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

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

Course Title: Kant's Problem of Metaphysics

Reading and commentary on Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science.

General information:

The philosophy workshop has three main objectives: to teach writing and editorial conventions used in the scientific community; to introduce students to the use of bibliographic tools; to introduce students to reading philosophical texts and writing short essays on them.

The workshop requires regular attendance at meetings; consequently, in order to submit the final essay and achieve eligibility, students must attend at least 12 out of 15 lessons (equivalent to 24 out of 30 classroom hours).

The Philosophy degree program offers a choice of workshops (programs and teachers are available on the Philosophy degree program webpage). Each workshop is limited to a maximum of 40 participants. “Participant” means anyone who attends the meetings in person or online if this mode is activated by the teacher.

Enrolment in workshops is done by logging in with your credentials to Studenti On Line (studenti.unibo.it/sol/welcome.htm), clicking on the ‘Prenotazioni’ icon and selecting the workshop you are interested in. Registration will be open for all workshops from September 1, 2025, and will close automatically for each workshop after the first three meetings have been held. It will only be possible to register for one workshop at a time. Each list will accept a maximum of 40 registrations.

Attendance at the workshop will be verified by signature (or via the online platform in the case of remote lessons). Given that there have been unfortunate cases of forged attendance signatures in recent years, please note that if even one attendance signature is found not to have been signed in person, the student will be excluded from the aptitude test for the current academic year. Students will therefore have to wait until the following academic year to attend the Philosophy Workshop again. A similar measure will be taken against anyone who submits exercises copied in whole or in part from other people's texts, whether in paper or digital form. Please refer to the rules on plagiarism published on the degree program website.

Only in cases of justified inability to attend will a substitute program be arranged individually with the teachers responsible for the various modules. Such cases are limited to the following:

- people who work and cannot obtain a study permit to attend the Laboratory; those in this situation must notify the teacher at the beginning of the module, documenting their inability to attend with a statement from their employer;

- people who are on Erasmus or Overseas programs; those in this situation must promptly notify the teacher of their inability to attend due to their stay abroad.

During the workshop, precise instructions on how to write the thesis will be provided, but participants must consult this guide to citing sources https://sba.unibo.it/it/servizi/formazione/guida-alla-citazione-delle-fonti-bibliografiche

Syllabus:

Through the reading and analysis of the Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That May Present Itself as a Science, this seminar aims to examine, from both a historical and theoretical perspective, some of the main lines of argument in this 1783 text, in which Kant revisits and expands upon, two years later, the key theses set out in the first edition of the Critique of Pure Reason. The fundamental concepts on which we will focus will be, in particular: the categories, the a priori, the transcendental, metaphysics, ontology and dialectics.

Distribution of topics:

of the 15 lessons available:

· 2 lessons will be devoted to writing philosophical essays (illustration of the rules of philosophical writing and argumentative analysis: recognising and supporting arguments, identifying weaknesses in arguments, etc.) and to bibliographic research.

· 9 lessons will be devoted to the discussion and commentary on Kant’s Prolegomena (selected passages indicated during lessons and assessment sessions at the conclusion of the exploration of each thematic section).

· 3 or 4 lessons will be devoted to the presentation and discussion of a first written assignment (approximately 1000 words, including spaces) by students on certain thematic aspects of the work (the topic will be assigned by the lecturer).

NB: this first paper may be presented orally by the student in class (at the lecturer’s request) and may, if appropriate, form the core of the final paper that the student must submit for the purposes of assessment.

Deadlines and submission

For the submission of the first written assignment, which all students are required to complete, a minimum of one day’s notice is required prior to the date agreed with the lecturer, in order to allow for any potential presentation in class.

People with disabilities and SLDs:

People with disabilities or specific learning disorders are entitled to special accommodations in relation to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLDs. Please do not contact the teacher, but contact the Service to make an appointment. The Service will determine what accommodations are appropriate. Further information is available at:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti

Readings/Bibliography

Primary literature:

· Kant, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Come Forward as Science, Laterza 1996 (or any other edition).

Further readings on Kant (NOT COMPULSORY, useful for further study):

Kant, Logica, Laterza 2004 (or any other edition; selected passages will be made available on Virtuale).

Kant, Critica della ragion pura (“Architettonica della Ragione”, selected passages will be made available on Virtuale).

Secondary literature:

M. Ferrari, A priori e categorie, il Mulino, Bologna 2010 (Primo Capitolo)

P. Spinicci, Lezioni sui Prolegomeni di Kant, in: Le parole della filosofia, I, 1998. Disponibile on-line <https://dokumen.pub/lezioni-sui-prolegomeni-di-kant-firstnbsped.html>

OPTIONAL (for further study):

E. Cassirer, Vita e opere di Kant, La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1977.

Notes and handouts will be uploaded to the ‘teaching materials’ section (‘Virtuale’).

Teaching methods

Lectures, group and individual presentations, classroom discussions and assessments.

During the course, the professor will show slides, which will then be made available on the Virtual e-learning platform. Students are required to register on the platform to access the teaching materials that will be an integral part of the program.

Assessment methods

To qualify, you must:

- attend at least 12 out of 15 lessons

- actively participate in the workshop

- write a paper between 12,000 and 15,000 characters in length (excluding bibliography and including spaces), to be sent by email to emanuele.mariani@unibo.it at least 10 days before the exam date. The essay must relate to a topic covered in the workshop and comply with the writing guidelines learned during the first part of the workshop. The topic of the essay must be agreed in advance with the professor, based on the topics and primary and secondary literature covered in the workshop. The essay must be written in correct Italian. The exam will consist of a short discussion and evaluation of the essay.

The papers will be evaluated according to the following criteria: understanding and use of the texts used; relevance of the topics covered in the paper to the topics addressed in the course; compliance with the writing rules; quality of writing; accuracy of content; clarity of presentation; accuracy and soundness of argumentation; originality, if applicable.

During the academic year, exams are scheduled for the following months:

- July

- September

- October

- November

- December

- March

Teaching tools

PowerPoint slides with text and images to aid understanding of the topics; Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Emanuele Mariani