Assistant Professor, University of Eastern Piedmont
I am a political theorist interested in the realist tradition - both its classic authors like Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber, as well as its contemporary revival rekindled by Williams and Geuss. My main research interest is in the normative side of political realism, i.e. on the grounds upon which realist authors could praise or criticize both political actors and institutions, despite a broad scepticism of traditional moral norms.
I've recently developed a functionalist understanding of such realist political normativity. I argued that functions can be attributed objectively, and they can be used to ground normative judgments. Simply put, just as knives are good when they are sharp and armies are good when they are trained to fight, political institutions are good when they discharge their functions. One key political function is issuing binding collective decisions despite widespread disagreement. Institutions that fail to do so might be defended on moral grounds, but are politically undesirable. This argument also prompted a lively debate, since critics of realism replied to it and I offered some further thoughts in response.
Selected publications
2024 - A genealogy of politics: Vindicatory, pragmatic, and realist (with Prinz, J.), European Journal of Philosophy
2023 - No Virtue like Resilience – Machiavelli’s realistic justification of democracy, Political Studies
2021 - The Sources of Political Normativity: The case for instrumental and epistemic normativity in political realism (with Destri, C.) Ethical Theory & Moral Practice
2020 - Political Normativity and the Functional Autonomy of Politics, European Journal of Political Theory
2019 - A Realistic Conception of Politics: Conflict, order and political realism, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP Essay Prize)
TRACK RECORD (updated 5/25)
SCOPUS (57202004382): 130 citations, 19 documents, 5 H-I
Google Scholar: 251 citations, 6 H-I, 5 i10
MAIN SCIENTIFIC RESULTS
1. Political normativity and the functional autonomy of politics. European Journal of Political Theory (2022)
Ranking: Q1 in Pol. Sci./Int. Rel. and Soc./Pol. Sci.; H-I 36; 28 Scopus citations
Contribution: Introduces a novel interdisciplinary defense of functional normativity within realist political theory, drawing on philosophy of biology and social-science epistemology
Impact: Prompted a 10,000-word reply (by Erman & Möller, professors at Stockholm University) plus an invited rejoinder in the Journal of Philosophical Research.
2. A realistic conception of politics: conflict, order and political realism. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (2021)
Ranking: Q1 Philosophy; Q2 Soc./Pol. Sci.; H-I 28; 14 Scopus citations
Contribution: Explores how conflict and order define realist politics
Impact: Awarded the journal’s 2022 Best Article Prize. Jury: R. Bellamy (UCL), M. Ronzoni (Manchester University), M. Schwartzberg (NYU).
3. No Virtue Like Resilience: Machiavelli’s Realistic Justification of Democracy. Political Studies (2024)
Ranking: Q1 Soc./Pol. Sci.; H-I 101; 1 Scopus citations
Contribution: Combines Machiavellian thought with complexity science to make an interdisciplinary argument that democracy’s value lies in its crisis resilience
4. The Sources of Political Normativity The case for instrumental and epistemic normativity in political realism. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (2021, with C. Destri)
Ranking: Q1 Philosophy; Q2 Social Sciences; H-I 36; 23 Scopus citations
Contribution: Uses metaethical debates to show how political normativity can be independent of moral normativity
Impact: Cited by Prof. Fabienne Peter (Warwick) in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (“Legitimacy”), a cornerstone in the field
5. Getting real about taxes: Offshore tax sheltering and realism's ethic of responsibility. Ethics & International Affairs (2022, with G. Arlen)
Ranking: Q1 Philosophy; Q1 Pol. Sci./Int. Rel.; H-I 56; 3 Scopus citations
Contribution: Examines offshore tax sheltering from a realist perspective, underscoring its institutional threats
SELECTED LIST
Peer Reviewed Articles
2025 – Moralism as a pathology of public discourse: a realist assessment. (with. Destri C.) Topoi (2025): 1-12. Q1 Phil, H-I 32
2024 – No Virtue Like Resilience: Machiavelli’s Realistic Justification of Democracy. Political Studies 72.4 (2024): 1471-1490. Q1 Soc and Pol Sc, H-I 101
2024 – A genealogy of politics: Vindicatory, pragmatic, and realist. (with Prinz J.) European Journal of Philosophy (2024). Q1 Phil, H-I 42
2024 – Political normativity as functional normativity: a reply to Erman and Möller. Journal of Philosophical Research, (2024). Q3 Phil, H-I 17
2023 – From right to might, and back: Functional legitimacy as a realist value. (with Destri C.) Philosophy & Social Criticism (2023). Q1 Phil, H-I 40
2023 – The function of solidarity and its normative implications. (with Camboni C.) Ethics & Global Politics 16.3 (2023): 1-19. Q3 Soc and Pol Sc, H-I 32
2022 – Political normativity and the functional autonomy of politics. European Journal of Political Theory 21.4 (2022): 627-649. Q1 Soc and Pol Sc, H-I 36
2022 – The sources of political normativity: The case for instrumental and epistemic normativity in political realism. (with Destri C.) Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 25.3 (2022): 397-413. Q1 Phil, H-I 36
2022 – Getting real about taxes: Offshore tax sheltering and realism's ethic of responsibility. (with Arlen G.) Ethics & International Affairs 36.2 (2022): 231-258. Q1 Phil, Q1 Pol Sc and Int Rel, H-I 56
2021 – A realistic conception of politics: conflict, order and political realism. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 24.7 (2021): 977-999. Q1 Phil, H-I 28
2019 – Cross‐national solidarity and political sustainability in the EU after the Crisis. (with Ferrera M.) Journal of Common Market Studies 57.1 (2019): 94-110. Q1 Economics and Econometrics, Q1 Pol Sc and Int Rel, H-I 106
Monographs
2020 – Realtà Necessità Conflitto: Il realismo in filosofia politica. Roma: Carocci (2020) ISBN-10: 8829001120
2010 – E Fu Lo Stato: Hobbes e il Dilemma che Imprigiona. Milano: Mimesis (2010) ISBN-10: 8857501949
Chapters
2023 – The Solidarity Deficit of the European Union A Missing Functional Value. (with Donati N.) European Solidarity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. ECPR Press (2023).
Edited Special Issues
2021 – Political Normativity Critical essays on the autonomy of the political. (with Cozzaglio I., Destri C., Favara G.) Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (2021)