ONTOLOGY II

The course will focus on some key episodes in the history of reflections on the existence and nature of universal objects and their relation to individual objects, particularly Plato, modern empiricism, and Husserl's phenomenology.
The purpose will not be to provide an exhaustive historical overview of the various theories of universals, but to show how this issue intersects with birth of the concept of philosophical episteme in Plato, the empiricist critique of metaphysics, and the phenomenological revision of the concept of episteme.

For the exam, the student should demonstrate:
1) know how to introduce and contextualize the course topics from a theoretical and historical-philosophical perspective;
2) be familiar with the terminology, fundamental concepts and theoretical sites addressed in the course;
3) be able to reconstruct the development of the texts, highlighting nodal points/passages and modes of argumentation.

The course is introductory in nature and no prior knowledge is required

Plato is rightly considered the father of the Western metaphysical tradition. What role does reflection on the relationship between the individual and the universal play in that enterprise? In what sense has modern empiricism sought to get rid of the Platonic tradition and what consequence has this had for metaphysics and ontology? Finally, how has Husserl's phenomenology sought to overcome empiricist criticism without falling back into a Platonic-style metaphysics? These issues will be central to this course.

- Platone, Parmenide, Milano, BUR, 2016 (126a-135e)
- Platone, Repubblica, Milano, BUR, 2007 (Books V, VI, VII)
- J. Locke, Saggio sull’intelletto umano, Milano, Bompiani, 2007 (selected pages)
- G. Berkeley, Saggio su una nuova teoria della visione – Trattato sui principi della conoscenza umana, Milano, Bompiani, 2004 (selected pages)
- E. Husserl, Ricerche Logiche, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2015 (Second Research only)
- Guido Bonino Universali/particolari, Bologna, il Mulino, 2008

Oral exam covering the texts discussed in the course. It will be particularly important to demonstrate understanding of the assigned texts and to be able to critically compare the conceptions of the different authors studied

Introduction, reading and critical analysis of texts in dialogue with students.

Italian

oral