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

Learning outcomes

The Philosophy Workshop is a reading and critical analysis workshop dealing with texts. Students must practice writing philosophical essays and become familiar with the main tools of philosophical research.

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 workshop consists of two modules: Writing and Library Workshop (10 hours), and a Reading Workshop (20 hours).

In order to be eligible, each student has to choose one module of each type (Writing and Library + Reading).

Lab work requires the constant attendance of the students: as a result, in order to be eligible to take the final exam, they must absolutely be in compliance with the attendance requirements for both of the modules. More in particular, for the final qualification examination, students must attend at least 8 hours out of 10 with respect to module I, and at least 16 hours out of 20 with respect to module II.

For those who were in attendance, the exam will consist of a presentation and a discussion of a short essay on the philosophy classic studied during the Reading Workshop. The examination paper will be evaluated both in form and content and must take into account the skills acquired during the two modules that were attended.

As regards the module II (Reading Workshop), for general 20 hours, the students can choose among different teachers.

This "Laboratorio" will be mainly done by prof. Moritz v. Kalckreuth of the University of Potsdam (Erasmus Mobility - Teachers) and it will be dedicated to: The Man between Nature and History - The Philosophical Anthropology in Max Scheler's and Helmuth Plessner's texts (selected texts will be read and interpreted during the classes)

The concept of "philosophical anthropology" is ambiguous. On the one hand it refers to a branch of philosophy that problematize the man's ideas. In this sense we could talk about Plato's philosophical anthropology, Descartes' philosophical anthropology, Kant's philosophical anthropology, and so on. On the other hand, it refers to a precise 20th-century philosophical tradition that is associated with thinkers such as Max Scheler, Helmuth Plessner, Arnold Gehlen and others, namely to a range of theories that share the goal of elaborating dimensions of the human situation taking into account the sciences - for example, biology, sociology and even human sciences. 

The reading of the proposed texts allows detection of different themes that seem to be part of the "conditio humana": reason, language and freedom, but also emotions such as shame (Scheler), passions (Plessner), expression phenomena like laughing and crying (Plessner), love and hate (Scheler), social roles (Plessner) etc.

Great importance is recognized to: i) the idea of sharing the same socio-cultural world; ii) the conditions that make possible the man's historicity.

Readings/Bibliography

The texts discussed during the "Laboratorio" are drawn from the following works:

Scheler, Max: Il Formalismo nell’Etica e l’Etica materiale dei Valori. Milano: Bompiani 2013.

Scheler, Max: La Posizione dell’Uomo nel Cosmo. Traduzione dall’edizione originale di 1928. Milano: Franco Angeli 2004.

Plessner, Helmuth: I Gradi dell’Organico e l’Uomo. Introduzione all’ Antropologia Filosofica. Torino: Boringhieri 2006.

Plessner, Helmuth: Il Compito dell’Antropologia Filosofica, in: L’Uomo ‒ una questione aperta. Roma: Armando 2007.

Plessner, Helmuth: Il Riso e il Pianto. Una Ricerca sui Limiti del Comportamento umano. Milano: Bompiani 2007.

Plessner, Helmuth: I Limiti della Comunità. Per una Critica del Radicalismo sociale. Bari / Roma: Laterza 2001.

Plessner, Helmuth: Potere e Natura umana. Per un’Antropologia della Visione storica del Mondo. Roma: manifestolibri 2006.

Löwith, Karl: L’Individuo nel Ruolo del Co-Uomo. Napoli: Guida 2007.

Teaching methods

introduction to the texts; reading and analysis of the texts directed by the teacher; discussion.
At the end of the classes, students will have to write a text agreed with the teacher.
Lessons, compulsory according to the criteria shared by all "Laboratory of Philosophy" activities, will take place according to the following calendar:

March 1, Thursday, 1-3 pm, class D (via Centotrecento)
March 5, Monday, 11 am-1 pm  class A (via Centotrecento)
March 6, Tuesday, 11 am - 1 pm, class XI (via Zamboni 38)
March 7, Wednesday, 11 am-1 pm, class D (via Centotrecento)
March 8th, Thursday, 1-3 pm to 15pm, class XI (via Zamboni)
March 9, Friday, 12 am -2 pm, class VII (via Zamboni 38)
March 19, Monday, 1-3 pm, class XI (via Zamboni 38)
March 20, Tuesday, 1 - 3 pm, class XI (via Zamboni 38)
March 21, Wednesday, 1-3 pm class B (via Centotrecento)
March 22, Thursday, 1-3 pm, class XI (via Zamboni 38) 20.

Students can meet Professor. Moritz v. Kalckreuth for questions or more information, also on the following dates:
March 7, Wednesday, 1-3 pm, class D via Centotrecento
March 8, Thursday, 3-5 pm, class XI via Zamboni 38
March 9, Friday, 2-4 pm, class VII 12 via Zamboni 38
March 23, Friday,  1-3 pm, Class VII via Zamboni 38

Assessment methods

The paper on a subject agreed with the teacher and drawn up in accordance with the criteria outlined in the "Writing Laboratory" will be evaluated for the achievement of the "idoneità".

If delivered after the departure of Professor Moritz v. Kalckreuth from Bologna, papers should be sent to: kalckreu@uni-potsdam.de
A positive evaluation obtained by the Professor (by e-mail), students students can go to Professor Angelini (during her students' time reception) enregistrering the "idoneità". Students must deliver the email with professor Kalckreuth rating

Office hours

See the website of Annarita Angelini