72564 - Institutions of Philosophy (1)

Learning outcomes

The course introduces the vocabulary, the methodology and the main thematic areas of discipline and trains to the reading and critical analysis of philosophical texts. At the end of the course the student has become familiar with the vocabulary and the main tools of research in the fields of history of philosophy; He also has the basic conceptual and methodological tools to understand a philosophical text, grasp its meaning in a historical perspective, orientate in problematic issues and in the most important historiographical interpretations of the discipline.

Course contents

                           An inside art to the soul
             Images, rules, models and concepts in the
                            Critique of Pure Reason

Starting from Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Analytic (Critique of Pure Reason Transcendental Doctrine of Elements) the course aims to illustrate:

a) he transcendental breakthrough imposed by Kant to the problem of knowledge;
b) space, time, representations;
c) the Metaphysical Deduction and The Transcendental Deduction of the Categories; 
d) the imagination productive function and the intermediary role of the schematism and transcendental images.

Examining the nodal chapters of the Transcendental Aesthetic, the Analytic of concepts and the Analytic of principles, we follow the Kantian identification of subjective and formal terms of the transcendental knowledge of “concepts of objects". We also emphasize the functions of: representation, “possible experience”, figurative synthesis, transcendental schematism. With regard to the imaginations productive functions, we compare the first and second editions of the Critique of Pure Reason.

Readings/Bibliography

I. Kant, Critica della ragion pura, ed. by P. Chiodi, Torino, UTET, 1967; or Milano, TEA, 1996. (The Transcendental Dialectic does not constitute a subject of the examination interview).
                                moreover:

 E. Cassirer, Vita e dottrina di Kant (1918), it. tr. by G.A. De Toni, Firenze, 1977 (1942)
and one of the following monographs (students who have not attended classes should choose and read two monographs):
L. Lugarini, La logica trascendentale kantiana, Principato, Milano-Messina. 1950
P. Salvucci, La dottrina kantiana dello schematismo trascendentale, Urbino, 1957
M. Palumbo, Immaginazione e matematica in Kant, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1985
H. Hohenegger, Kant, filosofo dell'architettonica, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2004

Students who have not attended classes should are also required to study the chapter on Kant of a textbook (you may want: Storia della filosofia a cura di M. Dal Pra. It’s available in the Library reading room of the FILCOM Department), or R. Ciafardone, La critica della ragion pura di Kant : introduzione alla lettura, Roma, Carocci, 2007

Teaching methods

We analyze the main problems af the Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Analytic, in the first section of the Critique of Pure Reason (and the variations between the first and second edition) with a focus on imagination and transcendental schematism functions. During the classes we shall read and comment paragraphs of the Kantian text judged nodal for the issues addressed by the cours.
The analysis of the text will be carried on the edition: Kant, Critica della ragion pura, by P. Chiodi, Torino, UTET, 1967, or Milano, TEA, 1996.
Students are required to provide the text before the course begins
The summaries of the lessons will be periodically uploaded on AlmaDigital Library.
Students who attend classes are required to enroll, before the course begins, to the distribution list, ID: annarita.angelini.istituzioni, password: kant_istituzioni.
We recommend the students to see regularly the teacher's web page on which will be uploaded any information and change useful to those who attending the classes.
Students who have attended classes can replace the above texts with specific topics. These topics have to be agreed with the teacher at the end of the course.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: Students are recommended to bring the texts when examining.
Students who have attended lectures may agree on exams (whether written or oral) devoted to specific topics.

Assessment criteria and thresholds of evaluation:

30 cum laude - Excellent as to knowledge, philosophical lexicon and critical expression.

30 – Excellent: knowledge is complete, well argued and correctly expressed, with some slight faults.

27-29 – Good: thorough and satisfactory knowledge; essentially correct expression.

24-26 - Fairly good: knowledge broadly acquired, and not always correctely expressed.

21-23 – Sufficient: superficial and partial knowledge; exposure and articulation are incomplete and often not sufficiently appropriate

18-21 - Almost sufficient: superficial and decontextualized knowledge. The exposure of the contents shows important gaps.

Exam failed - Students are requested to show up at a subsequent exam session if basic skills and knowledge are not sufficiently acquired and not placed in the historical-philosophical context.

Teaching tools

The text of the Critique of Pure Reason (specified edition) is an essential tool in order to actively participate in the classes. It is recommended to get hold of the text before classes.
The summaries of the lectures will be periodically (every three to six lectures) uploaded on AlmaDigital Library.
To be allowed to the online consultation of the classes' slides, students have to enroll to the distribution list ID annarita.angelini.istituzioni, password: kant_istituzioni

Office hours

See the website of Annarita Angelini