56241 - Theoretical Philosophy (7 Credits)

Learning outcomes

Formative objectives: the course aims at providing a historical and theoretical knowledge of the framework of the current debate on the relationship between philosophy, biology and ethics, by way of an examination of Hans Jonas' The principle responsibility. This text has marked a radical change of the scientific and disciplinary structure of contemporary ethics. By examining the relationship between philosophy, biology and ethics, it also intends to review the areas of investigation and the cognitive rules that characterize theoretical philosophy.

Knowledge and skills to achieve: no special knowledge requirements are expected. The course will illustrate current fundamental philosophical concepts with reference to biology, ethics and ontology. The aim is to get acquainted with the theoretical views and current methods of investigation about the relationship between life, nature and ethics, with particular attention to the concept of living organism and the principle of responsibility.

Course contents

Title of the course: Hans Jonas: the responsibility towards future generations

The course will examine the relationship between life, nature and ethics from the vantage point offered by one of the most significant books of the last century, namely The principle responsibility (1979) of the German philosopher Hans Jonas (1903-1993). A pupil of Husserl and Heidegger, student of gnosticism, Jonas proposes a foundation of ethics for the technological civilization on the basis of life, both human and animal (ontological foundation of ethics), a foundation which also constitutes a turning point and a reference for current disciplinary studies. The course plans to describe the methodological tools and the theoretical prospects for  the development of the relationship between the biological foundations of life and human actions based on the massive use of technics. Philosophy must face the problem of its future consequences on the world, on nature and humans. And Jonas offers, to this purpose, a model of philosophical biology that leads to the "principle responsibility", alternative both to mechanistic-materialistic conventionalism and to vitalistic and theological spiritualism, in view of a new monism in which body and soul, spirit and matter are only different events in the same vital reality.

Schedule of the course:

The concept of "life". The scientific revolution and the meaning of life in the relationship between philosophy and science. Body and soul in romanticism and in positivism. Moral philosophy and the philosophy of morality. The debate on vitalism and on the principle of "purpose" of life. Life as quality, as organic and irreducible totality and as "system". The most recent trends in the interpreta­tion of the vital phenomena. The philosophy of man and the various conceptions of the man (philosophical anthropology). The philosophy of life. Hans Jonas (1): from the concept of living organism to ethics for the technological civilization. Hans Jonas (2): the principle responsibility. Technics, medicine and ethics.

Readings/Bibliography

Reference texts required:

• H. Jonas, Il principio responsabilità. Un'etica per la civiltà tecnologica, Einaudi, Torino, 2002, First Chapter: La mutata natura dell'agire umano, pp. 3-32; Third Chapter: Sugli scopi e la loro posizione nell'essere, pp. 65-98; Fourth Chapter: Il bene, il dover essere e l'essere: la teoria della responsabilità, pp. 101-173.
• L. Guidetti, La materia vivente. Un confronto con Hans Jonas, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2007.

Critical literature advised (optional):

• C. Bonaldi, Hans Jonas. Il filosofo e la responsabilità, Albo Versorio, Milano, 2004.

 

Teaching methods

Lectures, reading and commentary on texts and on primary sources, discussion on specific issues.

Assessment methods

Oral test with verification of specific historical and philosophical knowledge and of the level of assimilation and processing critical-conceptual content.

Assessment criteria and thresholds of evaluation:

30 cum laude: Excellent as to knowledge, terminology and critical expression.

30: Excellent, knowledge is complete, well articulated and correctly expressed, although with some slight faults.

27-29: Good, knowledge comprehensive and satisfactory, essentially correct expression .

24-26: Fairly good, knowledge present in significant points, but not complete and not always expressed with correctness.

21-23: Sufficient, knowledge is sometimes superficial, but the guiding general thread is included. Expression and articulation incomplete and often not appropriate

18-21:.Almost sufficient, but knowledge present only on the surface. The guiding principle is not included with continuity. The expression and articulation of the speech show important gaps.

<18: Not sufficient, knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of guidance in discipline, expression seriously deficient. Exam failed.

Teaching tools

Overhead projector, projector connected to the PC.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Guidetti