Utopia and Utopias Between Science, Philosophy and Literature

Utopia is the topic of this year's edition of ScienzaNuova, which will bring together in the traditional venue of the Akademie Meran from July 25-30 some of Italy's leading philosophers, physicists, mathematicians and intellectuals of international standing under the title Thoughts on Utopia – Between Possibility and Necessity. The "seminar of research and experimentation on the fundamental concepts of today's sciences" is coordinated by a scientific committee on which sits Gino Zaccaria, a theoretical philosopher at Bocconi and co-founder (along with Ivo De Gennaro) of ScienzaNuova.

The idea of utopia has always fascinated philosophers, scientists, writers and poets. Through the centuries it has not only evolved conceptually but has also taken different shapes depending on the perspective, and it is this multiplicity of facets that the seminar will attempt to illustrate. Mathematics, physics, medicine, and literature have their own vision of utopia, and in the workshops into which the event is divided there will be an opportunity to delve into each of them. The program for ScienzaNuova 2022 is available on this page (in Italian).

"Philosophy," says Gino Zaccaria, "has a utopian core that is fundamentally different from scientific utopia. Moreover, a distinction must be made between what is utopico, that is, unattainable but inspiring, and what is utopistico, that is, lacking any real application and utility."

The event is made possible in part by contributions from Fondazione Cariplo and Sparkasse Bozen.