06992 - Philosophical Anthropology (M-Z)

Learning outcomes

This discipline carries out one aspect of Moral Philosophy, the study of human beings, in relation to the development of the social sciences.

Course contents

This course belongs to the subject area of Moral Philosophy, but it is borrowed from part of the Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, Religions and Eastern Civilizations and takes into account the corresponding requirements. The lecturer is committed to explaining more technical philosophical concepts that may appear during the lectures; request for clarification is possible and welcome at any time - during the lectures, via email, or during the office hours.

The course is divided into two teaching units:

Unit 1: Nature and culture (30 hours)

1a: Key concepts for the epistemology of anthropology

Key topics: a tentative definition of 'philosophical anthropology'; the construction of knowledge in human sciences; some fundamental antitheses in anthropological epistemology: explanation/understanding, causes/reasons, the definition of culture in humans and in nonhuman animals.

1b: Philosophical accounts of human nature

Key topics: Nature/culture dichotomy and the attacks on it, both from naturalistic philosophy and from the so-called "ontological turn" in today's anthropology.

Unit 2: Anthropology and psychoanalysis (30 hours)

This unit explores the relation between nature and culture through an in-depth study devoted to the relationship between anthropology and psychoanalysis. Starting with Sigmund Freud's anthropological essays (in particular Totem and Taboo), the unit analyzes the exchanges, discussions and controversies that during the twentieth century involved some central figures in the history of the two disciplines - Malinowski, Jones, Róheim, Devereux. At the heart of these debates, we find a key and decisive question: do psychoanalytic categories have universal scope? Or are they valid and meaningful only in certain and specific cultures?

A more detailed schedule of the contents of each class will be available on the course e-learning site (on virtuale.unibo.it).

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings:

1. Readings provided by teacher (in Italian), and available from the course website [To appear on virtuale.unibo.it. I can provide English versions of some of these readings. Please do not circulate without permission.]
   
2. Roberto Brigati e Valentina Gamberi, a cura di, Metamorfosi. La svolta ontologica in antropologia, Macerata: Quodlibet, 2019 [this is free for Unibo users: insert your credentials in login.ezproxy.unibo.it/menu and search "E-Book"].
3. S. Freud, Totem e Taboo, Italian Standard Edition.
4. One of the following groups of texts:
   

Group (1): Liberal naturalism vs. hard naturalism

• M. De Caro, D. MacArthur (a cura di), La mente e la natura. Per un naturalismo liberalizzato, Roma: Fazi Editore, 2005.
• M. De Caro, “Naturalismo scientifico e naturalismo liberalizzato”, Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy Vol. 1, n. 2 (2013), available online: https://nuovorealismo.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/47-143-1-pb.pdf

Group (2): Tomasello's anthropology

• Michael Tomasello, Le origini culturali della cognizione umana, trad. it. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005 [orig. The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition, Harvard UP, 1999];
• Michael Tomasello, Diventare umani, Milano: Cortina, 2019 [orig. Becoming Human. A Theory of Ontogeny, Harvard UP 2019].

Group (3): Wittgenstein and anthropology

• Ludwig Wittgenstein, Note sul "Ramo d’oro" di Frazer, trad. it. Milano: Adelphi, 1975 (included the essay by J. Bouveresse, "Wittgenstein antropologo");
• Marilena Andronico, Antropologia e metodo morfologico. Studio su Wittgenstein, Napoli: Città del Sole, 1998;
• Fabio Dei, “Usanze sinistre e profonde: Wittgenstein, Frazer e la magia”, L’uomo, IV, n.s., 1, 1991, available online: fareantropologia.cfs.unipi.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1991-Usanze-sinistre-e-profonde.pdf.

Group (4): Frazer, Malinowski, and psychoanalysis

• Bronislaw Malinowski, Sesso e repressione sessuale tra i selvaggi, qualsiasi edizione purché sia Bollati Boringhieri.

• Fabio Dei, “Frazer e la psicoanalisi”, in La discesa agli inferi. James G. Frazer e la cultura del Novecento, di Fabio Dei (Lecce, Argo, 1998), available online: https://fareantropologia.cfs.unipi.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/La-discesa-agli-inferi-parte-III.pdf

Group (5): The ontological turn in anthropology

• Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Prospettivismo cosmologico in Amazzonia e altrove, Macerata: Quodlibet, 2019.

• Eduardo Kohn, Come pensano le foreste. Per un’antropologia oltre l’umano, trad. it. di Alessandro Lucera e Alessandro Palmieri, Milano: Nottetempo, 2021 [orig. How Forests Think, University of California Press, 2013].

Group (6): Between anthropology and psychoanalysis: Géza Róheim e Georges Devereux

• Géza Róheim, Origine e funzione della cultura, Milano: Feltrinelli, 1972.
  
  
• Georges Devereux, La rinuncia all’identità. Una difesa contro l’annientamento, a cura di A. Cerea, Milano-Udine: Mimesis, 2015 (included the introduction by A. Cerea).
  

Group (7): Liberalism, Evolution, and Politics

• Barbara Stiegler, Bisogna adattarsi. Un nuovo imperativo politico, Carbonio editore, Milano.
• Matteo Santarelli, La filosofia sociale del pragmatismo. Un'introduzione, Clueb, Bologna

 

For non-attending students: one volume among the following two:

1) M. Innamorati, Freud, Roma: Carocci, 2015.

2) N. Cappelli, Freud e la psicoanalisi: una passione indomata, Roma: Alpes Italia, 2023.

Recommended readings:

Students from anthropology who are not familiar with philosophical concepts and language may ask for clarifications during the lesson, and may refer to a number of introductory and reference texts:

- Nicola Abbagnano, Dizionario di Filosofia, aggiornato da G. Fornero, Torino: UTET, numerose riedizioni;

- Luca Guidetti, Giovanni Matteucci, Le grammatiche del pensiero. Corso di filosofia, 3 volumi, Bologna: Zanichelli, 2012.

Philosophy students who need to get acquainted with the basics of cultural anthropology may refer to S. Allovio, L. Ciabarri, G. Mangiameli (a cura di), Antropologia culturale. I temi fondamentali, Milano: Cortina, 2018.

Visiting students are free to refer to the English (or other language) editions of these readings, if available. The texts that exist only in Italian may be replaced with texts in other languages: please contact me for arrangements.

Teaching methods

The course will mainly consist of frontal lessons and teacher-led discussions. You may raise your hand in class to participate in the discussion in the classroom. If it is possibile, the last part of each lesson will include a general collective discussion. I recommend to download the Reading materials from virtuale.unibo.it and to buy or get the required books from the Library as eary as possible. If some aspects of the lesson or of the text are not clear, please do not hesitate to contact the lecturer and to ask for clarifications. The best practice consists in reading the important texts along the way, following the schedule. 

One lesson will focus on how to write the final essay.

I may invite some guest teachers during the course, and, if there are events organised at the Department potentially interesting, I will inform you and invite you to participate (optionally, of course).

In the last class, I will ask 3-4 students to volunteer for presenting their paper, however unpolished, to the class. This is optional, but it's a useful exercise, to test your argument and get feedback from your colleagues. Presentations will be in Italian. For international students: even if your command of the Italian language is not perfect, I encourage you to try. Everyone will appreciate your effort.

Assessment methods

This syllabus and the related exam apply only to students belonging group: M-Z. It is not possible to switch from group M-Z to group A-L, nor vice versa. The only exception granted are international students.

The exam is meant to ascertain:

• students' knowledge of the assigned texts;
• their understanding of the main views of human nature in philosophy;
• their ability to clearly present a philosophical-antropological topic;
• their ability to criticize and discuss the proposed topics.
  

Active participation will be encouraged and positively evaluated. 

The exam can be taken in one of two ways:

A) by writing a final paper, in Italian, 3100 to 4200 words.

If you need to be evaluated before a specific date, please mention this issue in advance - and please consider that the average time required for evaluating a paper is 10 days. A list of suggested essay topics will be provided during the course, but it is possible to agree on alternative topics. Of course I will take into account the additional linguistic difficulties faced by non-Italian speakers. Upon request, it is possibile to write the final paper in English.

B) Alternatively, students may take a viva voce examination (in Italian). In that case, the examination bibliography will consist of texts 1, 2 and 3, plus one of the groups indicated above.

The paper will receive a grade in 30ths (communicated to each individually). Students may decide whether to confirm the grade from the written paper or to try to improve it with an oral examination during one of the regular scheduled appointments.

Writing and editorial standards. In concurrence with the lecture on writing, a brief handout will be provided for all to follow regarding citations, notes, essay structure.

All oral examinations begin with a presentation on a topic of your choice within the syllabus. Be prepared to speak about 15 minutes; you can use your notes, keep an eye on texts and any resources you may need. The topic of your choice is worth approximately two-thirds of the exam. This will be followed by one or two questions on other aspects of the program. You may be asked to read and comment on a passage.

The following criteria will weigh on the final evaluation:

1. Understanding of the relevant texts (correct content comprehension, detection of the texts' most relevant notions and deeper significance): up to 12/30.
2. Correct writing (applicable if the paper is in the student's mothertongue) i.e. spelling, punctuation, syntax, command of general and philosophical vocabulary: up to 6/30.
3. Clarity, pertinence, good structure of the paper: up to 5/30.
4. Logical consistency and soundness of argumentation: up to 4/30.
5. Originality and personal reflection: up to 3/30;
6. Participation in class or online discussions: up to 1/30.

As part of the oral examination, clarity, correct grammatical expression and originality of thinking will be evaluated

Teaching tools

There will be a course-related site on the Unibo e-learning platform (virtuale.unibo.it). 

The site will feature a  event calendar, study topics and tools, papers, and will be used for teacher-students communication about additional tools, announcments of events, changes in the schedule, and so on.

All students are required to subscribe to virtuale.

I will also be uploading the slides I will show during classes.

Office hours

See the website of Matteo Santarelli