B8993 - Philosophical Semiotics (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course explores the relationship between epistemology and semiotics from different perspectives. From a historical point of view, it tackles the main philosophical traditions and the issue of representation until the foundation of scientific semiotics and its contemporary intertwining with ontology and metaphysics. From a theoretical perspective, it presents the different conceptions of signs, their relationship with reality and their various ontologies, and possible interpretations. From a pragmatic perspective, it teaches the variation of meaning by manipulating different signs in their combined use.

Course contents

New semiotics tools for a changing world.

The course will be divided into three parts. In the first part, it will present the philosophical and communicative actual landscape, starting from the problem of post-truth and its definition. The outcome of this first part will be the theoretical proposal of a “rich realism”. In the second part, working on Peirce’s phenomenology and semiotics, the course will introduce the combination of signs in creative action, called “gesture”, as a tool to operate within a rich realist world of communication. In this part, some practical tests will put the theories to work. In the third part, the course will introduce the specific use of signs in vague reasoning, a kind of reasoning often neglected by logic.

Readings/Bibliography

G. Maddalena- G. Gili, The history and theory of post-truth communication, Chaim: Palgrave, 2021.

G. Maddalena, The philosophy of gesture, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015.

G. Maddalena, F. Ferrucci, M. Bella, M. Santarelli (eds.), Gestures. Approaches, Uses, and Developments. Berlin: De Gruyter 2024 (open access). Parts I and III

 

Those who do not attend classes also have to study:

G. Maddalena, “Gestures, Peirce, and the French philosophy of mathematics”. Lebenswelt, 13, 67-78. (open access)

G. Maddalena, F. Ferrucci, M. Bella, M. Santarelli (eds.), Gestures. Approaches, Uses, and Developments. Berlin: De Gruyter 2024 (open access). Parts II-IV

Teaching methods

The course consists of lectures that involve constant dialogue between the instructor and students to develop and test students' critical thinking skills.

Assessment methods

Examination is oral. The exam aims to assess knowledge of the main semiotic categories and the ability to discuss critically the theoretical, epistemological, and methodological problems that concern them.

The vote is assigned according to the following evaluation levels:

30 cum laude: excellent performance showing soundness of knowledge, rich discursive articulation, appropriate expression, interest in critical contribution;

30: Excellent performance, complete, and appropriate knowledge, well-articulated and appropriately expressed, with interesting critical contributions;

29-27: Good performance, more than satisfactory knowledge, correct expression.

26-24: Standard performance, essential knowledge, but not comprehensive and/or not always correctly expressed;

23-21: Sufficient performance, general but superficial knowledge; often inappropriate expression and/or confused articulation of speech;

20-18: Poor performance, sufficient expression and articulation of speech with significant gaps;

<18: Insufficient performance, knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of orientation in the discipline, poor and seriously flawed expression.

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 which adjustments are specifically appropriate and contact the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Maddalena