29424 - Seminars (1) (LM) (G.G)

Learning outcomes

The Philosophy Seminars have the specific objectives of seminar teaching: (1) training students in philosophical argumentation by discussion on themes and texts, also in the original language, presented in meetings with Italian and foreign scholars; (2) broading and deeping philosophical knowledge through participation in conferences held by specialists; (3) comparing different methodological approaches to philosophy.

Course contents

Time: what it is, how we measure it, why it obsesses us.

More and more discussions are taking place around the category of ‘time’. Apparently objective, therefore measurable, time today instead turns out to be relative, not always definable, perceived differently by individuals, in different societies, in different contexts of life and work. Recurring today is the representation of a time that runs ever faster, accelerated, that forces us to chase it, that is not enough to satisfy obligations and/or pleasures, that is beyond our control.

Time constitutes a fundamental dimension of human experience, yet it seems to elude any attempt to define it. Not only because of the different fruition and availability, the different experience in the different contexts of its flowing, but also because of physics' knowledge of its non-objectivity.

The seminar therefore proposes to traverse this territory that has become uncertain, difficult to grasp and, in today's society, even distressing. The preoccupation with the passing of time today is also fuelled by the ‘simultaneity’ of communication made possible by the various forms of connection between individuals by means of technological and computer tools. This has given rise to a space/time compression often perceived as constricting, constraining, frustrating.

How much is the sense of simultaneity and acceleration of time changing our relationship with the past, our ability to perceive historical temporality and to identify the rhythms and forms of change in time? That is, to what extent are we afflicted by a crushing on the present that dulls our vision of both the past and the future?

The seminar will address these crucial nodes of today's society through the reflections of authors - social scientists, historians, philosophers - who are questioning themselves about time, its nature and our relationship with it.

Readings/Bibliography

Selected bibliography

 

Francesco Orilia, Filosofia del tempo. Il dibattito contemporaneo, Carocci:

Mauro Dorato, Il tempo. Cosa accade quando non accade nulla, Carocci;

Carlo Rovelli, L'ordine del tempo, Adelphi;

David Harvey, La crisi della modernità, Il Saggiatore;

François Hartog, Chronos. L'Occidente alle prese con il tempo, Einaudi;

Pietro Redondi, Storie del tempo, Laterza;

Filippo Triola, L'orologio del potere. Stato e misura del tempo nell'Italia contemporanea 1749-1922, Il Mulino;

Stephen Kern, Il tempo e lo spazio. La percezione del mondo tra Otto e Novecento, Il Mulino;

Myriam Revault D'Allonnes, La crisi senza fine. Saggio sull'esperienza moderna del tempo, O barra O edizioni;

Hans Blumenberg, Tempo della vita e tempo del mondo, Il Mulino;

David Landes, Storia del tempo. L'orologio e la nascita del mondo moderno, Mondadori;

Francesco Benigno, La storia al tempo dell'oggi, Il Mulino.

Further bibliographical information will be provided in the course of the seminar.

 

Teaching methods

The seminar includes general interventions by the lecturer in order to set and define the historical and conceptual frame of reference, then collective classroom reading and discussion of texts and documentary materials. The primary objectives are to develop critical and interpretive skills through work on texts, to acquire the aptitude for conceptual synthesis and the interweaving of different points of view contextualized in different eras.

Assessment methods

Eligibility will require a short written report agreed with the lecturer based on the topics discussed in the seminar and the particular individual interests that emerged during the course. Attendance at least two-thirds of the meetings is required to consider oneself an attendee.

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders are entitled to special adjustments according to their condition, subject to assessment by the University Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact teachers or Department staff, but make an appointment with the Service. The Service will then determine what adjustments are specifically appropriate, and get in touch with the teacher. For more information, please visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching tools

Texts, images and documentary sources. Possible interventions in the discussion by researchers and experts in the topic.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Baldissara