30413 - Philosophy Laboratory (1) (G.C)

Learning outcomes

The student learns to read and critically analyze philosophical texts and to write a philosophical essay.

Course contents

General information:

The Philosophy Seminar has three fundamental objectives:
• training in writing and the editorial conventions used in the scientific community;
• an introduction to the use of bibliographic tools;
• an introduction to reading a philosophical text and writing a short essay on it.


Participation in the seminar requires consistent attendance at sessions; consequently, to present the final essay and receive a passing grade, students must attend at least 12 out of 15 sessions (24 out of 30 hours).
The Philosophy degree program offers various workshop options (programs and instructors are available on the Philosophy degree program’s webpage).
Each workshop is limited to a maximum of 40 participants. “Participant” refers to anyone who attends sessions in person or online, should the instructor choose to offer this option.

 

Registration Procedure
• Log in to Studenti On Line using your credentials;
• Click the “Reservations” icon;
• Select the desired workshop.
Registration for all workshops opens on September 1 and closes automatically for each workshop after the first 3 sessions have been held. You may enroll in only one workshop at a time. Each workshop accepts a maximum of 40 enrollments.


Attendance
Attendance at the workshop is verified by signature (or via the online platform in the case of remote classes). Forging a signature results in exclusion from the qualifying exam for the current academic year. You will therefore have to wait until the following academic year to attend the Philosophy Workshop again. A similar measure will be taken in the case of essays or written assignments copied—even partially—from others’ texts, whether in print or digital form. Please refer to the rules regarding plagiarism published on the degree program’s website.

Cases of Inability to Attend
An alternative program, to be agreed upon with the instructor, is provided only in cases of justified inability to attend. The applicable cases are as follows:
• Working students who are unable to obtain a study permit to attend the workshop; Students in this situation must notify the instructor at the beginning of the seminar, providing documentation—such as a statement from their employer—confirming their inability to attend;
• Students participating in the Erasmus or Overseas programs; students in this situation must provide the instructor with documentation confirming their inability to attend due to their stay abroad.

Writing the Final Essay
During the first few sessions of the seminar, specific instructions on writing the final essay will be provided. However, it is advisable to download the Guidelines for Writing the Final Essay, available on the Philosophy Degree Program’s webpage.

Detailed Information

 
William James’s Pragmatism: A New Way of Looking at Age-Old Problems

 
William James (1849–1910) is considered, along with Charles S. Peirce, the founder of pragmatism. After completing his work *The Principles of Psychology*, which would long remain the paradigm for the teaching of psychology worldwide, William James turned his attention to the philosophical aspects that this study introduced. In the years that followed, James embarked on a philosophical journey that would lead to pragmatism and, from there, to a reexamination of every sphere of thought and action, beginning with the traditional realms of ethics and religion, which would thus be revolutionized.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Books (one of the following):

W. James, Saggi di empirismo radicale, Quodlibet, Macerata 2009.

W. James, Le leggi dell'abitudine, Mimesis, Milano 2019.

W. James, H. James, La coscienza tra filosofia e letteratura. Corrispondenza fra William James e Henry James, a cura di M. Bella, Carabba, Lanciano 2026.

 

 

Critical studies (optional):

R.M. Calcaterra, G. Maddalena, G. Marchetti, Il pragmatismo. Dalle origini agli sviluppi contemporanei, , Carocci, Roma 2015.

G. Marchetti, S. Marchetti, Il pragmatismo: temi e profili, Carocci, Roma 2026.

M. Bella, Alcuni problemi di psicologia, Roma Tre Press, Roma 2022, (https://romatrepress.uniroma3.it/libro/william-james-alcuni-problemi-di-psicologia/ ).

M. Bella, Ontology After Philosophical Psychology, Lexington, New York 2019.

Teaching methods

The workshop will be structured as follows:


3 sessions dedicated to academic writing (specifically, writing a paper) and the use of bibliographic resources.


3 sessions dedicated to presenting the main themes of the texts covered, during which students will have the opportunity to discuss the writing of philosophical essays and bibliographic research;


9 seminar sessions during which students are invited to present papers—agreed upon with the instructor—based on the content covered in previous sessions.

Assessment methods

The final grade is based on:


participation in class discussions;
individual presentations (given alone or in groups);
a final written essay (min. 10,000 characters, max. 12,000 characters, including spaces and excluding the bibliography), which must be submitted to the instructor at least 15 days before the exam date. The essay must address the issues raised during the seminar and must be linguistically and stylistically correct.




Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders are entitled to special accommodations based on their condition, subject to evaluation by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders. Please do not contact the instructor directly; instead, contact the Service to schedule an appointment. The Service will determine which accommodations are appropriate.


For more information, visit the dedicated page [http://https/site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti].

Teaching tools

Any teaching support materials will be made available on the virtual platform.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Maddalena