I am Associate Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, where I lead the Models, Inference, and Decisions (MInD) group of the Molecular Mind Laboratory (MoMiLab) research unit.

My current research interests are in general philosophy of science, formal epistemology, and cognitive science, with a focus on rational decisions in scientific and ordinary reasoning, the notion of cognitive progress, and methodological issues of social and behavioral sciences.

I'm President (2023-2025) of the Italian Association of Cognitive Sciences (AISC). I have been elected member (2017-2020 and 2020-2023) of the council of the Italian Society for Logic and the Philosophy of Science (SILFS).

I'm currently working on the following projects:

  • I'm PI of the IMT research unit in the PRIN project From models to decisions (2019-2022), funded by MUR, see a description here. The project involves the University of Turin (Prof. Jan Sprenger, national PI), Politecnico di Milano (Prof. Giovanni Valente) and the San Raffaele University in Milan (Prof. Carlo Martini).

  • I'm PI of the SpinGeVacS project (2021-2023), funded by Regione Toscana to develop a toolbox of behavioral and nudge interventions to improve healthcare practices. The project involves the University of Florence (Prof. Leonardo Boncinelli), the University of Siena (Prof. Paolo Pin), as well as three healthcare agencies: ARS Toscana (Dott. Giacomo Galletti), AUSL Sud Est (Dott. Roberta Caldesi), and AUSL Nord Ovest (Dott. Tommaso Bellandi).

  • I'm PI of the IMT research unit of the PRO3 project "Understanding public data: experts, decisions, epistemic values" funded by MUR (2021-2023) and jointly promoted by Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa (Prof. Mario Piazza), Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS Pavia (Prof. Andrea Sereni), and Scuola IMT.

You can find my CV here.

Gustavo Cevolani

g.cevolani@gmail.com

gustavo.cevolani@imtlucca.it

IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca
Piazza S.Francesco, 19
55100 Lucca (Italy)

IMT Lucca
Molecular Mind Laboratory (MoMiLab)
Models, Inference, and Decisions (MInD)

Italian Association of Cognitive Sciences (AISC)
Italian Society for Logic and the Philosophy of Science (SILFS)

Google Scholar
ResearchGate
Academia.edu
PhilPapers

Research

The following are the main research topics I’m currently working on.

  • Rationality as truth approximation
    The project explores the role of the philosophical notion of “closeness to the truth” (truthlikeness or verisimilitude) in scientific and ordinary reasoning. Main activities and sub-projects:
    • From models to decisions (PRIN project) (with Jan Sprenger, Giovanni Valente, and Carlo Martini)
    • Experimental Cognitive Decision Theory (ECDT)
    • Truthlikeness: the basic feature approach
  • Reasoning, uncertainty, and expert judgment
    The projects deals with reasoning under uncertainty, especially heuristics and biases, and their implications for various domain and society in general. Main activities and sub-projects:
    • Uncertainty and fallacies in legal reasoning
    • Decisions, democracy and expert judgment
    • NUTS (Nudge Unit Toscana per la Salute, joint IMT - ARS Toscana initiative)
  • Rationality, social interaction, and the human sciences
    The projects deals with foundational, methodological and philosophical aspects of social and behavioral sciences. Main activities and sub-projects:
    • Game-theoretical foundations of economics and social sciences
    • Rationality and prosocial behavior in social and moral dilemmas
    • Approximation, idealization, and concretization in economic models
    • Bayesianism, abduction, and reverse inference

Teaching

I'm regularly teaching the following courses to PhD students from different disciplines at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca:

  • Philosophy of Science
  • Critical Thinking
  • Philosophy of Social Sciences
  • Theories of Rationality
  • Philosophy and Neuroscience in Moral Reasoning

I'm also teaching a course on ethics and deontology (Etica della ricerca e deontologia professionale) to master students of forensic psychology and crimonology (a joint initiative of University of Padua and IMT Lucca).

Finally, I occasionally teach courses on decision theory, game theory, probabilistic reasoning, and cognitive biases to both master and PhD students, as well as to professionals (especially physicians and lawyers).

Check the website of the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, one of the seven Italian scuole di eccellenza located in the beautiful San Francesco campus, for open positions and events.

Publications

The following list of selected publications is authomatically generated by BibBase
(click the small PDF icon below the title on the left to download the paper)

Plain Academic