28013 - History of Philosophy (LM)

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

THE TIME OF THE PHILOSOPHERS

The course intends to reconstruct on the texts some concepts of the time that the philosophers of the modern and contemporary age have elaborated - time and knowledge (about 15 hours); time and consciousness (about 15 hours); time and possibility (about 15 hours) -, in order to trace various interesting moments of a sort of "philosophy of time" between science, experience, and theory.

The course will be organized in different ways which include lectures (about 45 hours) and seminars (about 15 hours) with text readings.

 

LECTURES

TIME AND KNOWLEDGE

The following texts or parts of them will be read:

1.Th. Hobbes, De corpore, chap. 7

2.R. Descartes, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, II, III, V; Principia Philosophiæ, I, I, § 21, § 55, § 56, § 57

3 I. Newton, Naturalis Philosophiæ Principia Mathematica, I: Scholium; L. III: Regulæ Philosophandi; Scholium generale

4. I. Kant, Kritik der reinen Vernunft: DieTranszendentale Äestetik, § 2-8; Die Analytik der Begriffe, II, III, 3

 

TIME AND CONSCIOUSNESS

The following texts or parts of them will be read:

1. F. Hegel, Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften, § 258-260
2. H. Bergson, Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience (parts)
3. E. Husserl, Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie,1 § 81-88.

TIME AND POSSIBILITY

The following texts or parts of them will be read:

1 J.-P. Sartre, L’Être et le Néant, II, 2

2. M. Heidegger, Sein und Zeit, § 65-81

N.B. Students are required to follow the course in all its parts. For the exam they will prepare only the texts of 2 sections on the 3 proposals.

 

SEMINARS

Within the course, two seminars will be organized

Seminar I. Time and eternity

The following texts will be read:

1. R. Descartes, Principia Philosophiæ, I, § 21,55, 56, 57

2. B. Spinoza, Ethica, P. IV and P. V

Seminar II. Time of science and time of life

The following texts will be read:

1. A. Einstein, Grundgedanken und Probleme der Relativitätstheorie [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-lecture.html] [Fundamental Ideas and Problems of the Theory of Relativity]

2. H. Bergson, Durée et simultanéité. A propos de la théorie d’Einstein

N.B. The student is required to attend only one seminar.

 

GENERAL INFORMATIONS

N.B. Students are required to arrange with the teacher the English translation of the texts of the lectures and seminars. 

Office hours: Thursday, 10 am

In the months of June, July, August and September the office hours will be modified, which will be announced in good time in the website of the professor.

Readings/Bibliography

For the bibliography, see the program.

Teaching methods

The lectures concern specific themes, and intend to analyze them in reference also to the peculiarities of historical contexts, the diversity of cultures and of philosophical problems, and, finally, the determination of intellectual options of individual philosophers. The predominantly seminar format of the lessons involves students in an independent and shared research, conducted with bibliographic tools and discussed in dialogic forms of scientific communication.

Assessment methods

The exam is oral and is held in the office of Prof. M. Spallanzani (Department of Philosophy, Via Zamboni, 38, III floor).

The oral examination tends to verify:
1. historical and philosophical knowledge acquired through the class attendance, the study of the texts and bibliography, contextualising them in historical and philosophical traditions;
2. the level of critical assimilation of conceptual contents;
3. the property and the adequacy of linguistic expression;
4. the knowledge of the main lines of classical interpretations.

The examination provides an opportunity for further discussion and further dialogue with the professor. In this sense, students are also invited to examine particular subjects close to the topics of the lectures.

Assessment criteria and assessment thresholds:
30 cum laude: Excellent, excellent solidity of knowledge, excellent expressive properties, excellent understanding of the concepts.
30: Very good, complete and adequate knowledge, well-articulated and correctly expressed.
27-29: Good, satisfactory knowledge, essentially correct expression.
24-26: Fairly good knowledge, but not complete and not always correct.
21-23: Generally sufficient knowledge but superficial. Expression is often not appropriate and confused.
18-21: Sufficient. The expression and articulation of the speech show important gaps.
<18: Insufficient knowledge or very incomplete, lack of guidance in discipline, expression seriously deficient. Exam failed.

Teaching tools

The lectures aim to examine classical texts, which are available in Italian and English translation, but with many references to the original language.

Seminars offer the reading of significant texts of philosophical debate around the theme of the lectures course, extending it with references to some other authors. The student is required to follow and to prepare for the exam only one seminar (I or II). The seminar format engages students in active participation, which mobilizes the acquired knowledge and transforms it into questioning the texts and discussing the topics.
The student may propose reading other texts or writing papers agreed with the teacher.

Office hours

See the website of Mariafranca Spallanzani