“If asked to identify an example of the creative mind, the majority of us would suggest a young man, intelligent and educated. I wouldn’t. Nor would I think of a young woman, however generous and intelligent. I would instead go to a village market and choose an older woman”. The words of Ursula Le Guin seem to be an excellent starting point for overturning prejudices and stereotypes, besides, of course, hunting for mental creativity in those who have been confined to the realm of physical procreation (mothers) or people whose creativity has been expropriated in the name of a comprehensive, yet unjustified, “youth bias” (the elderly). Is it really true that the maternity of children blocks the paternity of ideas? Is it really possible that inventive ability falls as age rises and that, today, older people are increasingly considered as knowing nothing? Perhaps these are simply myths and obsessions of our time, ones we shall attempt to debate.
Video
Francesca Rigotti, a philosopher and essayist, has previously taught at the Universities of Göttingen and Zurich and was a visiting fellow at the University of Princeton. She has been teaching at the Università della Svizzera Italiana since 1996. Her research focuses on the deciphering of metaphorical and symbolic processes in philosophical thought, political reasoning and daily life. She collaborates with Swiss Italian Radio and writes for various publications in Italy and abroad. Her books include: La filosofia delle piccole cose (Interlinea, 2004); Il pensiero delle cose (Apogeo, 2007, Premio Capalbio); Gola. La passione dell’ingordigia (2008); and Il pensiero pendolare (2006) for the publisher il Mulino; Partorire con il corpo e con la mente (Bollati Boringhieri, 2010); with Duccio Demetrio, Senza figli. Una condizione umana (Raffaello Cortina, 2012); Onestà (Raffaello Cortina, 2014); with Anna Longo, Una donna per amico (Orthotes, 2016); and De senectute (Einaudi, 2018).
Francesca Rigotti & i Dialoghi
2018
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