New Essays in Logic and Philosophy of Science, London, College Publications: 264-278.
(2009) “Introduzione” to “Convenzioni”, monographical issue of Rivista di Estetica, E. Casetta and A.C. Varzi (eds.), n.s., 44/2: 3-10.
(2008a) “Biologia”, in M. Ferraris (ed.), Storia dell’Ontologia, Milano, Bompiani,: 465-74.
(2008b) “Monismo e pluralismo” (with L. Angelone), in M. Ferraris (ed.), Storia dell’Ontologia, Milano, Bompiani: 325-41.
(2008c) “Nomi in crisi di identità” (with A.C. Varzi), Rivista di Estetica, n.s., 38/2: 143-56.
(2007) “Le tigri di Putnam”, Rivista di Filosofia, 98/1, 1: 47-76.
(2005) Review of Benjamin Morison’s On Location: Aristotle’s Concept of Place [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002], (with A.C. Varzi), Dialectica, 59/1: 75-81.
(2004a) “RedPill®” (with A.C. Varzi), in M. Cappuccio (ed.), Dentro la matrice. Metafisica, virtualità e tecnologia in Matrix, Milano, Alboversorio: 29-37; Reprinted in Nazione Indiana, 19 (2002) (online publication), March 28, 2004.
(2004b) “La teoria mereotopologica della nicchia”, Rivista di Estetica, n.s., 26/2: 129-48.

Forthcoming
Books and Edited Volumes
(2012) Making Sense of Gender, Sex, Race and the Family (with V. Tripodi), HumanaMente, 22/July 2012.
(2012) A partire da Documentalità, Rivista di Estetica, n.s., 48 (with P. Kobau and I. Mosca).
(201x) (Under contract) Questioni di vita. Una introduzione alla filosofia della biologia (with A. Borghini), Roma, Carocci.

Articles and Reviews
(201x) (with G. Torrengo) “Scienza (o della misura del mondo)”, in T. Andina, Dove va la filosofia. Di che cosa si occupano oggi i filosofi, Roma, Carocci.
(201x) (with A. Borghini) “Quel che resta dei generi naturali”, in “Analytic Ontology”, monographical issue of Rivista di Estetica, A. Bottani and R. DAvies (eds.), n.s., 50.
(201x) “Ontologia delle specie biologiche: una proposta convenzionalista”, in C. Tatasciore, P. Graziani, G. Grimaldi, Prospettive Filosofiche 2009: Ontologia, Istituto degli Studi Filosofici.

Translations
(2007) A.C. Varzi, Boundaries; “Confini. Dove finisce una cosa e inizia un’altra”, in Andrea Bottani and Richard Davies (eds.), Ontologie regionali, Milano, Mimesis, 2007: 209-222.
(2009a) L. Franklin-Hall, Plato’s Joints; “Il macellaio di Platone”, in “Convenzioni”, monographical issue of Rivista di Estetica, E. Casetta and A.C. Varzi (eds.), n.s., 44/2.
(2009b) K. Miller, Deciphering Person-identity Conventionalism; “Decifrare il convenzionalismo dell’identità personale”, in “Convenzioni”, cit.
(2009c) I. Westerhoff, Construction All the Way Down? A Problem for Goodmanian Constructivism; “Costruzioni senza fine. Un problema per il costruttivismo goodmaniano”, in “Convenzioni”, cit.

Talks
2011 ‘Outlining a Unified Framework for the Assessment of Biodiversity’, EPSA 11 – The European Philosophy of Science AssociationAthens 7th of October.
2011 ‘Outlining a Unified Framework for the Assessment of Biodiversity’, ECAP 7 – Seventh European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, Milan, 2nd of September.
2011 Commentator of Matthen Mohan, ‘Species as Historical Kinds’, Biological Hierarchies. 2011 meeting of the Consortium for the History and Philosophy of Biology, 3 of June, IHPST, Paris.
2011 ‘Are Species Social Objects?’, Social Ontology. From Intentionality to Documentality, 31st of May, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Belgrade.
2011 In occasion of the second edition of Estetica Razionale (Raffaello Cortina, 2011) di Maurizio Ferraris, ‘Estetica come aisthesis’, with: Federico Vercellone, Pietro Kobau, Tiziana Andina, Carola Barbero, Elena Casetta, Davide Grasso,
Alessandra Jacomuzzi, Daniela Tagliafico, Giuliano Torrengo.
2011 ‘Outlining a Conventionalist Approach to Species Taxa’, IHPST, Paris, 15th of March.
2010 ‘Tratti, sessi e generi’ (with A. Borghini), University of Bergamo, 18th of June.
2010 ‘I confini temporali delle specie biologiche’, High Formation School: Problemi aperti nella filosofia delle scienze, Cesena, 15th of April.
2009 ‘Ontologia delle specie biologiche’, Italian Society for Philosophy (SFI), Francavilla al Mare (CH), 15th of October.
2009 ‘Bioetica e enhancement‘, a cura della Consulta laica di bioetica “A. Vitelli” (with M. Mori, A. Borghini, M. Balistreri, R. Lala, L. Nave), 10th of October.
2008 ‘What’s Wrong with Taxonomic Conventionalism?’, Italian Society for Analytic Philosophy (SIFA), University of Bergamo, 26th of September.
2008 7th Eidos Meeting, round table with Fabrice Correia, Philipp Keller, Christian Wüthrich, Marcel Weber, Laura Felline, ‘Time in Physics, Biology, Metaphysics’, University of Geneva, 19th of August.
2007 ‘Categories, Taxa, and Chimeras’, International Conference of the Italian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science (SILFS), University of Milan, 9th of October.
2007 ‘Categories, Taxa, and Chimeras’, 5th Conference of the Spanish Society for Analytic Philosophy (SEFA), University of Barcelona, 8th of September.
2005 ‘Les Tigres de Putnam’, Cycle de Conférences de Philosophie, University of Geneva, 16th of December.
2005 ‘The Tao of Metaphysics’ (with Philipp Keller), International colloquium ‘On Identity: Ontological Perspectives’, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 26th of May.
2005 Presentation of ‘Jürgen Habermas, Il futuro della natura umana. I rischi di una genetica liberale, Einaudi, 2002’ (with Claudia Bartolucci), SUM, Napoli, 23rd of March.

Services to the Profession and Teaching

2010 Co-organization of Monumentum.doc: 11th Annual LabOnt Workshop, January 11-12.
2009 (First semester), Teaching assistant, “Introduction to Aesthetic”, Prof. P. Kobau, University of Torino.
2009 (September-October), Teaching assistant in “Philosophy of Biology”, Prof. A. Borghini, University of Torino.
2006-2008 Participation to National Search Project: Documentality. Ontologies and technologies for the citizenship and the democracy (Scientific coordination by Maurizio Ferraris).
Since 2010, member of the editorial board of ‘Rivista di Estetica’.

Other Activities

Since 2010, Contributor of Alfabeta2.
Since 2009 (with A. Borghini), Concept and implementation of the scenario “Life” on Rescogitans.it.
2009, Program Committee Member and Scientific Supervisor to the section “Medical Imaging”, VIEW Conference (10th International Computer Graphics Conference) Torino, Italy.
June 7, 2008, organization of the conference “Nanoart: Between Art, Science, and Perception”, Infini.to, Parco dell’Astronomia e dello Spazio, Torino (with the support of Regione Piemonte e Compagnia di San Paolo).
March-June 2008, Artistic Director of VIEWFest, Digital Movie Festival, Torino.
6-9 November 2007, Assistant to organization of VIEW Conference (8th International Computer Graphics Conference, Torino) and member of the VIEW Award 2007 International Jury.

Languages
Mother tongue: Italian
Fluent in spoken and written English
Fluent in spoken and written French
Ancient Greek and Latin.