30413 - Philosophy Laboratory (1) (G.M)

Learning outcomes

The student learns to read and critically analyze philosophical texts and to write a philosophical essay.

Course contents

General Guidelines:

The philosophy workshop has three main objectives:

• To train students in writing and the editorial conventions of the scientific community.
• To introduce them to the use of bibliographic tools.
• To guide them in reading a philosophical text and writing a brief essay on it.

Active participation is essential: in order to present the final essay and obtain eligibility, students must attend at least 12 out of 15 lessons (24 hours out of 30).

Workshop registrations are managed through the Studenti On Line platform (studenti.unibo.it/sol/welcome.htm), by clicking the "Bookings" icon and selecting the workshop of interest. Registration will be available from September 1, 2024, until after the first 3 meetings of each workshop. Students can only register for one workshop at a time, and each list will have a maximum of 40 registrations.

Attendance will be checked with signatures in class. Falsifying signatures, as well as submitting plagiarized assignments, will result in exclusion from the workshop for the current academic year, requiring the course to be repeated the following year.

In cases of justified inability to attend, a substitute program can be arranged individually with the professor. Accepted situations include workers who cannot obtain study leave, who must present a declaration from their employer, or students in Erasmus or Overseas programs, who must document their inability to attend due to their stay abroad.

Specific Guidelines

The first three lessons of the workshop will be dedicated to writing and the editorial conventions in force in the scientific community, as well as the use of bibliographic tools. The following twelve lessons will focus on reading and commenting on The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant, the work that has generated the largest body of secondary literature in the modern and contemporary history of moral philosophy. It is the first work entirely dedicated by Kant to the theme of morality, and it is in this work that the central concepts of Kantian ethics make their entry—the good will, freedom as autonomy, and the categorical imperative—which students will become familiar with during the lessons.

Students will be required, lesson by lesson, to arrive in class having read the sections of the text indicated by the professor, which will be the subject of the lesson. There will always be space for student interventions, which may be simple questions for clarification or, more ambitiously, prompts for discussion. The professor will also point out possible themes and related bibliographies for the final essay as they arise during the course. Slides will be projected to support oral explanations, and all the slides, along with bibliographic references, will be uploaded to Virtuale after each lesson.

Persons with Disabilities and SLD (Specific Learning Disabilities)

Persons with disabilities or specific learning disabilities are entitled to special accommodations related to their condition, following an assessment by the University’s Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the professor directly but instead reach out to the Service for an appointment. The Service will determine what accommodations are necessary. For more information, visit the page:
https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it/per-studenti

 

Readings/Bibliography

The reference bibliographic material consists of the following essays (the mandatory texts are in bold, and one or more of the others will be chosen by each student depending on the topic selected for the final essay):

For the introductory section on writing and bibliographic tools:

• Norme redazionali (https://corsi.unibo.it/laurea/Filosofia/laboratorio-di-filosofia-norme-per-la-redazione-del-saggio-finale )
• U. Eco, Come si fa una tesi di laurea. Le materie umanistiche, Milan: Bompiani, various editions.
• C. Giunta, Come non scrivere, Milan: Utet, 2023.

For the section on Kant:

1. I. Kant, Fondazione della metafisica dei costumi, a cura di V. Mathieu, testo tedesco a fronte, Bompiani, Milano.
2. A. Schopenhauer, Sul fondamento della morale (1840), in Id., I due problemi fondamentali dell’etica, a cura di S. Giammetta, testo tedesco a fronte, Bompiani, Milano 2019, pp. 375-509 (text will be available on Virtuale).
3. K. Vorländer, Il formalismo dell’etica kantiana nella sua necessità e fecondità, tr. it. di G. Mancuso, Unicopli, Milano 2003, pp. 59-143 (text will be available on Virtuale)
4. E. Cassirer, La costruzione dell’etica critica, in Id., Vita e dottrina di Kant (1918), translated into Italian by G. De Toni, La Nuova Italia, Florence 1984, pp. 277-322 (text will be available on Virtuale).
5. L. Fonnesu, Il ritorno dell'autonomia. Kant e la filosofia classica tedesca, "Quaderni fiorentini per la storia del pensiero giuridico moderno", 43 (2014), pp. 25-61 (text will be available on Virtuale).
6. C. La Rocca, L’etica verso il mondo. Kant e il problema della deliberazione morale, in L. Fonnesu (ed.), Etica e mondo in Kant, Il Mulino, Bologna 2008, pp. 123-143 (text will be available on Virtuale)
7. D. Tafani, Il fine della volontà buona in Kant, in L. Fonnesu (ed.), Etica e mondo in Kant, Il Mulino, Bologna 2008, pp. 145-163 (text will be available on Virtuale)
8. J. Timmermann, Kant su coscienza, dovere «indiretto» ed errore morale, in L. Fonnesu (ed.), Etica e mondo in Kant, Il Mulino, Bologna 2008, pp. 171-180 (text will be available on Virtuale)
9. S. Bacin, Kant e l’autonomia della volontà. Una tesi filosofica e il suo contesto, Il Mulino, Bologna 2021.
   

For an introduction to Kant's thought, choose one of the following books:

10. A. Guerra, Introduzione a Kant, Laterza, Roma-Bari, varie edizioni

11. R. Pettoello, Leggere Kant, La Scuola, Brescia 2014

Teaching methods

During the course, slides will be projected, which will then be made available on the e-learning platform Virtuale. Students are required to register on the platform in order to access the educational materials, which will be an integral part of the program.

Assessment methods

Here is the translation of your text into English:

To obtain eligibility, students must:

• Attend at least 12 out of 15 lessons.
• Write a paper with a length between 12,000 and 16,000 characters (excluding bibliography and spaces), to be sent via email to giuliana.mancuso@unibo.it [mailto:giuliana.mancuso@unibo.it] at least 15 days before the exam date. The essay must address a topic covered in the workshop and adhere to the editorial guidelines that will be taught during the first part of the workshop. The topic of the essay must be agreed upon in advance with the professor, based on the themes and primary and secondary literature of the workshop. The essay must be linguistically and stylistically correct. The exam will consist of a brief discussion and evaluation of the paper.

The papers will be evaluated based on the following criteria: understanding and use of the texts; relevance of the paper's themes to the topics covered in the course; adherence to editorial guidelines; quality of writing; accuracy of content; clarity of exposition; correctness and strength of the argument; originality.

Teaching tools

Slides in Powerpoint; other material on Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Giuliana Mancuso