Corso di laurea magistrale in Filosofia

In line with the overall learning objectives of the MA program in Philosophy and the Philosophy International Curriculum, this course will provide the students with an international academic preparation, consisting of both a thorough knowledge of the philosophical tradition and the theoretical and methodological tools that enable an autonomous research and understanding of the human being in its relationship with the natural and social environment.

Students who successfully complete the course will come to know the Darwinian theory, its revolutionary impact, and some of its philosophical implications. They will learn to articulate the main principles of the theory, to reconstruct its argumentative structure as well as to analyse the main debates that it still engenders today. The competences acquired through the course will include the capability of autonomously examining and evaluating the relevant topics as treated in the literature. Finally, the acquired knowledge will equip students with the requisite conceptual tools for approaching critically the multifarious aspects of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

The course is articulated into two parts. The first part, which introduces the core topic of the course, will be delivered in frontal mode using slides. In the second part, classes will take the form of seminar-style group discussions: featured texts will be analyzed starting from the presentations prepared by students.

Students' preparation will be assessed through a written essay and an oral examination on the content of the course.Students who cannot attend the course are kindly requested to contact the professor in order to establish the program for the final examination.

(R)EVOLUTION

A hundred years before Darwin, Lamarck proposed a coherent and systematic theory of evolution. Why it was Darwinian theory, and not the Lamarckian one, that scandalized the world? This course explores how Darwin's theory of evolution became a new paradigm with implications not only for biology but also for culture, religion, and more generally, the very place of our species within the natural world.

This 36h course is articulated into two main parts. The first part is an overview of the evolutionary theory (from Lamarck to the today’s proposal for an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis) with a special focus on the theory of evolution by natural selection by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. In the second part some philosophical implications of the Darwin-Wallace theory will be addressed through in a seminar form, starting from students' oral presentations.

I part of the course

• Darwin, 1859, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (http://darwin-online.org.uk/) – Selected chapters
• Borghini, A. & Casetta, E. 2019. Brill's Companion to the Philosophy of Biology. Entities, Processes, Implications, Brill, ch. 2,3,4 and 10. 

II part of the course (seminar)*

Darwin's Revolution

• Dennett, Darwin Dangerous Idea, ch. 1 - 2- 3
• Ruse, “The Darwinian revolution: Rethinking its meaning and significance” PNAS, 2009, 106, 1, pp. 10040–10047
• Ayala, “Darwin’s greatest discovery: Design without designer” PNAS, 2007, 104,1, pp. 8567–8573
• Mayr, Darwin's Impact on Modern Thought, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1995, 139, 4, pp. 317-325 + E. Mayr, “Typological versus Population Thinking”, in Sober, ed., 2006

Species after Darwin

• Hull, “Are species really individuals?” Syst. Zool. 1976, 25: 174-191.

Human Nature after Darwin

• Richards, Human nature after Darwin, Routledge, 2000 – ch. 3
• Richards, Human nature after Darwin, Routledge, 2000 – ch. 4
• Richards, Human nature after Darwin, Routledge, 2000 – ch. 5
• Richards, Human nature after Darwin, Routledge, 2000 – ch. 6

* Notice: the list is provisional

- The course will take place in the first semester, on Mon-Tue-Wed from 4 pm to 6 om, starting Novembre 29.

- Because of the nature (partially in seminar format) of the course, attendance is strongly recommended. To better plan the course, students interested in attending are encouraged to register promptly. Students who cannot attend the course are kindly requested to contact the professor in order to identify possible forms of distance learning support. 

- PLEASE NOTICE: Teaching delivery format may change due to the current global health emergency.

- Given the directives on the prevention of infection from Covid-19, teaching materials will be provided on the University's Moodle platform and on the campusnet page of the course.