Teaching code

4S007320

Teacher

Guido Cusinato

Coordinator

Guido Cusinato

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/01 - THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY

Period

Sem. 1B dal Nov 13, 2023 al Dec 22, 2023.

Courses Single

Authorized

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning objectives

Philosophy of Religion
Few activities like religion, and the sacred in general, are capable to make the whole of human experience fully significant, and to utterly permeate it. At the end of the course, students will possess an increased knowledge of Western (and, in some cases, also extra-European) philosophical thought and its main conceptual lines, in particular of contemporary philosophical debates on the sacred. The course aims to develop the following skills:
- ability to understand philosophical texts, and to approach them from a proper hermeneutical perspective;
- ability to use an appropriate philosophical terminology;
- ability to autonomously make assessments on the genesis, nature and meaning of the topics analyzed in classes;
- ability to compare peculiar aspects of the thought of the past with themes and / or authors of our time;
- ability to communicate philosophical topics with specialists and non-specialists alike;
- ability to to continue their studies at a MA level.

Prerequisites and basic notions

No prerequisites are required.

Program

Course Title: The divine after the death of god.
What is the god that died in Nietzsche's proclamation? Can Nietzsche's methodical atheism become an opportunity to rethink the problem of the divine in greater depth? Is it still possible to speak of the sacred after such an announcement? What kind of sacred would it be? Does it invite us to transcend the world or to overcome our egocentrism? Is an empirical sacredness possible, one that can be experienced concretely? And, if so, what relationship would it have with fetishism? Would the experience of this sacred also be limited to the religious believer? In this perspective, the various texts on the programme will be introduced and discussed.
At least two of the following texts are to be brought to the examination:
- 1) Guido Cusinato, Scheler. Il Dio in divenire, Padova 2001. Scaricabile gratuitamente in: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332291017_Scheler_Il_Dio_in_divenire_Max_Scheler_Der_werdende_Gott
2) Søren Kierkegaard, Timore e Tremore, BUR
- 3) Walter Otto, Teofania, Melangolo o Adelphi
- 4) Simon Weil, Attesa di Dio, Adelphi 2008, pp. 87-201.
- 5) Simon Weil, La rivelazione greca, Adelphi, Milano 2014
-6) Insieme: Kristeva, La notte della giustizia all'alba del tramonto, EDB, Bologna 2018; Kristeva, C'è dell'altro. Saggi su psicoanalisi e religione, Vita&Pensiero, Milano 2019

Bibliography

Didactic methods

Lectures will be predominantly face-to-face -- and will proceed in the form of commentary, re-elaboration, and extension of the texts examined -- but with ample time devoted to possible discussion and interaction. Part of the lectures will be video-recorded and made available on Moodle. However, an organic and coherent series of recordings will be devised, incorporating material from other lectures and conferences to offer non-attending students a good introduction to the course. These recordings form an integral part of the programme for non-attending students.

Learning assessment procedures

The learning outcomes assessment requires all students, whether attending or not, to pass an oral examination. The subject of the examination will be the programme texts and, for non-attending students, also the video recordings.
A written paper, intended as a writing exercise, can also be brought to the oral examination. The paper will be counted with a mark from 0 to 2, which will be added to the mark for the oral examination. The paper, of approximately 20,000 characters (3000 words/10 pages), must be submitted by e-mail at least five days before the discussion. In Word, the file must be labelled with your SURNAME, NAME, and TEACHING TITLE. The paper should be considered a reasoned list of the parts of the texts in the programme that have touched you most or that have otherwise aroused your interest. The latter should be placed in inverted commas indicating the page number to avoid confusion between one's comments and the quotations. The paper's final part should be devoted to a short chapter of 'Personal Reflection' of a couple of pages in which you can refer to your own experience or other texts. It is advisable to send the teacher an initial version of the paper for initial feedback.

Evaluation criteria

In the evaluation of the exam, the following will be considered in particular: 1) possession of a thorough knowledge of the main themes of the program texts elaborated during the course (points 12/30); 2) the ability to argue and develop an autonomous and original reflection about the theoretical implications of these themes (points 12/30; 3) competence in the specialized vocabulary (points 6/30).

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The grade will consider the knowledge acquired and the ability to rework it originally.

Exam language

Italiano