06992 - Philosophical Anthropology

Learning outcomes

Philosophical anthropology is typically meant as the reflective study of what it means to be human, i.e. of the specific character of human beings, both as naturally determined and historically formed. Being a philosophical activity, this study includes, of course, the critique of theories about human nature, as well as the very notion of there being a human nature at all.

As a discipline, philosophical anthropology is not to be confused with the particular historical school, self-styled "philosophical anthropology", which was developed by such thinkers as Plessner, Gehlen, etc., and played an important role in German philosophy from the 1920s to 1960s -- although this school is certainly a significant part of philosophical anthropology.

Course contents

The following main topics will be addressed in the course :

• a tentative definition of 'philosophical anthropology';
• some fundamental antitheses in anthropological epistemology: explanation/understanding, causes/reasons, anomaly/analogy;
• elucidation of some main concepts: antropomorphism, ethnocentrism, naturalism;
• some philosophical accounts of human nature from antiquity to modern thought;
• the notion of '(ethical) naturalism'; current debates about evolutionary ethics; sociobiological accounts of altruism and moral behaviour;
• current debate about the so-called "ontological turn" in anthropology.

Readings/Bibliography

(English-speaking or other visiting students are free to refer to the English editions of these readings, if available at all.)

Mandatory readings:

1. Readings provided by teacher (in Italian, about 200 pp.) and available (before the beginning) from campus.unibo.it;
2. Matteo Galletti, Silvia Vida, a cura di, Indagine sulla natura umana, Roma: Carocci, 2011 [Introduzione + ch. 1 (Zilioli), 2 (Artosi), 3 (Pollo), 4 (Moneti), 6 (Galletti); other chapters are optional];
3. Michael Tomasello, Le origini culturali della cognizione umana, trad. it. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005 [chapters 5-6 are optional];
4. Michael Tomasello, Storia naturale della morale umana, trad. it. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2016 [orig. A Natural History of Human Morality, Harvard UP 2016];
5. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Note sul "Ramo d'oro" di Frazer, trad. it. Milano: Adelphi, 1975 (including J. Bouveresse's essay "Wittgenstein antropologo").

Recommended readings:

Non-attending students (= those who miss more than 5 lessons) are advised to study: Riccardo Martinelli, Uomo, natura, mondo. Il problema antropologico in filosofia, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2004 (available free to Unibo users at: https://www-darwinbooks-it.ezproxy.unibo.it/doi/10.978.8815/141828).

Students who are not familiar with philosophical concepts and language may refer to a number of introductory and reference texts, e.g. The Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, available free to Unibo users at: http://www2.sba.unibo.it.ezproxy.unibo.it/cgi-bin/bdati/banchedati.pl?type=sch&cod=1105626341.

Since classes will be entirely in Italian, exchange students may want to familiarize themselves with Italian philosophical usage, by referring to some standard philosophical dictionaries such as Nicola Abbagnano, Dizionario di Filosofia, revised by G. Fornero, Torino: UTET, various reprints.

Further optional readings:
- Michael Tomasello, Altruisti nati: perché cooperiamo fin da piccoli, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 2010;

- Lorraine Daston, Gregg Mitman, eds., Thinking with Animals. New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism, New York: Columbia UP, 2005;

- Veena Das, Michael Jackson, Arthur Kleinman, Bhrigupati Singh, eds., The Ground Between. Anthropologists Engage Philosophy, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2014;

- Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Metaphysics: For a Post-structural Anthropology, Engl. transl. P. Skafish, University of Minnesota Press, 2014;

- Jacques G. Ruelland, L'empire des gènes, ENS Editions, accesso libero a: http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/1121 [a neat discussion of sociobiology, in French];

- Telmo Pievani, Introduzione alla filosofia della biologia, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2014.

Teaching methods

The course will mainly consist of frontal lessons and teacher-led discussions. Some simple exercises might be proposed. Student-led discussions and online activity are encouraged. If the number of students is reasonable, approximately one quarter of each lesson can be dedicated to questions and discussion. However, should the room be too crowded, we will have to use the online forum for this.

Please note that you will be requested to read at least some of the mandatory readings during the course, both in order to foster comprehension and to be able to do the assigned exercises. I recommend to download the Reading materials from campus.unibo.it and to buy or get the required books from the Library before the beginning of the course.

Lessons are scheduled to start January 30th, 2018. There will be 30 two-hours classes, based on the following calendar (please note that in some days there is no class unless we need to catch up with the schedule due to illness, strikes, etc.):

30.I, from 13 to 15
1.II, 17-19
2.II, 15.17
6.II, 13-15
8. II, 17-19
9.II, 15-17
13.II, 13-15
15.II, 17-19
16.II, 15-17
20.II, 13-15
22.II, 17-19
23.II, 15-17
27.II, 13-15
1.III, 17-19
2.III, 15-17
6.III, 13-15
8.III, 17-19
9.III, 15-17
13.III, 13-15
15.III, 17-19
16.III, 17-19
20.III, 13-15
22.III, 17-19
23.III, 17-19
27.III, 13-15
29.III, no class
5.IV, 17-19
6.IV, 17-19
10.IV, 13-15
12.IV, no class
13.IV, no class
17.IV, 13-15
19.IV, no class
20.IV, no class
24.IV, 13-15
26.IV, no class
27.IV, no class
3.V, no class
4.V, no class

Please note that, in line with established Italian academic custom, each class will begin 15 minutes after the indicated time (this is to favour students who may come from classes held in different buildings). A more detailed schedule of day-to-day readings will be indicated in due course.

I will be grateful to Erasmus and other exchange students who intend to attend the course if they get in touch with me before the beginning.

Assessment methods

The exam is meant to ascertain:

• students' knowledge of the assigned texts;
• their understanding of the main views of human nature in philosophy;
• their ability to clearly present a philosophical-antropological topic;
• their ability to criticize and discuss the proposed topics.

Attending students will be evaluated on the basis of a final paper; their contribute to discussion in class and on the online forum is welcome and will duly considered in the final evaluation (see sect. "Teaching tools"). The final paper is due by a date that will be indicated subsequently and will be graded on a 30/30 scale. I will make allowance for the linguistic difficulty faced by non-Italian speakers, and, if necessary, I will accept papers in English.

Alternatively, students may take a viva voce examination, which is also an additional option for students who fail the written paper. You will be asked to present a topic of your choice, among the many offered by the course. Be ready to speak 15 to 20 minutes. You may use notes, have the readings at hand, and any resource you may need. I might then add some questions about other topics within the readings or lessons.

Unlike other countries, in Italy students are allowed to take the exam without attending classes. Non-attending students will be evaluated on the viva examination only, with no paper requested but with extra-texts to study (see the Bibliography section). However, I strongly recommend exchange students to come to class on a regular basis. To be considered course-attending, students are requested to attend at least 25 lessons (50 hours).

The following criteria will weigh on the paper's evaluation:
1. Understanding of the relevant texts (correct content comprehension, detection of the texts' most relevant notions and deeper significance): 9 to 12 /30.
2. Correct writing (if the paper is in the student's mothertongue): 3 to 7 /30.
3. Clarity, pertinence, good organization: 2 to 4 /30.
4. Logical consistency and soundness of argumentation: 2 to 4 /30.
5. Originality and personal reflection: 1 to 3 /30;
6. Participation in class or online discussions: 0 to 1 /30.

Please note that the maximum mark is 30 cum laude; below 18/30 the exam is failed.

Teaching tools

There will be a course-related site on the Unibo e-learning platform (https://elearning-cds.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=8689). All attending students are required to subscribe. The site will feature a discussion forum, event calendar, study topics and tools, and will be used for teacher-students communication and the distribution of homework. I will also upload,on a weekly basis, the slides I will show during classes.

Links to further information

https://elearning-cds.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=11807

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Brigati