Learning outcomes

The course proposes to lead to a direct confrontation with some classic themes of the philosophical thinking and, on the basis of this confrontation, to stimulate and develop critical reflection and personal insight abilities.

Program

Title: Person and rebirth.
Who is a person? What does "being a person" mean? How does a person form its proper identity? Why do I as a person not correspond to what the others think of me? The person is today at the centre of philosophical, sociological, juridical and bioethical debates. The ontological dimension of person, however, tends to escape in almost all theories which have been constructed up to now. This course will try to analyze the concept of person with regard to two essential themes: that of rebirth and that of formation (Bildung). The following thesis will be examined together during the course: The person is an incomplete being which has to be born for a second time through the acts so as to give itself a form.

Texts for the exam:

M. Scheler, Formare l’uomo, FrancoAngeli Milano 2009
G. Cusinato, La Totalità incompiuta, FrancoAngeli 2008, (the second Part)

It is highly recommended to attend the course. For those, however, who cannot attend, some basic information on Max Scheler has been prepared on the internet and can be found under the following link:
http://knol.google.com/k/guido-cusinato/max-scheler-vita-opere-e-bibliografia/k2w6sb1yxk5z/20#

Examination Methods

The exam will consist in an oral test and will aim at verifying the capacity of critical investigation into an argument chosen by the student for each exam text, including his or her ability to develop, beginning from the chosen argument, some connexions inside the text itself. It will be possible (only for students attending the course) to substitute written papers for oral examinations, according to the modalities to be indicated at the beginning of the course. The papers should be handed in until the end of the course.