Teaching code

4S007340

Credits

6

Coordinatore

Davide Poggi

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/01 - THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY

Moodle Seminars

The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning objectives

Metaphysics The course aims to identify the research horizons that characterize metaphysics as the culmination of philosophical inquiry by means of a comparison with an exemplary personality and with a key text in which the question is approached in a theoretically relevant and historically influential way. In such way, the student will be able to acquire the mastery of the metaphysical concepts and lexicon. Secondly, the course aims to provide the critical tools to orient oneself among the different theses, which all often contradict each other, with a special attention to the research perspectives identified by contemporary thought, whose foundations, scope and limits will be discussed. The aim of the course is therefore to provide the students with sufficient critical skills for further study and for the application of their own knowledge to the areas of reference of the current debate, supported by adequate logical-argumentative, hermeneutic, and linguistic skills.

Prerequisites and basic notions

No prerequisites: just basic knowledge of the history of philosophy.

Program

The program of the course of Metaphysics and its topics are articulated following the internal division and the contents of Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations, Objections and Replies, which will constitute the reference texts:
1) General presentation of the course, bio-bibliographical introduction to Descartes and examination of the philosophical context in which the Metaphysical Meditations and the principal actors of the philosophical debate about this text are placed;
2) Critical examination of the Metaphysical Meditations: by means of the traditional lectures held by the teacher;
3) Critical examination of the Objections and Replies: carried out in seminar/workshop way by the students (under the guidance of the teacher).
REFERENCE TEXTS
The texts required are as follows:
• R. Cartesio, Meditazioni metafisiche, a cura di L. Urbani Ulivi, Milano, Bompiani, 2001 (or newer);
• R. Cartesio, Obiezioni e risposte: an anthological selection of texts taken from Descartes’ Objections and Replies will be uploaded (in full compliance with copyright laws) on the e-learning platform of the University website; on this material students can carry out the activities of the seminar/workshop section of the course. Among the versions available of Descartes’ Objections and Replies, the edition that the teacher recommends to whosoever would buy the complete work is the following: R. Cartesio, Opere Filosofiche, vol. 2, Meditazioni metafisiche, Obiezioni e risposte, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1999 (or newer).

The reference texts are the same for both attending students and those who can not attend lectures.
Additional texts and teaching materials will also be communicated on the e-learning platform of the University website.

Bibliography

Didactic methods

The teaching will be carried out in two ways:
1) A first part (for a total of 24 hours) will consist of traditional lectures (face-to-face and streaming online; and recorded) axed on the reading and the comment on Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations, with the aim of transmitting the key concepts of metaphysics, Cartesian philosophy and the critical means that are useful for understanding (and for dealing with) the problematic issues involved in Descartes' thought.
2) A second parte (for a total of 24 hours) will consist os seminars/workshops (provided face-to-face and streaming online; NOT recorded) carried out by students; under the guidance of the teacher, students (both those who follow the traditional face-to-face lessons and those who attend via streaming Zoom) must deal directly with and analyze the texts, identifying and solving their conceptual and argumentative knots, discussing any aporias and historico-philosophical developments (both modern and contemporary).

The actual way in which this will happen will depend on the number of participating students (in presence and/or via streaming Zoom) and, consequently, will be decided and communicated by the teacher during the first lessons.

REMARK FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS: students who will not be able to attend the lessons (in presence or via streaming Zoom) must replace the second part of the course (that is the sections carried out in a seminar/workshop way) by writing an essay of about 25,000 characters including spaces (font: Times New Roman; font size: 12pt for the body of the text, 10pt for the footnotes; line spacing: 1.5; alignment: justified) concerning a topic chosen together with the teacher. This essay must be submitted (by e-mail to the institutional e-mail address of the teacher) one week before the official examination, in order to allow the the time necessary to formulate a judgment (which will contribute to the final evaluation: see the section "examination methods"). Non-attending students, for writing the essay in replacement of the seminar/workshop part of the course, may possibly require an additional bibliography (depending on their needs/requests / interests, etc.). The teacher will be happy to help them in order to build any additional bibliography.

ONLY the first part of the course will be recorded and (together with the materials examined during the course) uploaded on the e-learning platform of the University (as mp3 files, or file video via Panopto), with the aim of easing the study for both attending students and those who can not attend lectures.

At the first lesson, students will receive the full calendar of teaching activities, together with the dates and classroom (real or virtual) in which the lessons will take place and a synoptic presentation of the topics of the course.

Any suspension of lectures for academic reasons will be readily communicated in the classroom, on the web site, and on the e-learning platform forum.

Learning assessment procedures

The assessment of the learning outcomes of both the key concepts and the issues which concern Descartes’ Metaphysical Meditations, Objections and Replies, will be done by means of an oral examination (face-to-face) concerning the programme carried out during the course.

The examination methods are different for attending and non-attending students as regards the following aspects:
• for attending students (in presence and/or via streaming Zoom) the evaluation of their active participation will also contribute to the final evaluation;
• for non-attending students, the teacher, for the final evaluation, will take into consideration his own evaluation of the essay submitted by students (please refer to the "Remark for non-attending students", in the "Teaching methods" section, for typographical standards and submission rules).

Evaluation criteria

The examination consists of questions to test the critical and argumentative abilities of the students, the textual exegesis, the conceptual clarity, and the acquisition of an adequate philosophical vocabulary.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The grades are expressed in thirtieths (and in special cases the mention of praise is also granted).

Exam language

Italiano