Corso di laurea magistrale in Filosofia

English text

The course of History of philosophy I aims:

– to familiarize students with the different methods of the history of philosophy

– to examine the application of different methods to specific historical-philosophical topics

– to reflect on the conceptual presuppositions and problems involved in the different methods examined

At the end of the course of History of philosophy I should:

– be acquainted with the different methods of the history of philosophy

– be able to apply at least some of the methods to a specific historical-philosophical question

– be aware of the conceptual issues associated with each method

Frontal lessons, during which much space will be given to the presentation, comment and discussion of concrete examples of historical-philosophical works conducted by means of different methods, also with the aid of supplementary teaching material.

Some classes at the end of the course will be devoted to the discussion of possible topics for the papers to be written by the students.

Paper (50% of the final grade) + oral exam (50% of final grade).

Students are required to write a brief essay (approximately 5000 words) on a topic to be arranged with the lecturer, and to be submitted at least one week before the date of the oral examination.

The oral examination will concern all the topics and the texts dealt with during the course; a part of the exam will be devoted to a discussion of the essay submitted by the student.

For students who cannot attend the course, the topics and the texts dealt with during the course are to be replaced in the oral examination by a choice of at least two among the items listed as “Literature that is especially relevant to the course” (cf. Testi consigliati e bibliografia); at least one of the items has to be a monograph.

Students who cannot attend the course are required to write a brief essay according to the same guidelines stated above; in particulare, they are requested to contact the lecturer to arrange for an appropriate topic.

The topic of the course are the different methods of the history of philosophy. The course deals with both the general conceptual and methodological issues associated with each method and with the concrete applications of the methods themselves to specific historical-philosophical topics. Among the methods and issues considered there will be: rational reconstruction vs. contextual interpretation, internal and external factors in the history of philosophy, the history of ideas, distant reading and digital methods in the history of philosophy. 

The texts and the supplementary teaching material relevant for each class will be made available in advance.

Literature that is especially relevant to the course:

– A.O. Lovejoy, The Great Chain of Being, Harvard University Press, 1936

– F. Moretti, Distant Reading, Verso, 2013

– E. Garin, La filosofia come sapere storico, Laterza, 1959

– R. Rorty, "The Historiography of Philosophy: Four Genres", in R. Rorty – J.B. Schneewind – Q. Skinner (eds.), Philosophy in History. Essays on the Historiography of Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, 1984, pp. 49-75

– M. Beaney, "Analytic Philosophy and History of Philosophy: The Development of the Idea of Rational Reconstruction", in E.H. Reck (ed.), The Historical Turn in Analytic Philosophy, Palgrave-Macmillan, 2013, pp. 231-160

A 18 hour seminar (in Italian) is associated to the course. It is mainly (but not exclusively) directed to students who do not belong to the Philosophy International Curriculum. The seminar will be especially devoted to concrete examples of historical-philosophical works, to be examined from a methodological point of view.