HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY - II

The course aims to address the historical and theoretical reference points to understand the rise of the phenomenological movement within the framework of contemporary philosophy. In particular, it discusses the main aspects of the European fin-de-siècle philosophical debate, from which some of the most significant movements of the twentieth century originated (phenomenology, philosophical hermeneutics, linguistic and analytic philosophy, pragmatism), and then focuses upon the main philosophical innovations of Husserlian phenomenology. Finally, the course discusses the main criticism of Husserlian phenomenology coming from within the phenomenological movement itself and from radically alternative philosophical positions, in the light of contemporary debates.

Students are expected to acquire the knowledge of the fundamental texts and theses of phenomenology, in particular, but not exclusively, in its classic Husserlian version. Moreover, it is expected that students will acquire the ability to recognise the main strong points and weaknesses of the phenomenological strategy, in the light of the philosophical debate of the last decades.

It is expected that students have the ability to understand the significance of philosophical problems and methods from a strictly theoretical point of view but also from a historical and political perspective.

The crisis of Positivism in fin-de-siècle Europe: the “bankruptcy of science” as a crisis of the modern project.
The philosophical background of the phenomenological project: Brentano, Meinong, Frege, Russell, Dilthey, Neo-Kantianism.
The Positivist concept of “fact”. The relevance of identifying science with knowing facts. Epistemological, ethical, and ontological consequences.
The Husserlian concept of “Naturalism” and its generality: differences between that concept and the more recent ones.
The Husserlian concepts of "phenomenon" and "phenomenology" and their novelty.
The appeal to things themselves.
The Husserlian and phenomenological notions of humanity and humankind. Humankind as a species and as a project.
The relation between humanity, science and modernity. Husserl’s interpretation of the role of Plato and Descartes. The significance of phenomenological radicalism.
The transcendental turn: from natural attitude to epoché. The difference between epoché and doubt.
Philosophical controversies: Husserl and Frege; Husserl and Schlick; Husserl and Heidegger; Husserl and Scheler.
Three examples: phenomenology of things; phenomenology of truth; phenomenology of appearances.
The notion of constitution: the constitution of other ego’s and of objective reality.
Life-world and scientific reality: natural attitude and naturalistic attitude.
Realism and idealism. Relativism and absolutism. Ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism. Analogies and differences between phenomenological and more recent positions.
Critiques of phenomenology and actuality of phenomenology.

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE FINAL EXAM
Heidegger, Martin: Being and Time. SUNY Press 1996: §§ 7-11.
Husserl, Edmund: Logical Investigations, London: Routledge 1973.Vol. 1: Prolegomena to a Pure Logic §§ 1-51; Vol 2: 5th Logical Investigation.
Husserl, Edmund: “Philosophy as Rigorous Science,” in Q. Lauer (ed.), Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy, New York: Harper 1965.
Husserl, Edmund: Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy—First Book: General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology. The Hague: Nijhoff 1982: §§ 19, 20; 24-26; 27-62.
Husserl, Edmund: Cartesian Meditations, Dordrecht: Kluwer 1988: §§ 1-11; 42-62.
Husserl, Edmund: The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: Northwestern University Press: §§ 1-7.

SUGGESTED READINGS
Bernet, Rudolf, Iso Kern and Eduard Marbach, 1993, An Introduction to Husserlian Phenomenology, Evanston: Northwestern University Press..
Zahavi, Dan, 2003, Husserl’s Phenomenology, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

The final exam is an interview. The interview aims to assess the candidates' knowledge and understanding of the texts in the exam bibliography and their ability to reconstruct the main arguments they contain, both historically and theoretically.

Presentation of the main phenomenological theses and arguments, with respect to their historical contexts and to recent philosophical debates.
Discussion of classic texts.

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "International cooperation" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development