Horse manure.
"So what if the Italians changed their laws specifying requirements for a degree? It's highly unlikely that such changes were very substantial as far as actual work required for a given degree. I especially doubt that the requirements for PhDs were made MORE strict than when Rossi supposedly attended university."
If you had bothered to do a bit of work, you would have found out that the changes were quite substantial. My impression was that a new degree was added that WAS the equivalent of a US doctorate.
"It also doesn't help your case to quote an Italian as saying that until 1986, the highest degree offered was a Master's. That is, in effect, saying that it was impossible for Rossi to even get a doctorate."
The Italian quote said that the degree was "dottore", which at that time was probably, in effort, EQUIVALENT to a US Masters degree, not that it was a Master's degree. European and American degree levels are NOT equivalent.
Again, you are assuming things without checking.
"Last, I will reiterate that the degree Rossi claims to have earned from the U of Milan, the "Dottore Magistrale in Filosofia", is a Master's degree in Philosophy. It not only is not a doctorate, it isn't even a science degree."
My degree says "Doctor of Philosophy". Does that make me a philsopher?? I certainly took a whole bunch of science classes. Without knowing what course work was taken, neither you nor I can know precisely what the overall background in science Rossi gained from his university work was. At "liberal arts" type universities, a degree can vary substantially between people even though the final title on the diploma says the same degree level was attained.
"I don't know about you, but I've never dealt with philosophers in the lab. It appears to me that the specific degree name was selected so as to convey the impression that Rossi has a level of education that he does not; the Italian words for "Master's degree in Philosophy" sure do look like the English words "Doctor of Philosophy". Too bad (for Rossi) that we have Google and can check these things out.
Maybe you should actually spend MORE time on Google. An actual "Masters degree in Philosophy" transates as "Laurea in Filosofia". "Doctors degree in Philosophy" translates precisely as "Dottore in Filosofia". Your assumptions are once again in error.
You must really have thunder thighs, as you spend so much time jumping to conclusions.
The problem is that Rossi is implying that he has a Doctorate degree. And the letter provided as evidence (why not a transcript? why not a certificate? maybe a letter is easier to PhotoShop?) states that the degree received is a Master's, not a Doctorate.
Since you don't seem to disagree that the degree shown is a Master's, not a Doctorate, why are you quibbling about that point?
As for the subject matter, the "Dottore Magistrali di Filosofia" translates to "Master's Degree in Philosophy." That is NOT the same as our "Doctorate of Philosophy." In the former, "Philosophy" is referring to an actual academic subject. In the case of our degree, "Philosophy" can be taken more literally as "Love of Knowledge." It strongly appears to me that Rossi is using the name of a degree awarded in the subject of Philosophy for the very reason that in English, a person unfamiliar with Italian degrees (and who doesn't know about Google Translate) could see it and think it is a PhD.
And what the heck are you explaining to me about how the same degree can be awarded for widely different subjects of study? Did you miss the part where I said that I have a PhD, the fact of which implies that I have at least a passing familiarity with the American university system? Gee, at my graduation ceremony, there was a woman receiving a PhD in piano studies. Like, what the heck does a person do to earn a PhD in piano studies??? I'll bet she didn't spend 8-10 hours per day in the lab like I did!
And thanks for the suggestion that I spend MORE time on Google. I already spend hours on Google every day; a few more won't hurt, right? As for the translation of "Dottore Magistrale di Filosofia", the translation you get depends in part in how you enter it into Google Translate. Word by word, it is "master's degree in philosophy". Also, if you look at the original pdf file (a translation of which I posted in reply #21, this thread), the "letter" actually states that the degree was awarded in Philosophy. Plus, the letter was generated by the humanities department. I don't know about you; I didn't even know where the humanities department was when I was getting my PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology. I doubt that physicists in general have any more interest in humanities than chemists.