The systemic and integral personalism of Evandro Agazzi. A dialog between neuroscience and artificial intelligence
Alberto Carrara, Member, Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV); Department of Philosophy, Neurobioethics Research Group (GdN), UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum; Department of Philosophy, European University of Rome (UER). Rome, Italy
Background: Personalism is a philosophical tradition affirming the intrinsic dignity of the human person, standing against materialist reductionism and collectivist depersonalization. Italian philosopher Evandro Agazzi significantly contributes to this tradition by integrating insights from the philosophy of science, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence (AI) into a cohesive anthropological vision. Objective: This article presents and analyzes Agazzi’s systemic and integral personalism, addressing contemporary challenges in neuroscience and AI. It highlights his resistance to reductionist views and his vision of the person as an embodied culturally embedded unity. Method: The study employs a philosophical and hermeneutical approach, drawing from Agazzi’s works in epistemology, neuroscience, and technology ethics. Key texts are critically examined to reconstruct his anthropological model and its implications for bioethics and the philosophy of mind. Results: Agazzi consistently rejects dualism and reductionism, proposing a systemic view of the human being as a hierarchical integration of body, brain, mind, and culture. His epistemology supports scientific objectivity while acknowledging naturalism’s limits. Agazzi also critiques functionalist AI models, emphasizing the irreducibility of human intentionality and rationality. Conclusion: Agazzi’s scientific personalism provides a philosophical foundation for addressing ethical challenges in neurotechnology and AI, safeguarding human dignity amid technological advancement.
Keywords: Agazzi. Personalism. Philosophy. Science. Neuroscience. Artificial intelligence.
