Stefano Calboli

stefano.calboli@santannapisa.it
Non assegnato

Bio

Stefano Calboli is a Postdoctoral Fellow (assegnista di ricerca) at the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sustainability and Climate at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. He is also a PhD candidate at CEPS (Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society - University of Minho, Portugal), where he is completing a second PhD in Philosophy, focusing on technology, nudging, and manipulation. Before joining the Sant’Anna School, he earned a PhD in Basic Science and Applications from the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, with a thesis on whistleblowing analyzed through the lenses of cognitive science and nudge theory. He also held a postdoctoral fellowship at the same department, where he explored aspects of social robotics in the context of moral cognition. Over the course of his academic work, Stefano has served as a visiting scholar and guest lecturer at the University of Denver and the University of Macau.

Ricerca

His research focuses on the ethics of manipulation, with particular attention to nudges, offering a conceptual and critical analysis of the ethical challenges they raise. He emphasizes the need for safeguards that protect individual agency and ensure public accountability. He also examines the role of technologies—especially digital platforms, AI, and robotics—as both ethical risks and tools for fostering responsible and much-needed influence. More recently, his work has shifted toward pro-environmental behaviors, particularly those related to water use. He investigates the ethical concerns that emerge when applying behavioral public policy tools in this context. His research seeks practical solutions and aims to provide clear guidelines for responsible behavioral policy-making.

Pubblicazioni

(Representative) Publications

Calboli, S. (in press). Autonomy and AI nudges: Distinguishing concepts and highlighting AI’s advantages. Philosophy & Technology.

Calboli, S. (2025). Behavioral Buffers: Shielding Against the Side Effects of Motivation-Boosting Interventions. AJOB Neuroscience, 16(3), 176–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2025.2519458

Calboli, S., Engelen, B. AI-enhanced nudging in public policy: why to worry and how to respond. Mind & Society (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-025-00322-3

Calboli, S. (2025), Technological Contributions to Ethical Nudging: Enhancing Safeguards. J Applied Philosophy. doi.org/10.1111/japp.70033

Calboli, S., Even, J., & Graziani, P. (2023). The ethics of robot-nudgers’ design. In Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022 Conference - Social Robots in Social Institutions (pp. 473–479). IOS Press. 10.3233/FAIA220648

Calboli, S., & Graziani, P. (2022). On the ethics of digital nudges: Two steps to make digital nudges more commendable. Aquinas. Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia, 2022(II), 353–369.

Calboli, S., & Fano, V. (2022). Mechanistic explanations and the ethics of nudging. Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 13(3), 175–186. doi.org/10.4453/rifp.2022.0017

Calboli, S., & Fano, V. (2021). Behaviorally informed vaccination policies: Political transparency as an ethical condition and effective strategy. Humana.Mente Journal of Philosophical Studies, 14(40), 125–148.

Calboli, S., & Fano, V. (2021). Keeping doors open: Another reason to be skeptical of fine-based vaccine policies. Argumenta, 7(1), 195–214. doi.org/10.14275/2465-2334/202113.cal