C8935 - Phenomenology (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course offers an introduction to phenomenology and aims to promote a basic understanding of central phenomenological concepts (intentionality, epoché, eidetic and transcendental reduction, transcendental consciousness, intersubjectivity, life-world). At the end of the course, students will be familiar with the history and main figures of the phenomenological movement and will be able to reconstruct and critically discuss phenomenological analyses of mainly epistemological and ethical lived experiences.

Course contents

This course will last 30 hours, and its main objective is to introduce students to phenomenology, a philosophical tradition that has profoundly shaped contemporary philosophy from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.

•The course aims to promote a basic understanding of the central concepts of phenomenology, including intentionality, epoché, the eidetic and transcendental reductions, transcendental consciousness, intersubjectivity, and the life-world.

•By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the history and the major figures of the phenomenological movement, with Husserl’s phenomenology in particular, and with one of his introductory texts on phenomenological philosophy.

•After a general introduction to phenomenology—which is the name of a vast and complex philosophical tradition encompassing a great number of thinkers, works, and themes (6 hours)—we will focus on Husserl’s phenomenology (12 hours), presenting its historical development, its main theses, and its central themes.

•The final 12 hours will be devoted to a close reading and commentary on The Idea of Phenomenology, a series of five lectures that Husserl delivered in 1907, at a crucial stage in the development of his thought.

Readings/Bibliography

We will make use of three texts, and I will explain how we are going to use them as the course progresses:

1)Dan Zahavi, Phenomenology: The Basics, 2nd edition, Routledge, London/New York, 2025

2)Dan Zahavi, Husserl's Phenomenology, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2003

3)Edmund Husserl, The Idea of Phenomenology. A Translation of Die Idee der Phänomenologie (Husserliana II), translated by Lee Hardy. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.

Please note that the lecture recordings and the slides that will be uploaded to Virtuale form an integral part of the course material for the final exam.

•The exam requirements are the same for students who attend the course and for those who do not. They include:

-the study of the required texts;

-attendance in class or viewing the lecture recordings;

-the study of the slides uploaded to Virtuale.

Teaching methods

Lectures; reading and commenting of texts; discussion on the main issues covered in the course.

Assessment methods

•The final assessment will consist of a 15/20-minute oral examination.

•The examination will begin with a topic chosen by the student, followed by two questions from the instructor.

•It is designed to assess the knowledge and understanding that students have acquired through the course and through their independent study of the required texts.

•Assessment of the knowledge and competences acquired, based on the student’s performance in the oral examination, will be expressed on a 30-point scale. The minimum passing grade is 18 out of 30. The highest possible grade is 30 cum laude.

•If, for any reason, students are dissatisfied with their performance, they have the right to refuse the grade and retake the examination at the next examination session.

The grading scale is the following:

•30 cum laude (with honours): Excellent performance, demonstrating outstanding knowledge together with excellent critical thinking and clarity of expression.

•30: Excellent performance. Comprehensive knowledge, well organized and accurately expressed, with some critical insight.

•27–29: Good performance. Thorough and satisfactory knowledge, expressed in a generally accurate and appropriate manner.

•24–26: Fair performance. Knowledge of the main topics is evident, although not comprehensive and not always presented accurately or coherently.

•21–23: Performance that meets the minumum required standard. Knowledge is sometimes superficial, but the main line of argument has been understood. Expression and organization are incomplete and often not fully appropriate.

•18–20: Performance that barely meets the minumum required standard. Knowledge is superficial, and the main line of argument is not consistently understood. Expression and organization show significant shortcomings.

•Fail: Knowledge is absent or seriously deficient, with a lack of understanding of the discipline and inadequate, inappropriate expression.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

From the end of the course onwards, examination sessions will be scheduled:

1. at the end of May

2. in June,

3. in July,

4. in September,

5. in October,

6. in November,

7. in December, and

8. in February

Teaching tools

Powerpoint, Virtuale, Panopto

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Mancuso