Fabula: an Interview with Piotr Mirowski

Can AI help tell stories? And if so, how can it do so? Is it better for the “writing assistant” to be fully controllable and transparent, or is it more useful for it to be able to surprise us? These are some of the questions that emerge from this interview with Piotr Mirowski on Fabula, an AI tool that enables the creation and editing of stories through large language models

The Senses of the World. Art Confronting Data

The current era is characterized by the production of vast amounts of data across all sectors of society. This is made possible by ubiquitous technologies that can collect data from every human and non-human entity on the planet, as well as any environmental phenomena. Artistic practice offers a suitable platform for the endeavour to isolate specific expressive and signifying features from this indistinct mass of data. This paper focuses on a relatively overlooked field of research, where technology interacts with abstract data to extract what I propose to define as their “aesthetic sense”. Such an expression addresses the peculiar dynamics enabling art to move beyond the purely informative function of data, towards a different goal – designing experiences that turn the audience into perceptive participants, engaged in the otherwise imperceptible events and relations that are recorded and communicated by data. Technologies thus become media of polyphonic expression, able to give voice to other ways of feeling and being in the world. Emerging through computation is a sort of feeling that permeates the entire fabric of reality, of which any entity in the universe can become the protagonist. As a result, art stands out as a privileged gateway to a particular experience of reality. This kind of experience will be theoretically analysed in the present essay starting from the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, specifically from his notion of “feeling”.The current era is characterized by the production of vast amounts of data across all sectors of society. This is made possible by ubiquitous technologies that can collect data from every human and non-human entity on the planet, as well as any environmental phenomena. Artistic practice offers a suitable platform for the endeavour to isolate specific expressive and signifying features from this indistinct mass of data. This paper focuses on a relatively overlooked field of research, where technology interacts with abstract data to extract what I propose to define as their “aesthetic sense”. Such an expression addresses the peculiar dynamics enabling art to move beyond the purely informative function of data, towards a different goal – designing experiences that turn the audience into perceptive participants, engaged in the otherwise imperceptible events and relations that are recorded and communicated by data. Technologies thus become media of polyphonic expression, able to give voice to other ways of feeling and being in the world. Emerging through computation is a sort of feeling that permeates the entire fabric of reality, of which any entity in the universe can become the protagonist. As a result, art stands out as a privileged gateway to a particular experience of reality. This kind of experience will be theoretically analysed in the present essay starting from the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, specifically from his notion of “feeling”

Smith and Kant: An Enquiry into the Ambivalences of Luxury

This study examines the concept of luxury through the contrasting perspectives of two 18th-century philosophers, exploring its moral, economic and political dimensions in the context of an emerging commercial society. Historically, luxury has been debated as both a driver of social progress and a source of inequality and moral concern. Unlike other contributors to this debate, this analysis focuses on two thinkers, Smith and Kant, who held marginal views on luxury, yet whose work reveals its complex role in liberal political theory. Smith takes an empirical approach, viewing luxury as intertwined with the rationality, sociability and sensitivity of human nature. In this view, luxury supports commerce, industry, and social refinement, ultimately benefiting society despite its association with vanity and excess. It promotes economic development, property rights, and the legal systems necessary to sustain a commercial society. Kant conceptualises luxury through a moral-philosophical lens, viewing it as a matter of duty and autonomy. He condemns luxury when it leads to excesses that are detrimental to individual dignity and communal welfare. This perspective highlights freedom, moral virtue, and culture as being essential to understanding the limits and implications of luxury. Juxtaposing these two perspectives sheds light on the differing conceptions of human nature, morality and societal progress found in modern thought. While one sees luxury as a natural and positive force in economic and social evolution, the other warns of its potential to undermine virtue and social cohesion. Together, these views provide a nuanced understanding of the ambivalent role of luxury in shaping modern liberal societies.This study examines the concept of luxury through the contrasting perspectives of two 18th-century philosophers, exploring its moral, economic and political dimensions in the context of an emerging commercial society. Historically, luxury has been debated as both a driver of social progress and a source of inequality and moral concern. Unlike other contributors to this debate, this analysis focuses on two thinkers, Smith and Kant, who held marginal views on luxury, yet whose work reveals its complex role in liberal political theory. Smith takes an empirical approach, viewing luxury as intertwined with the rationality, sociability and sensitivity of human nature. In this view, luxury supports commerce, industry, and social refinement, ultimately benefiting society despite its association with vanity and excess. It promotes economic development, property rights, and the legal systems necessary to sustain a commercial society. Kant conceptualises luxury through a moral-philosophical lens, viewing it as a matter of duty and autonomy. He condemns luxury when it leads to excesses that are detrimental to individual dignity and communal welfare. This perspective highlights freedom, moral virtue, and culture as being essential to understanding the limits and implications of luxury. Juxtaposing these two perspectives sheds light on the differing conceptions of human nature, morality and societal progress found in modern thought. While one sees luxury as a natural and positive force in economic and social evolution, the other warns of its potential to undermine virtue and social cohesion. Together, these views provide a nuanced understanding of the ambivalent role of luxury in shaping modern liberal societies

Experimenting with AI Aesthetics, Creativity and Humanistic Knowledge Today

  The following introduction opens the present issue of Itinera by gathering a selection of the papers presented at the conference Artificial Intelligence to the Test. Creativity and Humanistic Knowledge Today (Università degli Studi di Milano, May 8–9, 2025).  The issue examines how contemporary art engages with artificial intelligence not as a neutral instrument but as a dialogical partner in thought and creation. Moving beyond polarized narratives that cast AI either as a threat or as an enhancement of human capacities, the introduction explores the relational space in which human and machine agencies interact, generating new meanings and aesthetic possibilities. By foregrounding interaction rather than autonomy or technical performance, it proposes a framework for understanding AI-based artistic practice as a site for rethinking authorship, intention, and the co-constitutive evolution of humans and their technologies.The following introduction opens the present issue of Itinera by gathering a selection of the papers presented at the conference Artificial Intelligence to the Test. Creativity and Humanistic Knowledge Today (Università degli Studi di Milano, May 8–9, 2025).  The issue examines how contemporary art engages with artificial intelligence not as a neutral instrument but as a dialogical partner in thought and creation. Moving beyond polarized narratives that cast AI either as a threat or as an enhancement of human capacities, the introduction explores the relational space in which human and machine agencies interact, generating new meanings and aesthetic possibilities. By foregrounding interaction rather than autonomy or technical performance, it proposes a framework for understanding AI-based artistic practice as a site for rethinking authorship, intention, and the co-constitutive evolution of humans and their technologies

Una singola definizione di lusso? Verso una lussuologia

A single definition of luxury? Towards a luxury studies Luxury is often described as a pervasive phenomenon across societies and is inherently linked to various forms of inequality. However, a universally accepted definition remains elusive, largely due to the limited attention philosophy has devoted to the subject. Despite this, numerous renowned philosophers have addressed luxury, either directly or through evaluations of its intrinsic characteristics. This paper aims to propose more than three definitions of luxury, each particularly relevant within a specific domain: moral philosophy, aesthetics, and economics. The final argument is that a comprehensive definition, as sought by luxuology, must integrate insights from all these fields.Il lusso è spesso descritto come un fenomeno diffuso in tutte le società ed è intrinsecamente legato a varie forme di disuguaglianza. Tuttavia, una definizione universalmente accettata rimane difficile da individuare, soprattutto a causa della scarsa attenzione che la filosofia ha dedicato all\u27argomento. Ciononostante, numerosi filosofi di fama hanno affrontato il tema del lusso, sia direttamente che attraverso valutazioni delle sue caratteristiche intrinseche. Questo articolo si propone di proporre più di tre definizioni di lusso, ciascuna particolarmente rilevante in un ambito specifico: filosofia morale, estetica ed economia. L\u27argomentazione finale è che una definizione completa, come quella ricercata dalla luxuologia, deve integrare le intuizioni provenienti da tutti questi campi

When the Algorithm Takes Root AI-Generated Plants and the Crisis of Ecological Realism

This essay tracks the sudden bloom of AI-generated plants across social media and argues that their plausibility precipitates a crisis of ecological realism. These “algorithmic botanicals” borrow photography’s rhetoric of evidence while severing any indexical bond to the living world, producing images that are photographic without being photographs. Situating this phenomenon within lineages of realism—from Renaissance naturalism and Dutch still life to taxidermy, staged wildlife, and the spectacle— the essay shows how generative imagery weaponizes botanical desire for attention, clicks, and sales. The result is a miseducation of the gaze: an aesthetic norm calibrated to impossible perfection that diminishes the ordinary wonder of actual plants. Read through capitalist realism, AI flora offer frictionless connection without ecological consequence, anesthetizing care. The essay concludes by calling for new visual literacies and curatorial protocols, and by reframing realism as attunement—an ethics of looking that restores discernment between the living and the lifeless.This essay tracks the sudden bloom of AI-generated plants across social media and argues that their plausibility precipitates a crisis of ecological realism. These “algorithmic botanicals” borrow photography’s rhetoric of evidence while severing any indexical bond to the living world, producing images that are photographic without being photographs. Situating this phenomenon within lineages of realism—from Renaissance naturalism and Dutch still life to taxidermy, staged wildlife, and the spectacle— the essay shows how generative imagery weaponizes botanical desire for attention, clicks, and sales. The result is a miseducation of the gaze: an aesthetic norm calibrated to impossible perfection that diminishes the ordinary wonder of actual plants. Read through capitalist realism, AI flora offer frictionless connection without ecological consequence, anesthetizing care. The essay concludes by calling for new visual literacies and curatorial protocols, and by reframing realism as attunement—an ethics of looking that restores discernment between the living and the lifeless

Ecology as Aesthetic Practice Emotions and Relationality in Arne Næss’s Deep Ecology

L’ecologia come pratica estetica. Emozioni e relazionalità nell’ecologia profonda di Arne Næss Questo articolo esplora il ruolo fondamentale dell\u27esperienza estetica, delle emozioni e della relazionalità nella filosofia dell\u27ecologia profonda di Arne Næss. Sfidando il tradizionale dualismo tra ragione ed emozione, il documento sostiene che la consapevolezza ecologica e l\u27impegno etico emergono da un modo incarnato ed estetico di interagire con il mondo. Attingendo alle intuizioni fenomenologiche e alla teoria della Gestalt, esso evidenzia come la percezione dell\u27ambiente come un tutto interconnesso trasformi il senso di sé del soggetto e favorisca una connessione gioiosa e affettiva con la natura. Per Næss, riconnettersi con queste relazioni essenziali implica una profonda comprensione del fatto che le nostre identità sono strettamente plasmate dai contesti ecologici in cui viviamo. L\u27aria fresca che respiriamo, il cibo nutriente che consumiamo e gli ambienti diversificati in cui viviamo contribuiscono ciascuno all\u27essenza di ciò che siamo come individui. Questa visione risuona fortemente con il concetto stoico di oikeiosis, che sottolinea l\u27importanza di familiarizzare con il mondo che ci circonda e di entrare in sintonia emotiva con esso, promuovendo un senso di appartenenza al suo interno. All\u27interno di questo ricco quadro, le emozioni giocano un ruolo cruciale. Al centro di questa argomentazione c\u27è il concetto di hilaritas, ovvero il gioioso riconoscimento di appartenere alla più ampia comunità ecologica, che è alla base della responsabilità ecologica e dell\u27azione ambientale sostenibile. Inquadrando l\u27ecosofia di Næss in un contesto filosofico più ampio che include Spinoza e le teorie contemporanee sull\u27atmosfera e l\u27affettività, l\u27articolo propone un\u27estetica ecologica che è al tempo stesso una pratica di relazionalità etica e di gioia incarnata. Questo approccio offre nuove prospettive su come la sensibilità estetica possa catalizzare un impegno ambientale più profondo nell\u27Antropocene.This article explores the pivotal role of aesthetic experience, emotions, and relationality in Arne Næss’s philosophy of Deep Ecology. Challenging the traditional dualism between reason and emotion, the paper argues that ecological awareness and ethical commitment emerge from an embodied, aesthetic mode of engagement with the world. Drawing on phenomenological insights and Gestalt theory, it highlights how perceiving the environment as an interconnected whole transforms the subject’s sense of self and fosters a joyful, affective connection with nature. For Næss, reconnecting with these essential relationships involves a deep understanding that our very identities are intricately shaped by the ecological contexts in which we dwell. The fresh air we breathe, the nourishing food we consume, and the diverse environments we inhabit each contribute to the essence of who we are as individuals. This vision resonates powerfully with the Stoic concept of oikeiosis, which emphasises the importance of growing familiar with and emotionally attuned to the world around us, fostering a sense of belonging within it. Within this rich framework, emotions play a crucial role. Central to this argument is the concept of hilaritas – the joyous recognition of belonging to the broader ecological community, which grounds ecological responsibility and sustained environmental action. By situating Næss’s ecosophy within a wider philosophical lineage that includes Spinoza and contemporary theories of atmosphere and affect, the article proposes an ecological aesthetics that is simultaneously a practice of ethical relationality and embodied joy. This approach offers new perspectives on how aesthetic sensibility can catalyse deeper environmental engagement in the Anthropocene

Biodiversity and Aesthetics: some historical remarks

Biodiversità ed estetica: alcune osservazioni storiche Il presente articolo indaga le radici storiche dell’esperienza estetica della biodiversità, concentrandosi su un periodo formativo dell’estetica moderna compreso tra la metà del XVII e la fine del XVIII secolo. Attraverso l’analisi delle opere di Balthasar Gracián, Joseph Addison e Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, si sostiene che la diversità e la molteplicità delle specie viventi – ciò che oggi chiamiamo biodiversità – fossero già centrali nelle riflessioni proto-estetiche e nelle prime elaborazioni estetiche sulla natura. Pur privi di una consapevolezza ecologica moderna, questi autori attribuivano alla varietà della vita un profondo valore emotivo, filosofico e simbolico. Il concetto di sguardo innocente in Gracián, l’estetica della novità e della pienezza dell’essere in Addison e le intuizioni morfologiche sulla metamorfosi in Goethe rappresentano ciascuno un diverso modo di rapportarsi esteticamente alla biodiversità.Lo studio si conclude con una riflessione critica sui limiti del legame tra apprezzamento estetico e responsabilità etica nei dibattiti contemporanei sulla conservazione, mettendo in guardia contro usi strumentali o scientisti dell’esperienza estetica.This article explores the historical roots of the aesthetic experience of biodiversity, focusing on a formative period of modern aesthetics between the mid-17th and late 18th centuries. Drawing on the works of Balthasar Gracián, Joseph Addison, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the paper argues that the diversity and multitude of living species – what we now call biodiversity – were already central to proto-aesthetic and early aesthetic reflections on nature. Although lacking modern ecological awareness, these authors attributed profound emotional, philosophical, and symbolic value to the variety of life. Gracián’s concept of the innocent gaze, Addison’s aesthetic of novelty and fullness of being, and Goethe’s morphological insights into metamorphosis each exemplify a distinct mode of aesthetically engaging with biodiversity. The study concludes with critical reflections on the limits of linking aesthetic appreciation to ethical responsibility in contemporary debates on conservation, warning against instrumental or scientistic appropriations of aesthetic experience

Estetica della zona critica: ecologia, scienza, politica

Aesthetics of the critical zone: ecology, science, politics Starting from the concept of biodiversity, this contribution explores the intersection between aesthetics and environmental sciences, proposing a methodologically ecological co-implication. Bruno Latour’s thought – reinterpreted here through an aesthetic-ecological lens – plays a key role in deconstructing the modern ontological dualism underlying both certain strands of environmental aesthetics and the very notion of biodiversity. This opens the way for a relational and atmospheric aesthetics attentive to the co-presence of human and non-human actors, and enriched by a culturally situated science. This approach finds concrete expression in the concept of the Critical Zone, understood as a compositional paradigm where beauty emerges as an unstable balance of aesthetic, cognitive, and political elements.Prendendo le mosse dal concetto di biodiversità, questo contributo esplora l’intersezione tra estetica e scienze ambientali, proponendo una co-implicazione metodologicamente ecologica. Il pensiero di Bruno Latour – qui reinterpretato attraverso una lente estetico-ecologica – svolge un ruolo chiave nella decostruzione del dualismo ontologico moderno che sta alla base sia di alcuni filoni dell’estetica ambientale sia della nozione stessa di biodiversità. Ciò apre la strada a un’estetica relazionale e atmosferica attenta alla compresenza di attori umani e non umani, arricchita da una scienza culturalmente situata. Tale approccio trova espressione concreta nel concetto di Zona Critica, inteso come paradigma compositivo in cui la bellezza emerge come equilibrio instabile di elementi estetici, cognitivi e politici

Lo spazio del disgusto. Materialità e subalternità in Carolina Maria De Jesus

The concept of disgust is generally associated with the sensorial sphere of our body and is identified with a feeling of instinctive repulsion towards something that causes discom- fort. It has different meanings that emphasize its physical, ethical and social component. According to Darwin, disgust is one of the six primary sensations as it generates repul- sion, but for repulsion to occur as an immediate reaction, it must be re-symbolized through an interpretative action that occurs cognitively. Paraphrasing W. I. Miller (1997), disgust contributes to structure the world through the power of images and to internalize moral, collective and political attitudes. In this perspective, disgust is configured as a social catalyst, capable of creating isolated urban spaces of exclusion and marginality. In the novel Quarto de Despejo (1960) Carolina Maria de Jesus represents the existential conditions of a woman on the margins of society in a favela on the outskirts of São Paulo where she is forced to sell garbage to survive. The space of the favela is configured as a place of the marginalized, unwanted, victim of disgust by society. In the same way Caro- lina feels aversion towards São Paulo, which she defines as a «sick city», a symbol of exploitation, discrimination and violence. In the novel the physical element of garbage plays an important role and induces the protagonist to an act of internalization with which she projects the negative qualities of waste onto herself, in this way, she becomes the object and subject of disgust. Thus represented, disgust becomes a threat to one’s dignity, to the sense of belonging to a specific or abstract group, that is, to humanity. The language of the novel takes on forms of disgust in the representations of objects and waste that shape the surrounding space, which has now also become a theater of the repugnant. Car- olina Maria De Jesus more or less consciously consolidates her relationship with the ex- cluding space in which she moves by assuming the characteristics of the social marginalized.The concept of disgust is generally associated with the sensorial sphere of our body and is identified with a feeling of instinctive repulsion towards something that causes discom- fort. It has different meanings that emphasize its physical, ethical and social component. According to Darwin, disgust is one of the six primary sensations as it generates repul- sion, but for repulsion to occur as an immediate reaction, it must be re-symbolized through an interpretative action that occurs cognitively. Paraphrasing W. I. Miller (1997), disgust contributes to structure the world through the power of images and to internalize moral, collective and political attitudes. In this perspective, disgust is configured as a social catalyst, capable of creating isolated urban spaces of exclusion and marginality. In the novel Quarto de Despejo (1960) Carolina Maria de Jesus represents the existential conditions of a woman on the margins of society in a favela on the outskirts of São Paulo where she is forced to sell garbage to survive. The space of the favela is configured as a place of the marginalized, unwanted, victim of disgust by society. In the same way Caro- lina feels aversion towards São Paulo, which she defines as a «sick city», a symbol of exploitation, discrimination and violence. In the novel the physical element of garbage plays an important role and induces the protagonist to an act of internalization with which she projects the negative qualities of waste onto herself, in this way, she becomes the object and subject of disgust. Thus represented, disgust becomes a threat to one’s dignity, to the sense of belonging to a specific or abstract group, that is, to humanity. The language of the novel takes on forms of disgust in the representations of objects and waste that shape the surrounding space, which has now also become a theater of the repugnant. Car- olina Maria De Jesus more or less consciously consolidates her relationship with the ex- cluding space in which she moves by assuming the characteristics of the social marginalized