Pierpaolo Donati
Papers
6
Total Citations
31
H-Index
4
About
Pierpaolo Donati is a prominent Italian sociologist whose scholarship centers on the intersection of digital technology, human identity, and relational theory. Working at the frontier of social theory and technological ethics, Donati has made significant contributions to understanding how artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital technologies reshape human relationships, social identities, and the very boundaries of what it means to be human. His concept of the "Digital Technological Matrix" — explored across several influential works — provides a critical framework for evaluating whether digital enhancement fosters human flourishing or, conversely, produces new forms of alienation and dehumanization. Drawing on critical realism and relational sociology, Donati challenges transhumanist aspirations to transcend humanity through technology, arguing that such "transcendence" carries profound ambiguities with serious ethical consequences. His engagement with Margaret Archer's theory of personhood further demonstrates his commitment to bridging agency-structure debates within contemporary social theory. With works accumulating citations across philosophy, sociology, and technology studies, Donati's scholarship offers students and researchers an indispensable critical lens for navigating the profound questions that the digital revolution poses to human dignity, identity, and social life.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Impact of AI/Robotics on Human Relations: Co-evolution Through Hybridisation10 citations · 2021
- 2The digital matrix and the hybridisation of society8 citations · 2019
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- 5Being human (or what?) in the digital matrix land3 citations · 2021
- 6Margaret Archer’s theory of the human person: an assessment2 citations · 2024