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

Learning outcomes

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

Course contents

General Information

The Philosophy Workshop has three goals: teaching the rules of writing and composition; an introduction on how to use bibliographic tools; an introduction on how to read a philosophy classic and the creation of a short philosophical essay on said classic.

The success of workshops is based on regular attendance of all students to all meetings In order to be admitted to the final exam and gain a pass, therefore, students will need to have attended at least 12 out of 15 classes (24 hours out of 30).

Students can choose among several proposals of Philosophy Laboratory (programs and teachers names are available on the web guide of the Degree Course of Philosophy). 35 attending students are expected for each laboratory. “Attending” means both those attending face-to-face lectures and those attending online lectures.

To enroll in the I or II semester Laboratories, students must send, by e-mail, the application to the chosen teacher (subject: Philosophy Laboratory) from 10 to 18 September, 2020. Each teacher will accept up to 35 requests. Excess requests and those submitted after September 18th will be redistributed based on the availability of vacancies.

Because of several unpleasant episodes of signature falsification occurred in the last years, in case it is proved that even a single signature has not been made by the corresponding student, such student will be excluded from the final exam and will have to wait until the next year to attend the Workshop again. For online attendings, the “participants” present at the lectures on Teams will be taken into account. The same standards will hold for students submitting written exams which are totally or partially copied from previously existing paper or digital texts.

Only in case of certified impossibility to attend the Workshop students are allowed to arrange an alternative program with the corresponding teacher of the attended module. Such cases concern:

- working students who cannot obtain a specific permission to attend the Workshop. Such students must inform the teacher at the beginning of the module and prove by a declaration of their employers the impossibility of their attendance.

- Erasmus and Overseas students. Such students must promptly provide documentary evidence to the teacher showing the impossibility of their attendance due to their living abroad.

Attending and not attending students must get as soon as possible the manual of philosophical writing, which can be found on line on the web page of the Degree Course of Philosophy.

For attending students the exam will consist in the submission and discussion of a short essay on the philosophical text on which the attended Reading Workshop has been held. The essay will be assessed both concerning his form as his content.

For more detailed informations on such Workshops (period, schedules, rooms, programs, etc.) see the website of each Workshop lecturer.

Philosophy Laboratory (1) (G.B): Ricoeur, Oneself as Another

The laboratory will examine Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics, through the reading and discussion of “Oneself as Another”. Among the topics covered are: cogito and selfhood; ipse and idem; the hermeneutics of the self; selfhood and otherness; one’s own body, the other, and conscience.

The first lessons will be dedicated to the rules of writing and composition of a philosophical essay and the bibliographical tools, while in the following lessons the reading of “Oneself as Another” will be addressed.

Course timetable: 3rd period, Tuesday 11-13 (Lecture room C, via Zamboni 34), Wednesday 15-17 (Lecture room C, via Centotrecento); Thursday 11-13 (Lecture room VII, via Zamboni 38)

Course start date: February 2, 2021

Readings/Bibliography

P. Ricoeur, Oneself as Another, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago-London 1992 (selected pages).

F. Brezzi, Introduzione a Ricoeur, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.

R.A. Cohen, J.L. Marsh (eds.), Ricoeur as Another. The Ethics of Subjectivity, State University of New York Press, Albany 2002 (optional).

The slides used in the lessons will be available in the online material.

Teaching methods

The laboratory has a seminar character. After a presentation of the fundamental topics of Ricoeur’s thought, we will proceed to reading, commenting and discussing some parts of Oneself as Another. Students can submit individual or group presentations on specific themes of the book.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of a presentation and discussion of a short essay regarding topics and issues dealing with the texts analyzed during the laboratory. The work will be evaluated as follows:

1. in terms of content;

2. in terms of the conceptual tools employed;

3. in terms of argumentative and writing skills.

The essay must be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the oral exam chosen by the student. A hard bound copy must be submitted to the Department's Education Office (Mrs. Simonetta Manservisi); at the same time, the student must send her/his paper by email to the teacher's address.

Assessment criteria:

Passed: The educational objectives have been achieved.

Not passed: The educational objectives have not been achieved.

The work of the laboratory presupposes the constant presence of students: in order to take the final exam, students must be present at least 24 hours out of 30.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint slides

Office hours

See the website of Sebastiano Galanti Grollo