Programme

The course intends to present the main conceptual nodes that innervate the so-called Philosophies of Habit, that is the philosophical reflections on habit from modernity onwards, with particular attention to the development that this theme assumes especially from the nineteenth century, also in correlation with others issues that affect the debate between philosophy and psychology, such as madness and certain developments in neurophysiology, given that the debate on habit has rediscovered its vivacity in contemporary cognitive sciences.The first teaching unit (3 CFU) will be reserved for an overview of the philosophies of habit by Aristotle until the middle of the nineteenth century. The second teaching unit (3 CFU) will focus on the following philosophies of habit, with particular attention to the debate of the late nineteenth century, influenced by the evolutionary paradigm, thanks also to the reading and commentary of passages from the texts of Léon Dumont (1876) Victor Egger (1880), and William James (1887) on habit.

Core Documentation

Unit 1:
1. Marco Piazza, Creature dell’abitudine. Abito, costume, seconda natura da Aristotele alle scienze cognitive, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018
2. Denise Vincenti, Abitudine e follia. Studi di storia della filosofia e della psicologia, Milan, Mimesis, 2019 (execpt chapter I).
Unit 2:
3. Léon Dumont, L'abitudine, ed. by D. Vincenti, Milan, Mimesis, 2020
4. Victor Egger, La nascita delle abitudini, ed. by S. Sandreschi, Milan, Mimesis, 2021
5. William James, Le leggi dell’abitudine, ed, by D. Vincenti, Milan, Mimesis, 2019 - original English text available online at the URL = https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo30newy/page/n449
6. Goodman, Russell, "William James", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/james/

Reference Bibliography

Tom Sparrow and Adam Hutchinson (eds.), A History of Habit. From Aristotle to Bourdieu, Lanham, Lexington Books, 2013 Clare Carlisle, On Habit, London, Routledge, 2014 Marco Piazza, L’antagonista necessario. La filosofia francese dell’abitudine da Montaigne a Deleuze, Milan, Mimesis, 2015 Marco Piazza (ed. by), Abitudine, seconda natura e disposizione, special issue of «Paradigmi», 1-2020 (URL address of the journal: ) Fausto Caruana, Italo Testa (eds.), Habits, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Type of delivery of the course

The course includes: • Frontal teaching; • Discussions with students on individual parts of the program, aimed at an interactive teaching, according to a work plan that will be indicated before the beginning of the course on the digital board of the teacher; • At least one seminar related to the topics covered in the course; • Oral presentations by students. In the case of an extension of the health emergency by COVID-19 all the provisions governing the conduct of teaching activities and student evaluation will be implemented. In particular, the following modalities will apply: distance learning through the University platforms; oral examinations at a distance through the Microsoft Teams platform.

Attendance

Frequency is not mandatory but is strongly recommended.

Type of evaluation

Verification of learning takes place through an oral exam. The preparation of a 3,000-word written paper (in Italian or English) to be discussed in the exam is required. The paper can also be prepared by small groups of students (max 4) but with precise indication of the contribution of each. The paper must be sent to the teacher at least within 15 days from the date of the exam. In the case of an extension of the health emergency by COVID-19 all the provisions governing the conduct of teaching activities and student evaluation will be implemented. In particular, the following modalities will apply: distance learning through the University platforms; oral examinations at a distance through the Microsoft Teams platform.