Normative Drawings and Deontic Artifacts

Keynote Speakers

Roberto Casati (Institut Jean Nicod)

Ruth Millikan(University of Connecticut)

Barry Smith (SUNY Buffalo)

Description

In the last century, most philosophers and legal thinkers accepted the idea that rules are established via words (that is, in some linguistic form) and the idea that they are made of words (that is, that the inherent nature of rules coincides with words). These views are open to criticism. In fact, some rules are not formulated in words; they are not word-made at all. For example, there are rules that we create by using drawings (designs, pictures, paintings, diagrams, maps, engravings, sketches, images, etc.), which will be termed “graphic rules” (other terms used are “iconic rules”, “drawn rules”, “pictorial rules”, “depictive rules”). In today’s world we are surrounded by graphic rules of all kinds: land-use plans, building regulations, political maps, traffic signs, visual cues like the “No smoking” sign, flat-pack furniture assembly instructions, diagrams in instruction manuals, instructions for the assembly of plastic construction toys, etc. All these are cases of deontic artifacts, artifacts that have a normative function.

There is clearly a form of “verbal-centrism” dominating the general discussion in the area of rules and legal regulations. Despite the growing interest in the impact of images in society, investigation of graphic rules and normative drawings is at present largely neglected.

The aim of the conference is to study normative drawings by investigating seven general classes of philosophical questions:

·  ontological (the kind of existence and the ontological status of graphic rules),

·  logical (the possibility of a logic of deontic drawings),

·  typological (kinds of normativity and degree of iconicity of graphic rules),

·  epistemological (informational and expressive equivalence between graphic rules and linguistic ones),

·   semantic (semantic content and the reference of deontic drawings),

·   pragmatic (comprehensibility, accessibility and immediacy of graphic rules),

·   philosophy-of-mind (possibility of a non-sentential normative thinking).

Conference Organizers

Scientific Committee

Giuseppe Lorini (University of Cagliari), [email protected]

Patrick Maynard (Western University, London, Ontario, and Visiting Scientist at the University of Cagliari), [email protected]

Stefano Moroni (Polytechnic University of Milan), [email protected]

Coordinator

Giuseppe Lorini (University of Cagliari), [email protected]

Organizing Committee

Olimpia G. Loddo (University of Cagliari), [email protected]

Pietro Salis (University of Cagliari), [email protected]

Important Dates

* Deadline for paper submissions: August 10th, 2016.

* Notification of decisions on submissions: August 31st, 2016.

* Conference: 27th-28th October 2016.

For general inquiries please contact

Olimpia G. Loddo: [email protected]

Pietro Salis: [email protected]

Website

http://www.normativedrawingsdeonticartifacts.weebly.com

Research projects involved

·    Truth, Image, Normativity (sponsored by Fondazione di Sardegna),

·    Visiting Scientists Programme 2015 (sponsored by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna, Regional Law n. 7 of 07/08/2007 ‘Promotion of scientific research and technological innovation in Sardinia’).