Learning objectives

The course argues the primacy of care in human existence starting from a phenomenological analysis of being, which highlights its constitutive incompleteness, vulnerability, neediness and relationality. After dealing with the Socratic conceptualisation of self-care as care of the soul, the main contributions deriving from twentieth-century and contemporary philosophy to the delineation of a theory of care with relevant ethical and political implications will be presented. Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, students should know the ontological qualities that characterise the essence of being, the conceptualisations of care proposed by philosophers who have reflected on this phenomenon, the essential qualities of care as a practice, the virtues that underlie acting with care and the virtues of political action oriented by the perspective of care; they should also have understood the relationship between ethics and care, between care and justice, and between care and virtues. Applying knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course, students should be able to argue the ontological primacy of care starting from the phenomenological analysis of experiences of care, they should be able to identify the virtues of care in the testimonies of good care, they should be able to recognise the indicators and the ways of being of care in practice, they should be able to discuss together about horizons of thought inspired by a political perspective informed by the principle of care. Making judgements: at the end of the course, students should have developed the ability to critically reflect on the addressed issues and the ability to critically investigate contexts from the proposed theoretical perspective. Communication skills: at the end of the course, students should have acquired the ability to use appropriately the terminology of the philosophy of care, and to discuss the issues addressed by the course both in a philosophical debate and in a conversation with practitioners. Learning skills: at the end of the course, students should have learned the ability to investigate the addressed issues through rigorous research in the literature, being able to distinguish between theoretical and empirical literature.