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

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

General information

The Philosophy Workshop has three main purposes: education to philosophical writing and editorial conventions; introduction to the use of bibliographic resources; introduction to how to read a philosophical classic and how to produce a short philosophical essay about it.

The success of workshops ideally requires regular attendance of all students at all meetings. In order to be admitted to the final exam and achieve a pass, students will need to have attended at least 12 out of 15 classes (24 hours out of 30).

Students can choose from several proposals of Philosophy Workshops. Programmes and teachers’ names are available on the website of the First Cycle Degree/Bachelor in Philosophy (corsi.unibo.it/1cycle/Philosophy). Up to 40 students may attend each laboratory. Classes will be given in Italian or in English, as indicated by each teacher on their laboratory web pages.

Further instructions on how to enrol in laboratories will be issued in due course. Please refer to the Laurea in Filosofia website for updates.

Attendance — both face-to-face and online, if streaming is activated — will be verified by signature on sign-in sheets or by log-in online. In the light of several unpleasant episodes of signature falsification in recent years, in the event that it is proved that even a single signature has not been made by the corresponding student, that student will be excluded from the final exam and will have to wait until the next year to attend the Workshop again. The same standards will hold for students submitting written exams which are totally or partially copied from published sources or digital texts.

Only in the event of certified inability to attend the Workshop are students allowed to arrange an alternative programme with the relevant teacher of the module in question. Such cases include:

- working students who cannot obtain specific permission to attend the Workshop. Such students must inform the teacher at the beginning of the module and prove by a declaration of their employers their inability to attend.

- Erasmus and Overseas students. Such students must promptly provide documentary evidence to the teacher showing their inability to attend on grounds of residence abroad.

For attending students assessment will consist in the submission and discussion of a short essay on the philosophical text discussed in the Workshop attended. The essay will be evaluated both for form and for content. During the laboratory, teachers will provide instructions on how to write the final essay, and all students are requested to download and study the manual of philosophical writing, which can be found at corsi.unibo.it/laurea/Filosofia/laboratorio-di-filosofia-norme-per-la-redazione-del-saggio-finale (in Italian).

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Specific information

 

The philosophy workshop given by Sara Fani will take place in the second semester (III and IV period).


It will examine the philosophical novel Ḥayy Ibn-Yaqẓān, also known in Latin as Pholosophus Autodidactus, by the Andalusian philosopher Abū Bakr Muḥammad Ibn Ṭufayl (12th century). This is a famous philosophical novel of Arab-Hispanic origin which had a great impact on later Islamic philosophical thought, as well as on Western and European literature, starting from the humanistic period and in the early modern age. The central figure of the story is the "self-taught philosopher", represented here by a child who grows up alone on a desert island and, thanks to the observation and contemplation of nature, reaches the knowledge of the order of the cosmos. The text will be addressed in its Italian translation and contextualized in the history of Arab-Islamic philosophical thought of the classical era, of which the late ancient sources and subsequent influences will be traced.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Primary literature, in Italian translation (compulsory)


- Abū Bakr Muḥammad Ibn Ṭufayl, Epistola di Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān. I segreti della filosofia orientale, Introduzione, traduzione e note di Paola Carusi, Presentazione di Alessandro Bausani, Milano, Rusconi, 1983.

The text is not easily available on the market, therefore the teacher will make a digital copy available.


Secondary literature


We also recommend reading:

- Ulrich Rudolph, La filosofia islamica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006.

- Cristina D'Ancona, Storia della filosofia nell'Islam medievale, 2 vol., Torino, Einaudi, 2005 (vol. 1)

- Massimo Campanini, Introduzione alla filosofia islamica, Bari-Roma, Laterza, 2022

The secondary literature useful for preparing the final essay will be indicated and made available on the platform "Virtuale" during the course, to be commented on during the encounters.


N.B. An integral part of the laboratory is also the bibliographic research and the retrieval of secondary sources, therefore students will be encouraged to autonomously obtain further material for writing their essay.

Teaching methods

- Lectures (face to face) by the teacher
- Classroom exercises (bibliographic research and editorial standards)
- Classroom discussions led by the teacher
- Oral presentation in small groups of specific themes highlighted during the discussions

The laboratory will be divided into 2 teaching units:

I - Writing workshop - 3 lessons
Illustration of the general principles of academic writing: text structuring, writing standards, editorial standards and bibliographic research. This unit includes classroom exercises in bibliographic research and writing in accordance with specific editorial guidelines.


II - Monographic theme
Ibn Ṭufayl's philosophical novel, Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān, and the figure of the "self-taught philosopher". The unit will take place as follows:
3 lessons - Introduction and contextualization of the work by the professor.
4 lessons - Reading, comments and guided discussions in the classroom, after preliminary reading of the secondary bibliography.
5 lessons - Presentations in small groups of specific themes highlighted during the discussions.

Assessment methods

To obtain the expected ECTS, students will have to:

- present in small groups the topics identified during the guided discussions (last 5 lessons)

- write a short essay (8-10 pages) on one of the specific topics discussed during the course. The paper must be individual and sent by email to the teacher at least 15 days before the date of the exam.

- take an oral exam in which their essay will be discussed with the professor and evaluated on the basis of:
- correctness of writing
- compliance with editorial standards
- understanding of the contents
- coherence and clarity of argumentation 

 Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special accommodations according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the teacher but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adaptations. For more information, visit the page:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

- Slides projected during lessons and made available to students

- Bibliographic support material in digital format if not otherwise available

Office hours

See the website of Sara Fani