"A kaleidoscope of observations and ideas: it runs the gamut from the German king and Roman emperor Friedrich II von Hohenstaufen- stupor mundi, and close to the hearts and minds of the people of southern Italy ... . The text is written in a forceful though unusual style- not always traditionally English- and it is a pleasure to read; hard to put down." (Ingo Mueller, Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena, Vol. 15, 2020)
PREFACE
A DICTATOR MUST ALWAYS EXIST
MANY PERSONS BELIEVE THAT MATHEMATICS IS TOO ABSTRACT A SCIENCE TO BE REALLY USEFUL.
DICTATORS OR OPINION LEADERS ?
IS IT POSSIBLE TO FIND A DEMOCRATIC METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF SOCIAL
CHOICES ?
A QUESTION OF RULES OR, MATHEMATICALLY SPEAKING, A QUESTION OF ALGORITHMS
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PRACTICAL USE OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS OF CONDORCET PROBLEM
IN POLITICS
A FIRST INFORMAL FORMULATION OF ARROW THEOREM
THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR A CHOICE: TOTAL ORDER RELATIONS
A SECOND, MORE PRECISE, FORMULATION OF ARROW THEOREM
MONOTONICITY AND INDEPENDENCE OF IRRELEVANT ORDER
ARROW'S THEOREM IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING MANY
SOCIAL PHENOMENA
ARROW’S THEOREM AND THE SELECTION OF SUPER ALPHA INDIVIDUALS
ARROW THEOREM AS A TOOL FOR UNDERSTANDING HISTORY
ARROW THEOREM AS THE FIRST MATHEMATICAL RESULT IN PSICO-HISTORY
“A PRIORI” IMPOSED SOCIAL CHOICES, ALTERNATIVES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT, AND
INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEMS INCAPABLE TO DECIDE
KING, EMPERORS, (ABSOLUTE) MONARCHS AND DESPOTS
DEMOCRACY AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE
CATHERINE THE GREAT AND GENGHIS KHAN: POWER HAS NO GENDER
GENGHIS KHAN
CATHERINE THE GREAT, EMPRESS AND AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS
SOME INITIAL CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POWER AND GENDER
SOME OPEN PROBLEMS FOR A GENERAL MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF
SOCIAL STRUCTURES
A CASUAL LIST OF PROBLEMS WHICH COULD BE TREATED BY THE THEORY OF SOCIAL
STRUCTURES
PLATO’S REPUBLIC: A PRISTINE TEXTBOOK IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
A QUEST OF PHENOLOGICAL BASIS FOR FUTURE THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENTS
PHENOMENOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIPS AND UNIFICATIONS: ANALYSIS OF AN HISTORICAL NECESSITY
SOUTHERN VERSUS NORTHERN LEADERS
LEADERS FROM SOUTH AIM AT UNREACHABLE IDEALS?
AN EXEMPLARY IDEALISTIC SOUTHERNER: CARLO FILANGIERI
THE MAIN EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF CARLO FILANGIERI
A REAPPRAISAL OF THE RES GESTAE (i.e. THE DEEDS) OF CARLO FILANGIERI
THE TALENTS NEEDED TO BE A WINNER: POWER IS THE PRIZE FOR MACHIAVELLIAN BEHAVIOUR
CAMILLO BENSO, COUNT OF CAVOUR: THE HETEROGENESIS OF ENDS
A SHORT LIST OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF CAVOUR
PHENOMENOLOGY OF DICTATORSHIP
THE WEAKNESSES OF TWO SICILIES AS EXPLOITED BY CAVOUR AND GARIBALDI
THOSE MASTERS OF DUPLICITY WHO SURRENDERED NAPLES 83
DON PASQUALE
THE WIFE OF DON PASQUALE
PATROCLUS PETRONS: THE PUPPET OF THE CRYPTO-DICTATOR
A TENTATIVE EXPLANATION OF SOME OF DESCRIBED PHENOMENA BASED
ON THE CONCEPT OF NASH EQUILIBRIUM
GAME THEORY: A POWERFUL CONCEPTUAL TOOL
(STABLE) EQUILIBRIUM CONFIGURATIONS
NON-UNIQUENESS OF EQUILIBRIA
STRATEGIES IN A GAME
NASH EQUILIBRIUM
SOME TENTATIVE APPLICATIONS OF NASH THEOREM
MIXED RANDOM STRATEGIES
IS THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE DICTATOR AND OF THE LEADER
OBSERVED ONLY IN HUMAN GROUPS ?
MAMA, TESTOSTERONE AND DICTATORS
YEROEN, NIKKIE, LUIT: MALE COMPETITION FOR POWER
UNMASKING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
KANZI, THE BONOBO: A MESSAGE OF HOPE
PHENOMENOLOGY OF SERVITUDE
PART I. WHY DO PEOPLE OBEY A GOVERNMENT
PART II. LIBERTY IS THE NATURAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE
PART III. THE FOUNDATION OF TYRANNY
SERVITUDE AS AN INNATE INSTINCT
MONTESQUIEU: THE POSSIBLE DEMOCRACY
TOWARDS A RATIONAL THEORY OF CONSTITUTIONS
THE DIVISION OF POWERS IMAGINED BY MONTESQUIEU
MORE SOPHISTICATED MATHEMATICAL THEORIES ARE NEEDED
APPENDIX 1. THE STORY OF TWO WORDS: DICTATOR/TYRANT
APPENDIX 2. MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE
THEOREM OF DICTATOR
INDIVIDUAL OR SOCIAL CHOICES AMONG SEVERAL OPTIONS
OPTIONS PREFERRED TO ALL OPTIONS IN A SPECIFIC SET
RATIONAL CHOICE, IN THE SENSE OF ARROW
(STRICTLY) PREFERRED AND INDIFFERENT OPTIONS
VOTES IN A SOCIAL GROUP
SOCIAL CHOICE FUNCTION AND ITS PROPERTIES
ARROW’S THEOREM ON POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL CHOICE
Prof. Francesco dell’Isola is co-author of more than 164 papers (indexed in Scopus). He was editor or co-author of 5 technical books published in Springer Nature, also. He supervised or co-supervised more than 20 Ph.D. students and 10 postdoctoral projects. He gave more than 70 invited lectures in several universities and international conferences and has been Visiting Professor in more than 7 universities (France, USA, and Russia). In 2018, he has been Russell Severance Springer Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests are in several fields of theoretical mechanics and applied mathematics: the common techniques used are variational principles, as a heuristic tool for formulating mathematical models. In particular, he has studied the possible applications of Lagrangian mechanics methods to social sciences and economy and the present book popularises some of the most important results in this field.
This book highlights mathematical ideas to help explain a number of important aspects of the dynamics of social groups. These ideas are similar to those used to describe the behaviour of Lagrangian mechanical systems, and as such this book appeals to anyone wanting to gain an understanding of the intrinsic unity of natural phenomena.