00399 - Theoretical Philosophy

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the student is able to identify some of the key moments of philosophical thought and to adopt a synoptic view of them. He is able to place the philosophers in their historical context and to understand their thinking in contemporary philosophical discourse. He knows the problematic nature of the concepts of meaning, reference and truth.

Course contents

WHAT IT MEANS TO THINK. HANNAH AREND AND “THE LIFE OF THE MIND”

The course will examine the relationship between appearance, thought and action in Hannah Arendt's philosophy. In particular, will be considered the fundamental parts of his latest book, The Life of the Mind, the theoretically more committed text in which the author clarifies what does it mean to think after Auschwitz and the "banality of evil".

Start: September 25, 2017 and will be held every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 17-19, Classroom D, via Centotrecento 18, Bologna.

Readings/Bibliography

• Obligatory readings:

  • Hannah Arendt, La vita della mente, il Mulino, Bologna 1987, pp. 81-312 (will be available in "teaching material");
  • F. Restaino, Hannah Arendt: «vita activa» e vita contemplativa», in N. Abbagnano, Storia della filosofia, vol. IV: La filosofia contemporanea, Tomo secondo, UTET, Torino 1994, pp. 63-76.
  • Explanatory notes provided by the teacher (progressively available in the "teaching material").

  Readings for not attendings:
  

  • Hannah Arendt, La banalità del male, Feltrinelli, Milano 1964.
  • Margarethe von Trotta, Hannah Arendt (film), 2012.

Further bibliographical references will be provided at lesson. In any case, Hannah Arendt, The Life of the Mind, + the papers and the lectures prepared by the teacher (to which special attention is needed) are enough to pass the exam profitably.

Teaching methods

Lectures, reading and commentary on texts and on primary sources, discussion on specific issues.

Assessment methods

Oral test with verification of specific historical and philosophical knowledge and of the level of assimilation and processing critical-conceptual content (See "Evaluation board").

Assessment criteria and thresholds of evaluation:

30 cum laude: Excellent as to knowledge, terminology and critical expression.

30: Excellent, knowledge is complete, well articulated and correctly expressed, although with some slight faults.

27-29: Good, knowledge comprehensive and satisfactory, essentially correct expression .

24-26: Fairly good, knowledge present in significant points, but not complete and not always expressed with correctness.

21-23: Sufficient, knowledge is sometimes superficial, but the guiding general thread is included. Expression and articulation incomplete and often not appropriate

18-21:.Almost sufficient, but knowledge present only on the surface. The guiding principle is not included with continuity. The expression and articulation of the speech show important gaps.

<18: Not sufficient, knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of guidance in discipline, expression seriously deficient. Exam failed.

 

Teaching tools

Overhead Projector with PC.

Links to further information

http://www.disciplinefilosofiche.it

Office hours

See the website of Luca Guidetti