Michele Farisco

Michele Farisco
Postdoc Researcher
Michele Farisco, PhD, is part of CRB's neuroethics research team as a researcher working on Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroethics within the Human Brain Project and the EIC Pathfinder CAVAA project. He holds a MA in Philosophy from University of Naples "L'Orientale" in 2003, a PhD in "Ethics and Anthropology. History and Foundation" from University of Lecce in 2008, a Master degree in Biolaw from the University of Rome "Lumsa" in 2009, and a PhD in Neuroscience and Philosophy from Uppsala University in 2019. He spent time on an exchange grant from the European Neuroscience and Society Network within the European Science Foundation joining the Coma Science Group of the University of Liège (Belgium). He is the head of the "Science and society" research unit of Biogem Genetic Research Centre in Ariano Irpino (Italy). He is the author of four books and several articles about posthuman philosophy, philosophical, ethical and legal implications (ELSI) of genetics and neuroscience, consciousness (with a particular focus on disorders of consciousness), addiction, Artificial Intelligence, and neuroethics. He was awareded the title of Associate Professor of Moral Philosophy in Italy in 2015.
His current research focuses on consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and reciprocal connection. Specifically, in collaboration with empirical scientists from inside and outside the HBP and the CAVAA project, his research aims at developing a philosophical and ethical framework for the experimental and computational explorations of cognition and consciousness. To illustrate, he is collaborating in the elaboration of concrete empirical, theoretical, and behavioural criteria for ascribing consciousness to people with disorders of consciousness, animals, and machines, and he is engaged in exploring the arising ethical issues.
E-mail: michele.farisco@crb.uu.se
Phone: +46 73 469 75 05
Recently in media
- Der dunkle Geist – Vorstoß ins unbewusste Bewusstsein
Deutschlandfunk, 2021-12-26 - The Struggle for Consciousness and the Dawn of a New Alliance Between Ethics and Science
The Neuroethics Blog, 2019-03-12 - Neuroscience of drug addiction highlights policy/ethical issues
Human Brain Project news, 2018-11-22 - On consciousness and the unconscious
BMC On Medicine, 2018-07-27 - Coma patients might feel pleasure and pain like the rest of us
ScienceNordic, 2018-05-24 - Føler komapatienter smerte og nydelse ligesom os andre?
ForskerZonen, 2018-05-22 - We need a more comprehensive ethics of disorders of consciousness
BioEdge, 2017-11-18 - Om högteknologiska implantat i hjärnan
Vetenskapsradions veckomagasin, 2017-04-21
Artificial intelligence
Conceptual analysis

We expand AI ethics beyond the applied to answer the basic questions posed by the technology.
The Human Brain Project

The Human Brain Project is one of the European Community flagship projects and involves over 100 groups. Kathinka Evers leads the philosophical research.
Neuroethics & Neurophilsophy

Any attempt at understanding how the mind and the brain work comes with a set of philosophical, ethical and social issues.
Michele Farisco on the Ethics Blog
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A new project will explore the prospect of artificial awareness
Source: Michele Farisco 2023-02-28
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An ethical strategy for improving the healthcare of brain-damaged patients
Source: Michele Farisco 2022-05-31
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How can we detect consciousness in brain-damaged patients?
Source: Michele Farisco 2022-04-19
Fundamental Neuroethics

We aim to broaden the field and contribute to the ongoing discussion on the nature of neuroethics with our conceptual approach to fundamental neuroethics.
Consciousness
Conceptual analysis

We develop new theory of consciousness with notable implication for how the 'unconscious' is conceived.
Publications
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About the compatibility between the perturbational complexity index and the global neuronal workspace theory of consciousness
Part of Neuroscience of Consciousness, p. 1-8, 2023.
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Developing Capabilities for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
Part of Journal of Responsible Technology, p. 100065-100065, 2023.
DOI for Developing Capabilities for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
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International survey on the implementation of the European and American guidelines on disorders of consciousness
Part of Journal of Neurology, 2023.
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The Ethical Spectrum of Consciousness
Part of AJOB Neuroscience, p. 55-57, 2023.
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American and European Guidelines on Disorders of Consciousness: Ethical Challenges of Implementation
Part of The journal of head trauma rehabilitation, p. 258-262, 2022.
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Indicators and criteria of consciousness: ethical implications for the care of behaviourally unresponsive patients
Part of BMC Medical Ethics, 2022.
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On the Contribution of Neuroethics to the Ethics and Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
Part of Neuroethics, 2022.
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The need for a multi-disciplinary reflection about frailty and cognitive impairment in chronic kidney disease
Part of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, p. 1064-1066, 2022.
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What names for covert awareness?: A systematic review
Part of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2022.
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From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design
Part of Journal of Responsible Innovation, p. 175-198, 2021.
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Finding hidden awareness
Patients with disorders that affect their consciousness are often unable to communicate. Sometimes there is a hidden awareness somewhere in the patient’s brain, but how do we find it? Michele Farisco is Associate Professor of Moral Philosophy, doing his second PhD in Neuroethics.
