28017 - History of Ancient Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has acquired (1) the in-depth knowledge of a philosophical topic or problem typical of Greek and Roman antiquity and (2) three types of skills: (a) philological – he/she knows how to analyze an ancient text using the advanced philological tools needed for the study of Greek and Roman philosophy; (b) dialectical – he/she is trained to discuss a philosophical problem in a synchronic and diachronic way, through the comparison between ancient and modern philosophers; (c) rhetorical – he/she is capable of arguing exegetical and philosophical theses in oral and written form.

Course contents

The four courses of History of Ancient Philosophy this year are devoted to a reflection on what makes us human: death (BA) and time (MA).

«[P]rendere atto della nostra condizione mortale significa anche prendere atto che siamo esposti alle contingenze del tempo, al potere del tempo che passa indifferente e inarrestabile. È una condizione rischiosa, certo, ma questo siamo: noi siamo i nostri progetti, quello per cui lottiamo e quello che decidiamo di fare. Rinunciando a questo rinunceremmo a noi stessi. Rivendicare l’importanza dei progetti, della nostra condizione di esseri temporalmente determinati, significa naturalmente riconoscere che siamo sempre esposti anche al rischio della sconfitta e del fallimento, al dominio della contingenza. Ma anche questo fa parte di quello che siamo: proprio perché mortali, siamo esseri fragili, esposti. Non ha senso rifiutare la paura della morte: non perché la morte sia un bene, ma perché la morte è costitutiva di ciò che siamo.» (Mauro Bonazzi, Creature di un sol giorno: I Greci e il mistero dell’esistenza, Torino: Einaudi, 2020, p. 149)

 

The course of History of Ancient Philosophy (1) (LM) will take place in the First Semester, First Period: September 20-October 29 2021.

Hours: Tuesday, 3-5pm, Classroom C (Via Zamboni, 34); Thursday, 11am-1pm, Classroom C; Friday, 11am-1pm, Classroom C.

Start: Tuesday, September 21, 3pm, 2021, Classroom C. 

 

SFA (1) (LM) – Time, etc.: Ancient and Modern Visions of Time

 

“Quid est ergo tempus? Si nemo ex me quaerat, scio; si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio [...].”

Agostino, Confessioni, XI 14.17

 

"Augustine says (Conf. XI.14): 'quid est ergo tempus? Si nemo ex me quaerat scio; si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio.' – This could not be said about a question of natural science (for instance, what is the specific gravity of hydrogen). Something that we know when no one asks us, but no longer know when we are supposed to give an account of it, is something that we need to remind ourselves of. [etwas, worauf man sich besinnen muß]. (And it is obviously something of which for some reason it is difficult to remind oneself)."

Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, § 89

 

Main Topics:

1.1 Plato: time as a moving image of eternity (Timaeus, 37d)

1.2 Plotinus, On eternity and time (Enn. III 7)

2.1 Aristotle: time as a number of movement according to before and after (Physics, IV 10-14 and VIII 1-3)

2.2 Sextus Empiricus, Against the Physicists, II (= M. X) 169-247 / Outlines of Pyrrhonism, III 136-150

3.1 Augustine: time as a dimension of the soul (distentio animi) (Confessions, XI)

3.2 Husserl and the internal consciousness of time

4.1 Newton vs Leibniz: absolute time vs relative time

4.2 Kant on time as a priori form of intuition

5. John McTaggart: the unreality of time

6. Theory of Special Relativity: spacetime

 

Readings/Bibliography

The attending students will have to know the excerpts from ancient works quoted in the handout of the course. The critical literature useful for writing the paper will be provided during the course.

Teaching methods

LECTURES COURSE (13 lectures)

Adopted methods:

• Slow reading of the sources in the original language and through a comparison of translations.
• Linguistic analysis and semantic fields.
• Argumentative analysis and short essays (pensum).

PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING SEMINAR (2 lectures)

• Editing guidelines.
• Reading essay of an ancient work: form and contents.

Assessment methods

EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS

The exam (6 credits) includes (1) a paper of 10/15 standard pages, to be drawn up according to the instructions of the writing seminar to be held during the last week of the course (summarized in the guidelines uploaded online), and (2) an oral interview. The paper will be delivered about two weeks before each exam call on the reported date; individual interviews will provide a discussion of the paper and the study of the topics covered in class (a list of 10 questions will be distributed at the end of the lessons). (2*) Students who have never taken an exam into the history of ancient philosophy in their career will have to study in addition the Diagramma cronologico [Chronological diagram] (by heart) and the Dispensa di Storia della Filosofia Antica dai Presocratici ad Agostino, uploaded online.

 

PROGRAMME FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students who cannot attend for motivated reasons will have to choose, as an alternative to the 10 questions, one of the following texts:

• Elena Cavagnaro, Aristotele e il suo tempo: Analisi di Physica, IV 10-14, Bologna: il Mulino, 2002.
• Ursula Coope, Time for Aristotle: Physics IV. 10-14, Oxford: Oxford U.P., 2009.
• Guido Tonelli, Tempo: Il sogno di uccidere Chrónos, Milano: Feltrinelli, 2021.

Points (1) and (2*) of the exam programme remain unchanged.

 

EXAM EVALUATION

The exam will be considered overall sufficient only if the two exam tests (written and oral) are both sufficient. The final mark will result from the average of the marks of each single exam test.

Teaching tools

• Handout with excerpts from ancient works.
• Partition diagrams and concept maps.
• Handbooks: (1) Norme di redazione per un saggio breve [Editing guidelines for a short essay]; (2) Seminario di scrittura filosofica [Philosophical writing seminar].

* All materials will be shared in class and made available to students in pdf files.

• Web pages.
• Databases and bibliographical repertoires.

Office hours

See the website of Walter Cavini