PHILOSOPHY

This course is an introduction to the main currents of thought in Western philosophy. It is meant for students to retain the essentials of the contributions of various philosophers to the evolution of human thought and to debate in class on the ideas expressed. Students will practice reading and freely commenting on selected excerpts of texts and videos relative to major philosophers.

Students will be able to develop the capacity to comprehend and analyse philosophical writings, and to debate on current philosophical issues in a reasoned and organized manner, along with related contemporary themes of society and culture.

B1 level of English; a good dose of intellectual curiosity.

Excerpts of writings by noted philosophers, selected and studied for both historic and contemporary interest, along with ease of reading.
Notable passages of the works which may be studied (a selection to be decided according to time and interest): Aristotle's Politics, Dante's Purgatory, Machiavelli’s The Prince, Spinoza's Ethics, Hobbes's Leviathan, Descartes’s Discourse on the Method, Locke’s Treatises, Voltaire’s Candide, Rousseau’s The Social Contract, Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Marx’s The Capital, Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, H.Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism, S. de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, and Chomsky’s Universal Grammar (communicating with other worlds).

Projection of excerpts of documentaries for comment.

Material on Moodle, plus, for reference, if needed. The Little Book of Philosophy by Rachel Poulton, Summersdale Publishers Ltd., 2019 (in the Malcanton library)

Organization of, and participation in, a debate in class on a current philosophical issue.
Written exam: an essay including a “critique” or analysis of the main ideas of any philosopher on the list, studied in class or not. "Open book", but requiring personal analysis.

Study of excerpts of texts by famous philosophers, with presentation of matching documentaries. Free discussion.
An organized debate on a present-day issue.

English

The extracts of the major philosophical works studied will be chosen and adapted for accessible reading and spontaneous discussion.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development