Papers by Gilberto Corbellini
PubMed, 2013
In the lessons of medical-scientific methodologies of the medical faculty at the Sapienza Univers... more In the lessons of medical-scientific methodologies of the medical faculty at the Sapienza University of Rome, basic notions on the ethical and deontologic aspects characterizing the history of the medical profession are provided, including the formulation and application of bioethical principles to clinics and biomedical research. Within such framework, an educational project has been initiated on the historical origin of the current normative and juridic dispositions in the regulation of experimental biomedical research and the relationship between health operators and patients, with particular attention to the procedure, the meaning the value either professional or deontologic, of ethics and the legality of the informed consensus. Emphasis is put on medical and experimental abuses that occurred in Germany during the nazi regime.
Manchester University Press eBooks, Feb 28, 2020
A recurring assumption among political philosophers is that freedom as the ancients conceived it ... more A recurring assumption among political philosophers is that freedom as the ancients conceived it was different from the kind of freedom experienced in the modern world. On 13 February 1819, in his famous lecture on The Liberty of the Ancients Compared with that of the Moderns held at the Athénée Royal in Paris, Benjamin-Henri Constant de Rebecque gave one of the most brilliant formulations of liberal thought. Constant affirmed that modern men's liberty is 'individual liberty', whereas that of the ancients was the freedom to collectively exercise sovereignty. He wrote that the ancients were 'machines, whose gears and cogwheels were regulated by the law'. The moderns, after Hobbes, Locke, Spinoza and Hume, used the law to circumscribe the space of expression of autonomy, which was intended a priori as indefinite and-this is the crucial difference from the ancients-no longer located in the public forum but in the so-called 'inner' or individual conscience. So, the function of law had changed, as it no longer prescribed what a citizen must do but what he or she may do. In one phrase, popular in English law: everything that is not forbidden is allowed. In this sense, the law becomes the premise, in Constant's words, for the 'pacific enjoyment of private independence'. Constant was presenting the classical liberal theory of freedom, in which freedom is understood as the right to be subject solely to the law, and therefore not to be arrested, imprisoned, sentenced to death or mistreated by the arbitrary will of one or more individuals. Moreover, liberal freedom implies the right to express one's opinion, to choose one's work and to perform it, to make use and abuse of one's own private property, to associate with those one prefers and to exercise an influence on the administration of government. Of course, traces of such modern ideas of liberty can be found in antiquity, but wherever slavery was legal, freedom was thought of in opposition to slavery, and since the subordination of the individual to the state and the laws had to be total, the idea of 'negative liberty' found little room to advance. Even for Aristotle, the philosopher who comes closest to a modern way of thinking, what distinguished the slave from
PubMed, 1998
Il contributo italiano alla nascita della malariologia e allae largamente riconosciuto. In partic... more Il contributo italiano alla nascita della malariologia e allae largamente riconosciuto. In particolare, la scoperta, effettuata esattamente un secolo fa, della specificita biologica ei vettori che trasmettono i parassiti malarici all'uomo, e la realizzazione dei primi interventi integrati di lotta antimalarica che crearono le condizioni per un0efficace ed efficiente utilizzazione, dopo la seconda guerra mondiale, del DDT, grazie a cui veniva interrotta cinquant'anni fa in Italia la mortalita per malaria autoctona.
Giornale italiano di psicologia, 2018
una raccolta di saggi in cui viene proposta la revisione delle strategie di spiegazione e concett... more una raccolta di saggi in cui viene proposta la revisione delle strategie di spiegazione e concettualizzazione in medicina attraverso l'integrazione delle teorie evoluzionistich
Human Fertility, 2009
In 2004, the Italian parliament comprehensively regulated medically assisted reproduction. Law 40... more In 2004, the Italian parliament comprehensively regulated medically assisted reproduction. Law 40/2004 has outlawed several techniques and tightly compressed the freedom of research in the area of human reproduction and regenerative medicine. This article analyses the post-2004 political, bioethical and legal debate on assisted reproduction in Italy. The analysis is grounded on empirical evidence on fertilisation outcomes released in 2007 and 2008 by the Italian government, on recent amendments related to the regulation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis and on the debates on the status of spare embryos as for their availability for scientific researches. The analysis shows that Law 40/2004 has failed to improve the access of infertile couples to assisted reproduction techniques and keeps supporting practices that the other jurisdictions have rejected because they are unwise from a clinical standpoint. Moreover, Law 40/2004 created severe limitations to scientific researches in the fields of medical embryology, gynaecology and regenerative medicine. With the political support of some Italian political parties and the Catholic Church, Law 40/2004 disregards the expectations of the majority of Italian citizens, international guidelines of good clinical practice, international codes of medical ethics, the interests of infertile couples and the social and economic relevance of biomedical research.
EMBO Reports, Dec 10, 2010
Oxford University Press eBooks, Aug 23, 2018
The Italian experience represents a historical example that education and sociopolitical vision c... more The Italian experience represents a historical example that education and sociopolitical vision can effectively contribute to the conquest of malaria. Until the end of 19th century, the infection spread mostly in the Central and Southern parts of Italy, with about 7 percent of the population affected and 20,000 annual deaths. Malaria showed different facies, owing to a complex vectorial system with remarkable ecological and behavioral differences. With the involvement of a critical mass of scientists and physicians, the etiology of malaria and the biological and socioeconomics determinants of the transmission dynamics were identified. This provided the opportunity to break the “malaria transmission chain” by an integrated approach. Moreover, Italy was the first country to develop special legislation for the fight against malaria, representing an example of integration between scientific, political, social and economic knowledge. In 1970, after decades of fight, the World Health Organization officially declared Italy free from malaria.
Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze fisiche e naturali, Dec 1, 2006
The problem of the evolutionary causes of neurodegenerative disease is something new in the physi... more The problem of the evolutionary causes of neurodegenerative disease is something new in the physiopathology and gerontology panoramas. Nevertheless several approaches are beginning to take it into account. The increased frequency of several diseases related to advanced age is explained in terms of absence of selective pressure in the evolutionary adaptation environment on genetically determined traits that appear after the reproductive age; or by postulating that it is a consequence of antagonistic pleitropism or else a trade-off. The study of age-related diseases and of neurodegenerative diseases in particular can afford important heuristic stimuli towards an evolutionary understanding of the complex mechanisms through which such diseases develop. The history of AD is quite representative of the epistemological obstacles that the conceptualization of complex diseases such as the neurodegenerative pathologies had to overcome in order to come near a more pertinent biological explanation. The physiopathological approach tendentially ran the risk of deviating towards mechanistic single-cause explanations, that could not account for intrinsically variable pathological and clinical signs, possibly overlapping other pathological and clinical phenomena. The history of the concept of AD developed as an interaction among biological, clinical and social views, and was the driving force behind the reconceptualization of dementia. In the light of the complex etiopathogenetic framework emerging from the basic research and from an evolutionary-oriented outlook, also for therapeutic and preventive strategies comprehensive approaches are envisaged that need to be evaluated in the context of our evolutionary constraints. Waiting for therapeutic stem cells and anti-amyloid vaccines, the most emphasized opportunity is related to the possibility of applying the tools of predictive medicine to neurodegenerative diseases. A number of epistemological misunderstandings mark the training of geneticists, medical practitioners and public health experts, who learn the genetic explanation as being founded on a form of genetic determinism If instead the genetic explanation is accepted in its evolutionary dimension this approach implies a decidedly more complete conception of man. A genetic-evolutionary approach to disease proves to be more compatible with prevention strategies through social and cultural intervention than traditional medical-scientific philosophy which focuses mainly on treatments addressing the proximate etiological and pathogenetic mechanisms.RiassuntoIl problema delle cause evolutive delle malattie neurodegenerative è qualcosa di nuovo all’interno del panorama della gerontologia e della fisiopatologia. Nondimeno diversi approcci iniziano ad emergere e l’aumentata frequenza di diverse malattie collegate all’età avanzata viene spiegata in termini di assenza di pressioni selettive nell’ambiente dell’adattamento evolutivo su tratti geneticamente determinati, che si manifestano dopo l’età riproduttiva; o assumendo che sia la conseguenza del pleiotropismo antagonista o anche di untrade-off. Lo studio delle malattie correlate all’età e delle malattie neurodegenerative in particolare può offrire importanti stimoli euristici in vista di una spiegazione evoluzionistica dei meccanismi complessi attraverso cui si sviluppa la malattia. La storia della malattia di Alzheimer (AD) è abbastanza rappresentativa degli ostacoli epistemologici che la concettualizzazione di malattie complesse come le patologie neurodegenerative ha dovuto superare per avvicinarsi a una spiegazione biologica più pertinente. L’approccio fisiopatologico tende verso spiegazioni meccanicistiche e monocausali che non danno conto dei segni clinici e patologici intrinsecamente variabili. La storia del concetto di AD si è sviluppata attraverso l’interazione tra concezioni biologiche, cliniche e sociali, portando a una riconcettualizzazione delle demenze. Alla luce di un sistema di riferimento etiopatogenetico complesso quale quello che emerge dalla ricerca di base e da uno sguardo orientato in senso evoluzionistico, anche per le strategie terapeutiche e preventive si prefigurano approcci più comprensivi che implicano una valutazione dei vincoli di carattere evolutivo che operano sulla biologia umana. Aspettando le cellule staminali terapeutiche e i vaccino antiamiloide, l’opportunità su cui al momento si concentrano le attese riguarda la possibilità di applicare gli strumenti della medicina predittiva alle malattie neurodegenerative. Una serie di fraintendimenti caratterizza la formazione di genetisti, medici ed esperti di sanità pubblica che apprendono la spiegazione genetica delle malattie attraverso la genetica formale e nella prospettiva del determinismo genetico. Se invece l’approccio genetico viene inquadrato nelle sue dimensioni evoluzionistiche esso conduce a una concezione più completa dell’uomo. L’approccio genetico evolutivo alla malattia si dimostra…
Uploads
Papers by Gilberto Corbellini
Il libro è VINCITORE DEI PREMI:
- PREMIO NAZIONALE PER LA DIVULGAZIONE SCIENTIFICA 2014
- PREMIO PER LA CULTURA "MARIO TIENGO" 2014
Oltre a contesti accademici, il libro è stato menzionato da: quotidiani maggiori italiani (Il Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, La Stampa, Avvenire), radio (Radio 1 Rai, Radio 3 Scienza, Radio Popolare, Radio Radicale) and TV (Rai 1, "Super Quark")
[English] This book discusses the impact of brain researches on different domains, not only on biological and medical/health ones, but more generally on social ones. A decade ago, neuroscience and neurotechnology gave official birth to a new field of inquiry called “neuroethics”. This term is usually referred to both the analysis of ethical implications of research and clinical practice in the neuroscientific area, and to the understanding of how brain processes moral judgements. After historically reconstructing the origins of neuroethics, the authors show main issues related to the spreading of neuroimaging, the technology with which neuroscientific advancements and applications are identified. The book faces principal neuroethical questions, from the impact of neuroscientific theories and technologies on the explanation and treatment of psychiatric disorders, to the controversial argument of the enhancement of cognitive capacities (the possibility of using drugs, implants and other neurotechnological devices to intervene on the brain in order to improve cognitive performances). Moreover, staring off with some Italian legal cases, a debate on the relevance of neuroscientific data and arguments in legal proceedings will be develop all along the book. This book has the ambition to present neuroethical and bioethical issues in a coherent philosophical framework, in order to go beyond the usual polarizations, which have alimented confusion and misunderstandings within the debate.
This book has been awarded with:
- AWARD FOR BEST 2014 NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION
- CULTURAL AWARD "MARIO TIENGO" 2014
Beyond academic context, the book was mentioned by: major Italian newspapers (Il Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, La Stampa, Avvenire), radios (Radio 1 Rai, Radio 3 Scienza, Radio Popolare, Radio Radicale) and TV (Rai 1, Science Show "Super Quark")
Indice
Introduzione; 1. Dalla bioetica alla neuroetica; 2. Neuroimmagini: motore della svolta neuroetica; 3. Neuroetica clinica; 4. Enhancement: un punto di vista non paternalista; 5. Le radici neuroevolutive della morale; 6. Le neuroscienze e il diritto; 7. Neuroetica e filosofia: verso un matrimonio di convenienza?; 8. In conclusione: non è colpa di nessuno; Bibliografia.
In the past the inability to explain and face mental disorders produced theoretical conceptions and containment strategies that reflected the needs of the historical contexts in which they originated and had sometimes even led to abuses and aberrations. Psychiatric conceptualizations that we inherited from the tradition bring with them approximations and/or philosophical confusion, some of which are still deeply rooted in our clinical explanations and practices.
We will defend the hypothesis that a properly elaborated evolutionary psychiatry is able to complete and adjust neurocognitive mechanistic explanations of mental disorders, by introducing environmental factors in a sophisticated way, that is within a medical-biological approach, unlike traditional sociological approaches that dominated psychiatry during the seventies. We believe that a biological organism is not a system that operates in isolation from the environment, to other bodies and mechanisms connected to it.
Such systems exist as evolutionarily physical and social adaptations. The aim of the book is to present critically the evolutionary approach, to argue for plausible reasons to endorse it, but also to show those inaccuracies and misunderstandings that have generated more or less justified sceptical reactions, but that instead had risked to overshadow the potential of evolution theory in the project of re-foundation of psychiatry.
Under contract for: Il Mulino, Bologna (Expected for 2017, Language: Italian)
Table of contents (provisional)
Introduction 1. The origin and history of the idea of mental illness and its treatments 2. What is mental illness: definitions, taxonomies and disputes 3. Genes, brain, evolution, and mental disorders 4. Epidemiology of mental disorders: the importance of context 5. The re-foundation of Darwinian neuropsychiatry: stalls, critical points and future directions 6. The ethics of clinical and evolutionary neuroscience. Conclusions
In this paper, we will argue that the spreading of a neuroscientific mechanistic approach will not necessarily have negative consequences on the public representation of concepts such as freedom, self determination and responsibility. According to opponents, the illusion of conscious control, like other positive illusions, has an adaptive and beneficial role for the individual and for society. However, as shown by empirical research, positive illusions are effective in the short-term but not across time. We will suggest that neuroscientists have the duty to disseminate positive emotions with realism, the attitude of representing reality as accurately as possible, which however can affect positively both the individual well-being and his social conduct.