29424 - Seminars (1) (LM) (G.D)

Learning outcomes

The Philosophy Seminars have as their educational objectives those specific to seminar teaching: (1) to train students in philosophical argumentation by soliciting discussions on the topics and texts, including in the original language, presented in meetings with Italian and foreign scholars; (2) to broaden and deepen philosophical knowledge through participation in lectures given by specialists in the various fields of philosophical knowledge; (3) to compare the different methodological approaches to philosophy as a complement to curricular teaching.

Course contents

Transcendental Phenomenology

The seminar will examine a series of texts from Husserl’s body of work, both preceding and following his 1913 work, Ideas for a Pure Phenomenology and a Phenomenological Philosophy, in order to analyze the establishment, evolution, and practice of transcendental phenomenology.

The first sessions will be devoted to an introduction to phenomenological research, with particular attention to the historical context and the method of inquiry. Classroom exercises will be conducted on the practice of phenomenology as a method for describing conscious experiences, aimed at clarifying the constitutive meaning of any possible ontology. Students will be invited to give short in-class presentations on selected sections of Husserl’s works listed in the bibliography; at the conclusion of the seminar, they will be required to submit a short essay on the topic of their oral presentation or, alternatively, on another topic previously agreed upon with the instructor.

Some lectures, conditions permitting, may be delivered by external guest speakers who are specialists in the field. Taking place during the fourth term, the seminar will conclude shortly before an international event in the field of Husserlian studies, Husserl Circle (which will take place in Bologna, at our Department, during the second half of May). Students will be invited to attend this event, and the seminar aims to provide them with the necessary tools for meaningful participation.

Readings/Bibliography

Testi principali:

E. Husserl, Idee per una fenomenologia pura e per una filosofia fenomenologica. Libro primo. Introduzione generale alla fenomenologia pura, nuova edizione a cura di V. Costa, trad. it. di E. Filippini, Einaudi, Torino 2002 [parti scelte].

E. Husserl, Idee per una fenomenologia pura e per una filosofia fenomenologica. Libro secondo. Ricerche fenomenologiche sopra la costituzione, nuova edizione a cura di V. Costa, trad. it. di E. Filippini, Einaudi, Torino 2002 [parti scelte].

Altri testi husserliani disponibili in traduzione italiana o tradotti dal docente:

E. Husserl, Teoria della conoscenza e punti principali della metafisica [traduzione italiana del docente].

E. Husserl, Lezioni sulla teoria generale della conoscenza [traduzione italiana del docente].

E. Husserl, Ricerche logiche, trad. it. di G. Piana, Il Saggiatore, Milano 2015 [1ª ed. it. 1968], limitatamente all’Introduzione.

E. Husserl, L’idea della fenomenologia. Cinque lezioni, a cura di C. Sini, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1993.

E. Husserl, La filosofia come scienza rigorosa, trad. it. di C. Sinigaglia, prefazione di G. Semerari, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2005.

E. Husserl, Introduzione alla fenomenologia (1912) [traduzione italiana del docente].

E. Husserl, Idee per una fenomenologia pura e per una filosofia fenomenologica. Libro secondo: i tre progetti parziali (1912–1915) [traduzione italiana del docente].

E. Husserl, L’idea di Europa. Cinque saggi sul rinnovamento, a cura di C. Sinigaglia, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 1999.

E. Husserl, La crisi dell’umanità europea e la filosofia [Conferenza di Vienna], in Id., La crisi delle scienze europee e la fenomenologia trascendentale, trad. it. di E. Filippini, Il Saggiatore, Milano 2015.

Teaching methods

The seminar will alternate between lectures, discussions, and classroom activities. All materials will be made available on Virtuale.

Assessment methods

Eligibility will be determined through an oral exam, during which the student will present and/or discuss a written paper previously submitted to the instructor.

The paper, which must be submitted no later than 15 days before the date set for the oral exam, must be between 3,000 and 4,500 words in length (including notes and bibliography) and will focus on one of the topics covered during the seminar or on a topic agreed upon in advance with the instructor.

The oral exam will consist of a discussion of the topics covered in the paper in order to assess the student’s level of understanding and ability to explain, explore, and critically discuss the presented content.

Attendance

Students are required to attend in-person classes and participate in at least 11 of the 15 total sessions (equivalent to 22 out of 30 class hours).

Attendance at the seminar is verified by signing the attendance sheet in class. Forging a signature results in disqualification for the current academic year. Students must therefore wait until the following academic year to attend the seminar again. A similar measure will be taken in the case of written assignments copied, even partially, from others’ texts, whether in print or digital form.

Cases of Inability to Attend

The following are the only exceptions to the attendance requirement:

· individuals who are employed and cannot obtain a study permit to attend the seminar; those in this situation must notify the instructor at the beginning of the seminar, providing a statement from their employer documenting their inability to attend;

· students participating in the Erasmus or Overseas programs; those in this situation must promptly provide the instructor with documentation proving their inability to attend due to their stay abroad.

Students who fall under at least one of these categories must contact the instructor. For these students, the proficiency exam will be completed by passing an oral exam after the seminar concludes. The oral exam will focus on the discussion of a written paper (to be submitted to the instructor no later than 15 days before the scheduled date of the oral exam). The topic of the paper must be agreed upon with the instructor.

During the 2026/2027 academic year, exam sessions are scheduled for the following months: July, September, October, November, February, March, April, and May.

Students with Disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders

Students with disabilities or specific learning disorders are entitled to special accommodations based on their condition, subject to an assessment 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 http://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti .

It is recommended that you contact the University office well in advance. Any accommodations must, in any case, be submitted for the instructor’s approval 15 days in advance; the instructor will assess their appropriateness, also in relation to the course’s learning objectives.

Teaching tools

Slides, handouts, and supplementary materials will be used during the classes. The materials will be made available to students via the virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it/] platform.

Office hours

See the website of Emanuele Mariani