Just because, in Italy, someone with a Master's degree awarded prior to the institution of a doctoral degree within the Italian university system in the mid-1980s was allowed to use the title "Dr." in Italy (and only in Italy, it said that in Wiki), does not make their degree a doctorate. The Magistrale or Laurea degree required 5 years of university, total--which simply is not PhD level work.
As for what real Italians have to say on the meaning of "Dottore Magistrale in Filosofia", two Italians posted in this thread, the last two responses.
Penultimate response:
It's a Master degree.
I'm italian.
Ultimate response:
Yup, a Master. In philosphy, it required an "experimental" thesis, that is an original work, but not of the quality required for a PhD. In Italy, one is called "Dottore" with that degree. Indeed, it used to be the highest degree until 1986, if I remember correctly the year.
I'm surprised you haven't even addressed my other critique of the letter supposedly verifying Rossi's academic credentials, which is that it appears doctored (font sizes change for no reason; there are extra spaces between words in a non-right justified document; the date formats are inconsistent).
Last, I'll say that it must have been nice getting a PhD back in the 70s, when you apparently had lots of time to take classes in non-related subjects. Even had my program allowed for it, I simply did not have the luxury to take non-science classes.
Are you sure it's not Obama's birth certificate? /s
Look, dunce. I never said it was "PhD Level work". Just that he was entitled to use the title "Dr". I suspect that if a Brit moved to the US, and had a KCBE (Knight Commander of the British Empire) honorial, that he would still append that title to his correspondence.
"Yup, a Master. In philosphy, it required an "experimental" thesis, that is an original work, but not of the quality required for a PhD. In Italy, one is called "Dottore" with that degree. Indeed, it used to be the highest degree until 1986, if I remember correctly the year.
Which I already knew, and said so.
"I'm surprised you haven't even addressed my other critique of the letter supposedly verifying Rossi's academic credentials, which is that it appears doctored (font sizes change for no reason; there are extra spaces between words in a non-right justified document; the date formats are inconsistent).
Why should I bother? There is plenty of verification that Rossi has a legitimate degree from U. of Milan. Lewans, Krivit, and others have verified it. There is some confusion among them as to whether the degree is "laurea" or "dottore", which makes me think this whole "mountain from molehill" has a lot more to do with errors in translation than with any nefariousness.
"Last, I'll say that it must have been nice getting a PhD back in the 70s, when you apparently had lots of time to take classes in non-related subjects. Even had my program allowed for it, I simply did not have the luxury to take non-science classes.
LOL. I was referring to my undergraduate tenure. You say you spent "8-10" hours a day in the lab. By my standards, you were a slacker. I spent WAY more time than that "at the bench". 'Twas useful, too, as I got through my doctorate in three years.