00961 - History of Philosophy (O-Z)

Learning outcomes

Students learn to become familiar with trends, issues, important authors of modern philosophy, and to orient themselves in its historical interpretations. They are trained in the critical reading of philosophical texts, and in evaluation of argumentative and rhetorical strategies.

Course contents

Substance and individuation. A journey through modern philosophy

 

 The problem of the relationship between identity and difference, being and becoming, the one and the many has always been at the centre of early philosophy. Divided into two main sections, the first part of the course will address the transformation of the concept of substance starting with Descartes' philosophy and its receptions. The Cartesian intuition of the cogito is the starting point of a new reflection on individuality that breaks with the Aristotelian-scholastic conception of substance and the traditional theories of the adequacy of being and thought by inaugurating a new space of interiority and representation. It follows the Spinozian theory of causa sui, built on the identity between the order of things and the order of ideas, which resolves substantial being into the modal production of all its effects. With Leibniz's monadology, the theory of substance fragments into the 'point of view' of the monads whose essence, or 'complete notion', corresponds to the infinite network of relations supported by the principle of sufficient reason. The second part of the course will reread the notion of substance as a process of individuation through the comparison that the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon established in the 20th century between the main exponents of the history of philosophy - ancient and modern - and the developments of information theories and cybernetics. By substance is meant the genetic and meta-stable aspect of being that is identified in the psychic, biological and social worlds. A 'technique of nature', which seeks to recompose being and becoming, as well as the dualisms of modern thought in a new ontology of relation.

The course is divided into three parts:

1. Monographic course

2. Seminars

3. Institutional course

MONOGRAPHIC COURSE

Distribution of topics in lectures:

6 lectures will be devoted to the reading, commentary and discussion of Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations (II-III Meditations, I Objections and Replies).

6 lectures will be devoted to the reading, commentary and discussion of Part I of Spinoza's Ethics.

6 lectures will be devoted to the reading, commentary and discussion of Leibniz's Monadology.

4 lectures will be devoted to the reading, commentary and discussion of Hume's Trattato sulla natura umana di Hume (Libro I - Parte III).

 

SEMINARS

1 lectures will be devoted to Seminars. The times and locations will be indicated on the course website under "advices".

 

INSTITUTIONAL COURSE

Starting from the academic year 2023-2024, Professors Alberto Burgio, Giovanni Bonacina, Francesco Cerrato and Diego Donna will work together on the institutional part of the History of Philosophy examinations in their respective three-year (History of Philosophy B, History of Modern Philosophy) and two-year (History of Philosophy LM) courses. The institutional part of the examination is identical for all courses. It can only be taken once: the mark obtained in one of the above-mentioned subjects will be recognised - without the need for a further examination - for the others as well.

Recordings:

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/channel/19%3agRBwfer-HYCG_SBonWcaCmY2q4AHxtn-RstLHjErbao1%40thread.tacv2/Generale?groupId=c026c28d-dafe-4b85-a219-636565bca583&tenantId=e99647dc-1b08-454a-bf8c-699181b389ab

Readings/Bibliography

F. Laudisa, Introduzione a Hume, Roma, Carocci, 2009

OBLIGATORY READINGS FOR ALL STUDENTS

 

MONOGRAPHIC COURSE

• R. Descartes, Discorso del metodo (II, VI); Meditazioni metafisiche (II-III meditazione; I Obiezioni e Risposte)

Edizione italiana:

Descartes, Opere complete, a cura di G. Belgioioso, con  collaborazione di I. Agostini, F. Marrone e M. Savini, Milano, Bompiani, 2009.

• B. Spinoza, Etica, I Parte

Edizione italiana:

Spinoza, Etica, introduzione, traduzione e note di D. Donna, Santarcangelo, Rusconi, 2021.

• G. W. Leibniz, Monadologia

Edizioni italiane:

G. W. Leibniz, Monadologia, trad. it. di S. Cariati, Milano, Bompiani 2001

• D. Hume, Trattato sulla natura umana (Libro I - Parte III)

Edizione italiana:

D. Hume, Trattato sulla natura umana, a cura di E. Lecaldano, Bari, Laterza, 2008.

• G. Simondon, L'individuazione alla luce delle nozioni di forma e informazione, trad. it. di G. Carrozzini, Milano, Mimesis, 2020 (pagine scelte)

 

Studies

Two texts of choice: 

M. Mori, Libertà, necessità, determinismo, Bologna, il Mulino, 2001

A. Funkenstein, Teologia e immaginazione scientifica dal Medioevo al Seicento, trad. it. Torino, Einaudi 1996

V. Morfino, Intersoggettività o transindividualità. Materiali per un'alternativa, Roma, Manifestolibri, 2022

E. Balibar, Spinoza e il transindividuale, trad. it. Milano, Ghibli, 2002

E. Cassirer, Cartesio e Leibniz, trad.it. Bari, Laterza, 1986

F. Laudisa, Introduzione a Hume, Roma, Carocci, 2009

A. Santucci, Sistema e ricerca in David Hume, Bari, Laterza, 1969

C. Malaspina, An Epistemology of Noise, London, New York, Oxford, Bloomsbury, 2018 

G. Carrozzini, Variazioni su Simondon, Roma, Castelvecchi, 2021.

 

INSTITUTIONAL COURSE

Knowledge of the fundamental authors and themes of the history of philosophy between the 16th and 20th centuries will be required for the examination. Students can use the textbook they prefer or that they already own, checking that all the authors included in the list below are covered and, if necessary, integrating it with other textbooks. For those who do not already have such texts we suggest:

Massimo Mori, Storia della filosofia moderna, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2005

Antonello La Vergata, Franco Trabattoni, Filosofia cultura cittadinanza, Rizzoli, Milano, 2011

Giuseppe Cambiano, Massimo Mori, Storia e antologia della filosofia, Laterza, Roma, 1993 e seguenti

Fabio Cioffi et al., Il testo filosofico, Mondadori, Milano 1992 e seguenti

Luca Guidetti, Giovanni Matteucci, Le grammatiche del pensiero, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2012

List of topics and authors to prepare for the exam interview:

Bruno, Machiavelli, Bacone, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Montesquieu, Vico, Hume, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Croce, Wittgenstein, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Lukács, la Scuola di Francoforte, Foucault, Arendt.

ADDITIONAL READINGS for non-attending students who do not attend lectures in presence.

E. Scribano, Guida alla lettura delle Meditazioni metafisiche di Descartes, Bari, Laterza, 2006

E. Scribano, Guida alla lettura dell’Etica di Spinoza, Bari, Laterza, 2008

M. Mugnai, Introduzione alla filosofia di Leibniz, Einaudi, Torino 2001

A. Santucci, Introduzione a Hume, Bari, Laterza, 1971.

 

 

 

 

Teaching methods

Lectures and reading of the texts in the classroom, combined with discussion of the most important issues and direct participation of the students.

Methods of verification of learning

Attendance of the entire course corresponds to 12 credits. The programme is the same for attending and non-attending students.

The student will present the following programme:

1. Monographic course
2. Institutional course
3. Seminar

The oral examination takes place in the teacher's office and aims at verifying

the historical-philosophical knowledge acquired by attending lectures, studying basic texts and the relevant bibliography
the degree of comprehension and critical revision of the proposed contents
the expressive skills and the ability to orientate between the main lines of interpretation.

Registration for the exam is on-line on the ALMAESAMI website.

Assessment methods

30 with distinction: excellent exposition, sound knowledge and critical thinking.

30: excellent exposition, adequate knowledge and richness of expression

27-29: good exposition, satisfactory knowledge, correct expression

24-26: fair test, knowledge not exhaustive and partially correct

21-23: sufficient proof, general knowledge, confused expression

18-21: barely sufficient proof. Poor articulation and significant theoretical gaps

<18: inadequate proof, no or incomplete knowledge, lack of orientation in the argument.

Teaching tools

The course makes use of the traditional bibliographical tools of philosophical research (indexes, dictionaries, bibliographical directories), as well as tools developed in the course of the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Diego Donna