The course of Theoretical Philosophy is among the characterizing activities of the MA Programme in Philosophical Sciences. It aims to provide an in-depth understanding of some classical problems of the philosophical tradition (topics in ontology, epistemology, philosophy of mind and agency). Particular emphasis will be granted to the interplay between philosophy and science in the conviction that they should interact in the attempt to offer an integrated conception of the world and ourselves. Upon completion of the course students will have acquired analytical knowledge and argumentation skills in relation to the topics covered in the course; capacity to read and analyse the sources and the relevant critical debate; capacity to write an end-of-course paper.
teacher profile teaching materials
J. Seigel, "The Idea of the Self. Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century", Cambridge UP, Cambridge 2005.
U. Thiel, The Early Modern Subject. Self-consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011 (II ed.).
Programme
The course explores issues of the construction and defence of personal identity. Module A will examine the theories of John Locke, William James and Ernesto De Martino. Module B drew on data from the psychological sciences to reconstruct the trajectory from the birth of self-consciousness linked to the body and emotions through the enrichment of the internal world to the constitution of an I placed in time and rationalised as an autobiography. This ego, however, is not a stable possession: it is rather something perpetually precarious, for the defence of which the individual continually mobilises all his resources.Core Documentation
For Erasmus students:J. Seigel, "The Idea of the Self. Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century", Cambridge UP, Cambridge 2005.
U. Thiel, The Early Modern Subject. Self-consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011 (II ed.).
Reference Bibliography
E. De Martino (2012), "Crisis of presence and religious reintegration", HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 2:434-50 (orig. ed. 1956). E.H. Erikson (1968), Identity, Youth and Crisis, New York: Norton. R. Laing (1960), The Divided Self, London: Tavistock. Giddens, A. (1991), Modernity and Self-Identity, Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1992), The Transformation of Intimacy, Stanford (CA): Stanford University Press.Type of delivery of the course
Face-to-face lectures.Type of evaluation
Verification of learning is through an oral test.