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 in German philosophy from the 1920s to 1960s by thinkers like Plessner, Gehlen, etc. -- although this school is certainly a 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;
• a pragmatist alternative on human nature; socialization and the notion of conduct; Aristotelian/Hegelian roots of pragmatist anthropology; Mead's notions of Self and generalized other.

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 http://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. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Note sul "Ramo d'oro" di Frazer, trad. it. Milano: Adelphi, 1975 (including J. Bouveresse's essay "Wittgenstein antropologo");
5. George H. Mead, Mente, Sé e società, trad. it. Firenze: Giunti, 1966, 2010 (orig. 1934) [Part III and IV, plus «Saggi supplementari» - the other chapters are optional];
6. Only non-attending students (= those who miss more than 5 lessons) are required to study: Riccardo Martinelli, Uomo, natura, mondo. Il problema antropologico in filosofia, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2004 (available free to Unibo users at: www.darwinbooks.it/doi/10.978.8815/141828).

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 UP, 2014;
- Guido Baggio, La mente bio-sociale. Filosofia e psicologia in G. H. Mead, Pisa: ETS, 2015.

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 some of the readings will be requested 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 before the beginning of the course.

Lessons are scheduled to start Sept. 27th, 2016. There will be 30 two-hours lessons, basically 3 per week. A more detailed calendar will be indicated in the Student's Guide to the Course that I will upload on campus.unibo.it. The Guide (in Italian) will contain further details about the examination and other topics related to the 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 topic;
• their ability to criticize and discuss the proposed topics.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of (a) exercises proposed during classes and a final paper ; (b) their contribute to discussion in class and on the online forum (see sect. "Teaching tools"). The final paper is due by a date that will be indicated subsequently (normally a week or so after the end of lessons) 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 all resources 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 appropriate 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).

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=8689

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Brigati