Teaching code

4S007338

Credits

6

Coordinator

Giorgio Erle

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/03 - MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Moodle Seminars 0

The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning outcomes

Ethics of Relation The course is aimed to understand the ethical relationship by the point of view of the rational foundation of ethics: in order to this, the course is based on the knowledge of texts of the twentieth century or contemporary philosophy (referring to the ethical meaning of living in the “polis”, to communication ethics and dialogue, to the relationship to environment and aesthetics) and to the knowledge of the origins of the various ethical theories connected to those texts; this way the course aims to promote the skill to apply theoretical and methodological tools in order to develop ethics of relation in the areas that affect the life of the human being in relationship with the community, with the natural and social environment and with culture and science, producing so an organic and systematic overview that by the use of the logical-argumentative competence allows to develop a personal critical reflection and actualization concerning the ethical, relational, communicative and cultural sphere.

Program

“Being” and “Ought-to-Be”: ethical-relational aspects in the search for a foundation.

The course is aimed to focus the meaning of the ethical relationship both from the point of view of responsibility and from the point of view of communication, referring particularly to the thoughts of Hans Jonas and Karl-Otto Apel for a comparison concerning the question of the relationship between "Being" and "Ought-to-Be". To this end, the following aspects, among others, will be developed:

- Human agency and the issue of responsibility according to Jonas;
- A new categorical imperative;
- The duty towards the future;
- “Being” and “Ought-to-Be”: the return of teleology and its ethical meaning according to Jonas;
- “Being” and “Ought-to-Be” from the point of view of understanding the good;
- The paradigms of the theory of responsibility according to Jonas;
- Philosophy and the "ultimate rational foundation of morality" according to Karl-Otto Apel and the comparison with Jonas' thought on this;
- The "pragmatic-transcendental" foundation of discourse ethics according to Apel;
- The ethical relationship in mutual recognition and the meaning of the community in Apel's view;
- The meaning of moral duty within the distinction between the real and the ideal.


- In the exercise part, the development of an in-depth study and discussion on the presence of a "legacy" of modern philosophy in Jonas’ and Apel’s thoughts about the relationship between "Being" and "Ought-to-be" and on the question of the rational foundation of ethics.

Mandatory reference texts

1) Hans Jonas, Il principio responsabilità. Un’etica per la civiltà tecnologica, a cura di Piero Paolo Portinaro, Einaudi, Torino 2009, prefazione dell'autore (pages XXVII-XXXI) and capitoli I-IV (pages 3-173). ISBN 978-88-06-20105-0;
2) Karl-Otto Apel, Etica della comunicazione, traduzione di Virginio Marzocchi, Jaca Book, Milano 2012. ISBN 978-88-16-43023-5;
3) Giorgio Erle, Tra filosofia pratica e filosofia teoretica. Appunti per una fondazione razionale dell’etica, da Kant e Hegel a Jonas e Apel, in Davide Poggi (a cura di), Traiettorie di pensiero. Prospettive storico-teoretiche di riflessione e ricerca, QuiEdit, Verona 2020, pp. 67-85. ISBN 978-88-6464-597-1.
4) Conceptual schemes of lessons by e-learning: after each lesson a short written conceptual summary of that lesson will be loaded on the e-learning platform of the University.

The texts at points 1, 2 and 4 above are those concerning the lectures; the text at number 3 will be the basic text used for the exercises. The reference texts indicated above are mandatory both for the attending and for the non-attending students, with the specification that non-attending students will carry out the exercise work by writing a paper concerning the program's topics and consisting of minimum 20000 and maximum 25000 characters (including spaces) to be sent to the teacher. This essay must be submitted by non-attending students (via e-mail to the teacher's institutional e-mail address) one week before the official exam, so that the teacher has the time necessary to formulate a judgment (which will contribute to the final evaluation during the exam as described below in the section "exam methods").

The teaching methods consist of lectures and exercises. During the lectures, the analysis, commentary and discussion of the reference texts indicated will be carried out, thus addressing the program contents in the perspective of the teaching objectives. The exercise will be carried out, as anticipated above, through an in-depth work and discussion on the presence of a "legacy" of modern philosophy in the thoughts of Jonas and Apel regarding the relationship between "Being" and "Ought-to-be" and on the question of the rational foundation of ethics.

Bibliography

Examination Methods

The exam consists, both for the attending and for the non-attending students, of an oral exam concerning the program and the reading list above indicated as “mandatory reference texts” and also in the evaluation of the exercise activity carried out. In order to pass the exam, students will have to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning outcomes; therefore the following will be verified:

1) The knowledge and interpretative skills acquired with respect to the mandatory reference texts and to the teaching program, in the light of a valid critical and hermeneutic approach to those same texts and to addressed issues;
2) Acquired skills on a methodological and logical-argumentative level;
3) Skill to develop a personal critical reflection and actualization regarding the ethical, relational, communicative and cultural sphere, starting from the addressed issues.

The assessment will concern both parts of the course (lessons and exercises): the grade will be single and will be expressed in thirtieths at the end of the oral exam described above.