HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

This course offers a survey of the history of modern philosophy, covering the major figures in the history of Western thought in the 17th and 18th centuries, within the broadest discipline of the history of philosophy. After briefly reviewing the developments in the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution which set the stage for the appearance of the modern world view, the course will pay particular attention in reviewing this history of thought to problems in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and political philosophy. At the end of the course it will be considered how this history of thought shaped the development of subsequent philosophy.

The course aims to provide a good understanding of key problems and ideas which shaped the history of modern philosophy. At the end of the course the students should have a good understanding of the difference between the traditions of Rationalism and Empiricism that divided Western thought during this period, as well as some understanding of how this difference has continued to shape the course of the development of philosophy. Considerable attention will also be given to understanding that intellectual, cultural movement known as the Enlightenment, a movement which came to a culmination in the philosophies of Hume and Kant at the end of the 18th century and which continues to shape, to some extent, the world today. In critically reviewing this history of thought the course also seeks to develop important critical thinking skills.

At the end of the course the students
1) should demonstrate knowledge and understanding in early modern philosophy that builds upon and their general secondary education, and is typically at a level that includes some aspects that will be informed by knowledge of the forefront of the philosophical research;
2) could apply their knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to their possible work or vocation, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving philosophical problems;
3) should have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data of a historical text to inform judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues;
4) could communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
5) should have developed those learning skills that are necessary for them to continue to undertake more advanced courses or further study with a high degree of autonomy.

The readings, lectures, and assignments will be designed to
• introduce students to some of the central figures in early modern philosophy (Descartes through Kant) and the questions and arguments that preoccupied them;
• introduce students to philosophical methodology in the history of philosophy;
• foster critical engagement with the ideas and arguments discussed;
• increase competencies in reading and writing philosophical texts.

A general knowledge of the history of early modern philosophy, in particular of Rationalism (Descartes and Leibniz) and Empiricism (Locke and Hume) is preferable, but not necessary.

The subject of the course is Kant's Critique of Pure Reason within the tradition of modern logic. The Critique of Pure Reason will be interpreted as work on methodology. Referring the Critique of Pure Reason to its logical matrix has the most far-reaching consequences on the very intelligibility, and on the historical and philosophical interpretation of this work. The whole general structure of the Critique, seen in this light, does not appear any more as a personal, and largely obscure and arbitrary, creation of its author, but as the meaningful outcome of some basic traditions in the history of logic.

1. General Introduction to the German Enlightenment
2. Kant's Early Writings
3. Prefaces
4. Introduction
5. Space
6. Time
7. Idea of a Transcendental Logic
8. Judgments and Categories
9. Deduction of the Pure Concepts of the Understanding
10. Thinking, knowing, and imaging
11. The Schematism of the Pure Concepts of the Understanding
12. The Pure Principles of the Understanding
13. Phaenomena - Noumena
14. Methodology
15. Further Developments of Transcendental Idealism

Mandatory
Immanuel Kant, Critica della ragion pura, trad. it. con testo a fronte di Costantino Esposito (Milano: Bompiani, 2004) or subsequent editions
Marco Sgarbi, Kant and Aristotle. Epistemology, Logic, and Method (New York: SUNY, 2016) paperback version
Giorgio Tonelli, Da Leibniz a Kant. Saggi sul pensiero del Settecento (Pisa: Prismi, 1987)
Augusto Guerra, Introduzione a Kant (Bari: Laterza, 2017)

Optional
Giorgio Tonelli, Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" within the Tradition of Modern Logic (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1994

The oral exam, ca. 30 minutes, will be on 4/5 topics discussed in class.

Lectures and seminars with debates on the topics discussed in class.

Italian

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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