Tullio Viola (T.)

I am an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy of art and culture. My research focus lies at the intersection of the theory of culture, the philosophy of the social sciences, and intellectual history. I am particularly interested in how we conceptualize cultural change and in how long-term cultural phenomena shape individual agency. Pursuing this question has led me to focus on theories of the symbol, the philosophy of history, the concepts of cultural memory and cultural transmission.

My historical work has focused on the dialogue between philosophy and the socio-cultural sciences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I have written in particular on American pragmatism, German "Kulturwissenschaften," and French philosophy. My first book, Peirce on the Uses of History, came out with De Gruyter in 2020. In addition, I published articles in the British Journal of the History of Philosophy, History & Theory, the European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy, and other journals. I am currently working on two projects. One focuses on the philosophy of culture in classical American pragmatism and its implications for today's dialogue between philosophy and anthropology. The other project is about the cognitive role of popular narratives (such as folktales or legends) in situations of epistemic marginalization.

I studied in Pisa (Italy) and I hold a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University in Berlin (2015). Before coming to Maastricht, I worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Berlin and Erfurt.