Giulio Giorello (; 14 May 1945 – 15 June 2020) was an Italian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, and

epistemologist Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowledg ...

Biography

Giorello graduated with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 1968 and in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1971 at the

University of Milan The University of Milan (; ), officially abbreviated as UNIMI, or colloquially referred to as La Statale ("the State niversity), is a public university, public research university in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Eu ...

. While there, he studied under the philosopher

Ludovico Geymonat Ludovico Geymonat (11 May 1908 – 29 November 1991) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher and historian of science. As a philosopher, he mainly dealt with philosophy of science, epistemology and Marxist philosophy, in which he gave an orig ...

. He then taught physics and natural sciences at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

University of Catania The University of Catania () is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest in the world. With over 38,000 enrolled students, it is the largest uni ...

University of Insubria The University of Insubria () is an Italian university located in Como and Varese, with secondary locations in Busto Arsizio and Saronno. It was founded in 1998, it has been named after the area where it is situated, the historical-geographical r ...

and the

. Giorello was a professor of philosophy of science at the University of Milan; he was also President of SILFS (Italian Society of Logic and Philosophy of Science). He directed the "Scienza e idee" series by Raffaello Cortina Editore and collaborated on the cultural pages of the newspaper

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

. In 2010, Giorello expressed his

atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

thought with work ''Senza Dio. Del buon uso dell'ateismo'', but in the last years of his life he expressed an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

thought. In March 2012 he was a speaker at the national congress of the

Grand Orient of Italy The Grand Orient of Italy (GOI) () is an Italian masonic grand lodge founded in 1805; the viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais was instrumental in its establishment. It was based at the Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome, Italy from 1901 until 1985 and is no ...

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

. Giorello won the 4th edition of the 2012 Frascati Philosophy National Award. Giorello died in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 15 June 2020 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...

. Three days before his death, he married his partner Roberta Pelachin.

Personal life

Giorello was a "comic book expert"; he wrote essays about

Tex Willer Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series ''Tex'', created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. The series is among the most popular ...

and

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian language, Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. Since 2013, it has ...

, and he also wrote the prefaces to Logicomix and ''Rat-Man: Superstorie di un supernessuno''. In 2014, he co-created the comic "The philosophy of Donald Duck".

Works

* Saggi di storia della matematica,

, FER, 1974. * Il pensiero matematico e l'infinito,

, UNICOPLI, 1982. . * Lo spettro e il libertino. Teologia, matematica, libero pensiero,

, A. Mondadori, 1985. * Le ragioni della scienza, with

and Fabio Minazzi,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, Laterza, 1986. . * Filosofia della scienza,

, Jaca Book, 1992. . * Le stanze della ricerca,

, Mazzotta, 1992. . * Europa universitas. Tre saggi sull'impresa scientifica europea, with

Tullio Regge Tullio Eugenio Regge (; 11 July 1931 – 23 October 2014) was an Italian theoretical physicist. Biography Regge obtained the ''laurea'' in physics from the University of Turin in 1952 under the direction of Mario Verde and Gleb Wataghin, and ...

and Salvatore Veca,

, Feltrinelli, 1993. . * Introduzione alla filosofia della scienza,

, R.C.S. libri & grandi opere, 1994. . * Quale Dio per la sinistra? Note su democrazia e violenza, with Pietro Adamo, Milan, UNICOPLI, 1994. . * La filosofia della scienza nel XX secolo, with Donald Gillies,

, Laterza, 1995. * Lo specchio del reame. Riflessioni su potere e comunicazione, with

Roberto Esposito Roberto Esposito (Piano di Sorrento, 4 August 1950) is an Italian political philosopher, critical theorist, and professor, notable for his academic research and works on biopolitics. He currently serves as professor of theoretical philosophy at ...

Carlo Sini Carlo Sini (Bologna, 6 December 1933) is an Italian philosopher and one of the leading figures in contemporary Italian philosophy, mainly known for his studies about language and hermeneutics, following the work of Charles Sanders Peirce. Biogr ...

and Danilo Zolo,

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, Longo, 1997. . * Epistemologia applicata. Percorsi filosofici, with Michele Di Francesco,

, CUEM, 1999. . * I volti del tempo,with Elio Sindoni, Corrado Sinigaglia,

, Bompiani, 2001. . * Prometeo, Ulisse, Gilgameš. Figure del mito,

, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2004. . * Di nessuna chiesa. La libertà del laico,

, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2005. . * Dove fede e ragione si incontrano?, with Bruno Forte,

Cinisello Balsamo Cinisello Balsamo (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of about 75,200 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy, about northeast of Milan city center. Cinisello Balsamo borders the following municipalitie ...

, San Paolo, 2006. . * La libertà della vita, with

Umberto Veronesi Umberto Veronesi (; 28 November 1925 – 8 November 2016) was an Italian oncologist, physician, scientist, and politician, internationally known for his contributions on prevention and treatment of breast cancer throughout a career spanning ove ...

, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2006. . * Il decalogo. I dieci comandamenti commentati dai filosofi, II, Non nominare il nome di Dio invano, with Gabriele Mandel, with CD,

, Albo Versorio, 2007. . * La scienza tra le nuvole. Da Pippo Newton a Mr Fantastic, with Pier Luigi Gaspa,

, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2007. . * Libertà. Un manifesto per credenti e non credenti, with Dario Antiseri,

Bompiani Bompiani is an Italian publishing house based in Milan. It was founded in 1929 by Valentino Bompiani. In 1990, Bompiani became part of the RCS MediaGroup. It was sold in 2015 to the Giunti Group. It is widely regarded as one of the leading liter ...

, 2008. .

References

External links

*
Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giorello, Giulio 1945 births 2020 deaths Academic staff of the University of Milan University of Milan alumni Italian philosophers of science 21st-century Italian philosophers Italian epistemologists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lombardy