B5344 - Theory of Arts in Ancient Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will have acquired an in-depth knowledge of an author, a work, or a philosophical topic specific to Greek or Roman antiquity in relation to its historical context. Particular importance will be given to the origins of philosophical reflection on art (techne,ars), in its various declinations (arts and crafts, liberal arts, fine arts, etc.), as a paradigm of knowledge, to ancient theories of representation and imagination (mimesis,phantasia), and to the philosophical use of images, metaphors, and analogies. He/she will also have acquired the philological, dialectical, and rhetorical skills necessary for analyzing an ancient text, for discussing a philosophical problem synchronically and diachronically, and for arguing exegetical and philosophical theses in written and oral form.

Course contents

Appearance and Reality: The Role of Images in Plato's Philosophy

The course will take place in the Second Semester, Third Period.

Hours:

Wednesday, 5-7pm, Classroom A (Via Zamboni, 34);

Thursday, 5-7pm, Classroom A;

Friday, 5-7pm, Classroom A.

 

Start: Wednesday, February 13 2025, 5pm, Classroom A.

 

Course contents

The starting point of Platonic ontology are images, that is, there is a sense in which, according to Plato, the first entities we encounter in the world, the things we are most in contact with on a daily basis, are not bodies and persons (major entities), but their shadows and reflections (the so-called “minor entities”, because their existence depends on the existence of the major entities: without bodies, the shadows and reflections they cast would not exist). And this is true not only for concrete or physical reality, but also for abstract or ethical reality; and it extends from natural images to artificial ones, such as the products of the arts (painting, sculpture, poetry). No other ontology starts from this point, at least until the most recent ontologies: this means that we cannot say that we know Plato, that we have read and meditated on his work, if we have not resolved the problem of minor entities, which Plato referred to devoted, among all the ancient philosophers, enormous attention and on which our possibility of knowing the world seems to depend.

Why then does Plato, for the first time, consider images as fundamental? The aim of the course will be to answer this question. To achieve this goal we will follow two paths. On the one hand we will try to reconstruct Plato’s “theory” of images, starting from his definition of the genre of the image (eidolon, hence ‘idol’) in the Sophist and the distinction between two different species of images: the resembling image, faithful to the original (eikon, hence ‘icon’); and the deceptive image or illusory appearance, i.e. the image that hides its nature as an image by passing itself off as the original of which it is an image (phantasma), and in doing so leads us into the deception of those who mistake appearance as reality. An example we all have experience of are dream images: when we have prosaic or realistic dreams, we mistake the dream for reality. This second, deceptive, kind of images will also be investigated in light of a comparison with the pictorial techniques of the time (the so-called skiagraphia or “shadow painting”). On the other hand, we will carefully observe the philosophical use that Plato himself makes of “speaking through images”, that is, verbal images (metaphors, etc.), as a model of analogical argumentation. The intersection of the two paths and the heart of the course will be the famous image of the underground Cave at the beginning of the seventh book of the Republic. We will devote the central lessons to a "slow reading" of this passage in the light of the main critical interpretations and its own historical context.

Finally, the last part of the course will be devoted to studying an exemplary case of the success that Plato’s “theory” of images has had in the field of visual arts: the paintings of René Magritte, with particular reference to the pictorial cycles La trahison des images and La condition humaine.

 

* Any supplementary activities (conferences, seminars, etc.) will be reported on the Filosofia Antica a Bologna Facebook page.

Readings/Bibliography

Texts

• Platone, La Repubblica, edited by Mario Vegetti, Milano: BUR, 2006 (Books V-VII, and X).
• Handout with the texts read and commented on during the course (only for attending students).

Critical Readings (one to be chosen by attending students, two by non-attending students)

Introductions to Plato:

• Franco Ferrari, Introduzione a Platone, Bologna: il Mulino, 2022.
• Mario Vegetti, Quindici lezioni su Platone, Torino: Einaudi, 2023.

Introductions to Plato's Republic:

• Franco Ferrari, La Repubblica di Platone, Bologna: il Mulino, 2022.
• Mario Vegetti, Introduzione, in Id. (ed.), Platone, La Repubblica, Milano: BUR, 2006, pp. 7-232.

On Images in Plato's work:

• Barbara Botter, La creazione di immagini in Platone, Milano: Edizioni Albo Versorio, 2016.
• Linda M. Napolitano Valditara, Platone e le 'ragioni' dell'immagine: Percorsi filosofici e deviazioni tra metafore e miti, Milano: Vita & Pensiero, 2007 (chapters 1-2).
  
• Makoto Sekimura, Platone er la question des images, Bruxelles: Ousia, 2009 (up to p. 90).
  

On Plato's Cave:

• Konrad Gaiser, Il paragone della caverna: Variazioni da Platone a oggi, Napoli: Bibliopolis, 1985.

On Magritte's Plato:

• Didier Ottinger, Magritte: La trahison des images, Paris: Éditions du Centre Pompidou, 2016.

 

* During the course, a list of supplementary critical literature useful for writing the paper will be provided.

** To acquire or refresh one's knowledge of the history of ancient philosophy, we recommend preliminary reading of the Handbook History of Ancient Philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to Augustine (in particular the first 16 chapters: from the origins to Aristotelian logic) and the Chronological Diagram available on Virtuale.

Teaching methods

LECTURES COURSE (15 lectures)

Adopted methods:

• Slow reading of the sources in the original language and through a comparison of translations.
• Linguistic analysis and semantic fields.
• Argumentative analysis and short essays (pensum).

PHILOSOPHICAL WRITING SEMINAR (an additional 3-hour lecture)

• Editing guidelines.
• Reading essay of an ancient work: form and contents.

Assessment methods

EXAM PROGRAMME FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS

The exam (6 cfu) includes:

(1) the study of the sources analyzed during the course:

(1a) Books V-VII and X of Plato's Republic;

(1b) Handout with the texts read and commented during the course (available at the end of the lessons on Virtuale);

 (2) the study of one critical essay chosen from those listed in the section Texts/Bibliography (see above).

 

* Attending students who wish to do so may replace point (2) of the exam program, i.e. the study of a critical essay, with a paper of 5-7,5 standard pages on a topic relevant to the course to be agreed with the teacher and written according to the instructions provided during the writing seminar. The seminar handbooks will be available online (see Virtuale).

 

EXAM PROGRAMME FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

The students who cannot attend for legitimate reasons must replace point (1b) of the exam program with the study of a secon critical essay chosen from those listed in the section Texts/Bibliography (see above).Points (1a) and (2) of the program remain unchanged. The writing of a paper is not expected.

 

EXAM EVALUATION

The exam will be judged as sufficient overall only if the two parts it is composed of ([1] and [2]) are both sufficient. The final grade will result from the average of the grades of the individual tests.

 

* Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

• Handout with excerpts from ancient works.
• Partition diagrams and concept maps.
• Handbooks.
• Web pages.
• Databases and bibliographical repertoires.

 

* All materials will be shared in class and made available to students on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Carlotta Capuccino