98919 - Metaphysics (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to deal with the fundamental themes of Metaphysics, from the Greeks to the present day, in order to offer the knowledge and skills to develop the main philosophical concepts underlying the various theories of the principles of reality and experience. The fundamental techniques of metaphysical argumentation and the worldviews that correspond to these arguments will be considered.

Course contents

Course Title:
The Ontological and Metaphysical Implications of Morality: Antirealism, Naturalism, and Nonnaturalism

Description:

When I think or say that a person is good or that a law is unjust, am I talking about certain particular properties that that person and that law possess (the so-called “values”), or am I expressing the feelings of approval and disapproval that those things arouse in me? Are goodness, wickedness, justice, and so on properties that we human beings discover in the world, or are they the result of projecting our feelings and preferences onto a world that is, in itself, indifferent to value? If values are real properties, what is their nature and how do we come to know them? How can we explain the strange powers they have over us—pushing us to do certain things and refrain from others, making us feel guilty, arousing our admiration or indignation, and so on—powers that the non-moral properties of things seem not to possess? If they are projections of our feelings, why do we speak of them as if they were properties of things?

These are the kinds of questions philosophers ask when they engage in metaethics, the branch of contemporary philosophical research that investigates the ontological, metaphysical, epistemological, and psychological presuppositions of moral thought and moral discourse.

The course has three objectives:

1. after a general introduction to contemporary metaphysics, to introduce students to metaethics, to the foundational texts that gave rise to the discipline, to the main theoretical orientations that have developed from them, to the most widely discussed research topics, and to the vocabulary, modes, and argumentative strategies that characterize philosophical reflection in this field;

2. to examine the ontological implications of morality, namely the opposition between realism (G. E. Moore) and antirealism (J. L. Mackie, G. Harman) concerning values, and the arguments offered in support of these positions;

3. to address the metaphysical implications of morality, by examining the naturalist form of moral realism (with particular reference to P. Railton and Cornell realism) and the nonnaturalist form (with particular reference to Moore).

 

Readings/Bibliography

Exam program:

I: INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY METAPHYSICS

1. A. Varzi, La metafisica nella filosofia analitica contemporanea, in E. Berti (ed), Storia della metafisica, Carocci, Roma 2021 (available on Virtuale).

II: THE ONTOLOGICAL AND METAPHYSICAL IMPLICATIONS OF MORAL DISCOURSE AND THE MORAL PHENOMENON. NONNATURALIST REALISM AND ANTIREALISM

2. G. Mancuso, La metaetica. Un’introduzione, Carocci, Roma 2024, Chap. 1 e 2;

3. G.E. Moore, Principia ethica, ed. S. Cremaschi, M. Reichlin, Italian translation with original English text, Bompiani, Milano 2023, pp. 5–243 (available on Virtuale).

4. J.L. Mackie, Etica: inventare il giusto e l’ingiusto, a cura di B. De Mori, Giappichelli, Roma 2001, chap. I, pp. 21–55 (available on Virtuale).

III: NATURALISM

5. G. Mancuso, La metaetica. Un’introduzione, Carocci, Roma 2024, chap. 3.

Since recordings of the lectures and the course slides will be available on Virtuale, the exam syllabus is the same for attending and non-attending students. Students who do not attend the lectures are therefore required to watch the recorded lectures and consult the slides uploaded on Virtuale, which constitute an integral part of the exam syllabus.

 

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures, textual commentary, class discussions on specific issues, slides projection

Assessment methods

Oral exams aiming to assessing the student's ability to present, criticize and discuss the topics proposed in the course.

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)
Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to special adjustments according to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact teachers or Department staff, but make an appointment with the Service. The Service will then determine what adjustments are specifically appropriate, and get in touch with the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

During 2026, the following exam sessions are scheduled:

• April 8

• May 25

• June 23

• July 8

• September 9

• October 7

• November 4

• December 9

 

Grade assessment criteria

30 cum laude – Outstanding. Excellent knowledge and depth of understanding. Excellent presentation.

30 – Very Good. Detailed knowledge with hints of critical thinking. Very good presentation.

Grade range 27-29 – Good. Comprehensive knowledge. Good presentation.

Grade range 24-26 – Acceptable. Elementary knowledge of the key principles and concepts. The presentation is occasionally weak.

Grade range 21-23 – Adequate. The knowledge is superficial, but the thread of the discussion has been consistently grasped. Presentation with some inadequacies.

Grade range 18-21 – Pass. Limited and superficial knowledge of the subject, a significant inability to follow the thread of the discussion. Presentation with many inadequacies.

Grade range below 18 – Fail. Poor knowledge of core material, a significant inability to engage with the discipline. Very poor presentation.

Teaching tools

Blackboard, PC,PowerPoint

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Mancuso