28002 - Philosophy of Language (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Understanding of the philosophical debate on the nature of truth with particular attention to the main monist theories and of the pluralist theories.

Course contents

The syllabus will be available on IOL

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Ontology

The course offers an advanced introduction to the contemporary ontological debate. In particular the issues related to ontology and ontological theories, mereology and the role of ontology for the sciences will be addressed.

The course will be divided into four parts:

I) Ontological theories

Ontological theories deal with what there is. What is the nature of physical objects? How is it possible to remain the same thing that changes over time? Are there numbers? These and other questions are questions to which contemporary ontological theories intend to respond. Questions on the existence of physical and abstract objects (numbers, propositions, values ...), the nature of possible worlds and fictitious objects.

II) Mereology

Mereology deals with the principles regulatin the part-whole relation. We will deal also with mereotopology, a discipline that studies the relation between parts, wholes and boundaries. In particular we will focus on the basic formal principles of mereotopology and we will present a formal ontology developed as part of the Horizon 2020 SimDOME project which aims to providea formal ontology for applied sciences.

 

Class schedules

Start date: September 21st 2020

I period: Monday 1pm-3pm (aula D, Centotrecento); Wednesday 1pm-3pm (aula D, Centotrecento); Thursday 9am-11am (aula A, Centotrecento)

II period: Monday 9am-11am (aula VII, 38); Thursday 1pm-3pm (aula VII, 38); Friday 11am-1pm (aula VII, 38)

Readings/Bibliography

The course will be based on an introduction to ontology:

1. Berto, Francesco & Plebani, Matteo (2015). Ontology and Metaontology. A Contemporary Guide. Bloomsbury Academic [selections].
   

Some other essays will be discussed in relation to the parts of the course. They will be selected among the following ones:

Part I Ontological theories

• Linnebo, Øystein. Thin Objects. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.[selections]
• Burgess, J. P. and Rosen, ‘Nominalism Reconsidered’, in Shapiro (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic. Oxford: Oxford U.P., pp. 515–35, 2005.
• Rayo, Agustín (2013). The Construction of Logical Space. Oxford University Press.[selections]
• Van Inwagen, P. Material Beings. Ithaca, NY: Cornell U.P, 1990. [selections]
  
• Thomasson, Amie L. (1998). Fiction and Metaphysics. Cambridge University Press. [selections]
  
• M. Rea, Material Constitution: A Reader Rowman & Littlefield, 1997 [selections].

Part II Mereology

• P. Simons, Parts: A Study in Ontology, Oxford, Clarendon, 1987.[selections]
• R. Casati and A. Varzi, Parts and Places, MIT Press, 1999. [selections]
  
• Varzi, Achille, "Mereology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/mereology/>.
• Achille Varzi & Aaron J. Cotnoir: Mereology, Oxford, Oxford University Press, forthcoming [http://www.columbia.edu/~av72/Mereology-index.pdf] [selections]

 

The complete syllabus (complete bibliography, exam methods, lesson calendar, etc.) will be available on IOL.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, peer instruction method e community of inquiry method (if the class is small).

Assessment methods

Continuous assessment with online comprehension tests and peer instruction method. Paper to be written by the end of the course and oral exam.

I will use these verification criteria to determine the following evaluation thresholds:

30 and praise excellent proof, both in knowledge and in the critical and expressive articulation.

30 excellent test, complete knowledge, well articulated and correctly expressed, with some critical ideas.


27-29 good test, comprehensive and satisfactory knowledge, substantially correct expression.


24-26 discrete test, knowledge present in the substantial points, but not exhaustive and not always correctly articulated.


21-23 sufficient proof, knowledge present in a sometimes superficial way, but the general thread is understood. Short and often inappropriate and incomplete expression and articulation.


18-21 superficial knowledge, the common thread is not understood with continuity. The expression and the articulation of the discourse also have significant gaps.


<18 insufficient evidence, absent or very incomplete knowledge, lack of orientation in the discipline, defective and inappropriate expression. Examination not passed.

Teaching tools

Elearning, slide and handouts, Wooclap software for peer instruction.

Office hours

See the website of Sebastiano Moruzzi