Speaker: Elvira Di Bona (University of Turin)
Elvira is Associate Professor at the University of Turin. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a FIS project on the relationship between sound and memory (HeaR) of ca. 1 million €. and a PRIN PNRR 2022 project on how we perceive atmospheres (ATMOS) of ca. 230,000 €. Her main research interests are in the philosophy of mind and aesthetics. She also works on several topics in the philosophy of language and philosophy of music. Elvira published extensively on auditory perception, the metaphysics of sound, and the content of perceptual experience.
Before joining the Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences in Turin as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Mind, Elvira spent more than four years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Polonsky Academy at The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (Israel). Before that, she held postdoctoral positions at the Italian Academy of Columbia University (NYC), Freie Universität Berlin (sponsored by DAAD), and the University of Turin (sponsored by Franco and Marilisa Caligara Foundation).
Elvira obtained her Ph.D. in Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Milan) and the Institut Jean Nicod (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris). During her Ph.D. course, she spent research periods at the New York University, as a Fulbright Scholar, and the University of Sydney, as an ARIA (Association for Research between Italy and Australasia) Grantee.
Elvira completed the “High Specialization Course in Music Studies – Solo Violin Performance” at the National Academy of Santa Cecilia (Rome) in 2008. She performed in concerts of classical and jazz music—in solo performances, and chamber and symphonic orchestras—in the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Romania, Croatia, and Venezuela.
Title
Listening through Loudspeakers: A (Mostly) Veridical Perception of Sounds
Abstract
In this paper, I argue that auditory experiences mediated by loudspeakers are essentially non-illusory. To support this claim, I distinguish three dimensions that structure the content of auditory experience: the what-dimension (what kind of sound is heard), the where-dimension (where the sound is located), and the when-dimension (when the sound-producing event takes place). I then examine these three dimensions in three paradigmatic cases of listening through loudspeakers: listening to recorded sounds, listening to streamed auditory events, and listening to amplified live sounds in large spaces.I argue that, in all three cases, the what-dimension, and most of the where and when dimensions of auditory experience are veridical, since loudspeakers transmit rather than reproduce sounds and thus function as transparent perceptual media. I further show that some spatial and temporal illusions, when they occur, are limited in scope and arise only when the transparency of the perceptual medium breaks down—namely, when spatial or temporal properties of the loudspeaker itself enter the content of experience. Despite these possible distortions, the auditory experience of sounds through loudspeakers remains, in most cases, essentially veridical.
Everyone interested is welcome to attend.
The meeting will be held in English.
Participation is strongly recommended for students of the Doctoral School in Philosophy and Human Sciences and for students of the Doctoral School “The Human Mind and its Explanations: Language, Brain, and Reasoning”.
Where: Online
When: 22/04/2026 – 17:00 CET
Attendance: Attendance is free and open to all, but registration is needed by email [angelica.kaufmann@unimi.it]