PHILOSOPHY: PREREQUISITES

The OFA (Additional Educational Obligation) course is designed to provide, recover, and consolidate basic philosophical notions and knowledge, as well as essential thematic and conceptual issues, in order to successfully undertake the three-year Philosophy degree programme.

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1) Understand and comprehend the general issues and basic concepts that have shaped Western philosophical thought throughout its history, recognising how a philosophical context is organised around a certain conceptual framework and the contrasting attempts to transcend and resemantise it.

2) Develop fundamental hermeneutic tools to approach a philosophical text and analyse its argumentative structure. These skills will also be valuable for examining the evolution of concepts in various discourse regimes, both scientific and political, from a synchronic and diachronic perspective.

3) Accurately and personally re-elaborate the knowledge and skills acquired during the course, using the lexicon and methodology specific to the discipline.

No prerequisites required.

THEMES

1. Philosophical Discourse
Specificity of philosophical discourse & its genesis in relation to myth & other forms of non-philosophical thought. We will study various types of philosophical discourse: sophistic argumentation, Platonic dialogue, quaestio...

2. Science & Philosophy / Philosophy as Science
The theory of knowledge, from the transition from opinion (doxa) to knowledge (episteme), analyzing philosophy as the first science & the debate between rationalism & empiricism. The relationship between science & philosophy, from scientific methodology to contemporary positions.

3. Religion & Philosophy
i) Unity of philosophy & religion:
- Philosophy as divine science.
- Development of Christian theology & use of philosophical discourse.
- Dualism in Christian theology.
ii) Faith/reason conflict:
- Cartesian theology & Pascal's critique of rationalism.
- From Feuerbach to Nietzsche: deconstruction of religion.

4. Aesthetics
- What is aesthetics? Definition of art.
- Art & industrial civilization: technique & reproducibility.
- Aesthetic problems: creation, genius, originality, theories of taste, form & content.

5. Metaphysics
i) Aristotle & Aristotelianism:
- From Platonic to Aristotelian metaphysics.
- The 'science of being as being.'
- Being, genres of being, & essence.
ii) Metaphysics & theology:
- Commentators on Aristotle & his Christianization.
- Thomas Aquinas & the Summa.
iii) Apex & destruction of metaphysics:
- Cartesian metaphysics: crisis & affirmation of rational metaphysics.
iv) Kant & the Critique of Pure Reason:
- Contradictions of reason & critical solution.
- Metaphysics of morals.

6. Moral Philosophy
i) The problem of good:
- From the idea of good to eudaimonism.
- Aristotelian critique of Platonic morality.
- Happiness as the supreme end.
ii) The morality of duty: analysis of Kantian ethics.

PROBLEMS

7. Self, Subject, & Consciousness
i) Soul, thought, consciousness:
- The soul as a philosophical object & soul/body dualism.
- Defining the soul through thought.
ii) Descartes & the cogito.
- Consciousness & the unconscious: from metaphysics to psychoanalysis.
- Consciousness & subjectivity: from the Cartesian 'I think' to Lacan's alienated self.

8. Language
i) Language & thought:
- Relationship between language & thought, & influence of language.
- Philosophy as a linguistic phenomenon.
ii) Language as a natural phenomenon:
- Communication & signification.
iii) Symbolic function of language:
- Signifier & signified, symbol & sign.
iv) Language as arbitrary sign:
- Arbitrary elements of language, arbitrariness & convention.
- Wittgenstein & the problem of language.

9. Work
i) Nature of work:
- Work as a medium between man & nature.
- Need, work, & city.
- Theories of exchange from the 17th to 18th centuries.
ii) Work against nature:
- Use value & exchange value.
- Alienated labor & exploitation of work.

10. Freedom
i) Determining freedom:
- Absolute freedom & determined freedom.
ii) Aporias of freedom:
- Freedom vs determinism & mechanism.
- Myth of freedom.
iii) Principle of responsibility:
- Subject & responsibility.
- Ignorance & paradox of responsibility.

11. God
i) Kantian critique of the proofs of God's existence:
- Refutation of teleological, cosmological, & ontological proofs.
ii) Limits of the Kantian critique:
- Nature of proofs in rational theology.
- From the world to God, from contingency to unconditional necessity.
- Essence & existence of God.
- Thinking God: absolute necessity & pure concept of contingency.

In addition to the topics and texts discussed during the lessons, students must comprehensively study a history of philosophy textbook similar to those used in secondary schools. Personally, I recommend "Pensiero in movimento" by Maurizio Ferraris, but each student may choose the textbook they prefer. During the lessons, I will provide a reading timeline to ensure students come to class with the essential knowledge, and we will dedicate part of our time to addressing any questions and problems regarding the authors studied in the textbook.

Optional Readings:
- Nigel Warburton, "The Basics of Philosophy," Einaudi, 2007
- Julian Baggini, "The Philosopher’s Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods," Blackwell, 2010

Oral examination with questions on both the thematic content covered in class and the authors studied in the textbook.

Lecture-based teaching; analysis and commentary on philosophical texts.
Individual study of secondary bibliography supported by additional explanations and clarifications from the instructor.
Possible seminar activities conducted in class.

Italian

Support for Students with Disabilities
Ca’ Foscari complies with Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodations available to students with disabilities or specific learning difficulties. If you have a motor, visual, hearing, or other disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning difficulty (Law 170/2010) and require support (classroom assistance, technological aids for exams or customised exams, accessible materials, note-taking, specialised tutoring, interpreters, or other assistance), please contact the Disability and DSA Office at disabilita@unive.it.

oral

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