Programme

The course explores the themes of the construction and defense of personal identity. Module A introduces the philosophy and psychology of personal identity. We will examine the trajectory that begins with the birth of self-awareness linked to the body and emotions, passes through the enrichment of the inner world, and arrives at the constitution of a self situated in time and rationalized as autobiography. Module B focuses on psychopathological literature (De Martino, Laing, Giddens). It will emerge that the self is not a stable possession: rather, it is something perpetually precarious, for the defense of which the individual continually mobilizes all their resources.

STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME (6 ECTS, 36 hours)
The programme of Module A is organised into six thematic units of approximately six hours each, with the corresponding readings:
1. The problem of personal identity. Numerical and qualitative identity; psychological and bodily criteria; the history and critique of the idea of personal identity in modern and contemporary philosophy. Readings: Lecaldano 2021.
2. The birth of self-awareness. The bodily and emotional roots of self-consciousness: from physical identity to early, non-conceptual forms of self-awareness. Readings: Marraffa and Meini 2022, Introduction and chs. 1-3.
3. The enrichment of the inner world. Intersubjectivity, the relation to the other and the construction of inner mental life. Readings: Marraffa and Meini 2022, chs. 4-5.
4. The self situated in time. Autobiographical memory, psychological continuity and the consciousness of oneself as a temporally extended being. Readings: Marraffa and Meini 2022, ch. 6, sects. 6.1-6.2.
5. The self rationalized as autobiography. The narrative construction of the self: functions, mechanisms and limits of self-narration. Readings: Marraffa and Meini 2022, ch. 6, sects. 6.3-6.4; Jervis 2020.
6. Critical assessment. What remains of personal identity at the end of this trajectory; identity as an achievement, and an introduction to the theme of its defense, developed in Module B. Readings: Marraffa and Meini 2022, ch. 7 and Conclusions; Jervis 2020; Lecaldano 2021.

PREREQUISITES
There are no propaedeutic courses and no specialist prior knowledge of psychology is required. Students are expected to be familiar with the general outline of the history of modern and contemporary philosophy and with the basic notions of epistemology and metaphysics acquired during the Bachelor's degree. Module A does not presuppose attendance of Module B.

Core Documentation

Adopted texts (Module A):
- M. Marraffa and C. Meini, La costruzione dell'interiorità. Dall'identità fisica alla memoria autobiografica, Carocci, Roma 2022. Reference text for units 2-5.
- E. Lecaldano, Identità personale. Storia e critica di un'idea, Carocci, Roma 2021. Reference text for units 1 and 6.
- G. Jervis, La conquista dell'identità, dot company, Reggio Emilia 2020. Reference text for units 5-6.

Bibliography for Erasmus students:
- J. Seigel, The Idea of the Self. Thought and Experience in Western Europe since the Seventeenth Century, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005.
- U. Thiel, The Early Modern Subject. Self-consciousness and Personal Identity from Descartes to Hume, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011 (2nd ed.).

The programme and the adopted texts are the same for attending and non-attending students. No substitute or additional texts are envisaged for non-attending students.

Teaching materials: lecture slides, the texts used in the guided discussions and reading guidance are made available on the University's online learning platform, accessible with institutional credentials.

Reference Bibliography

Further bibliographical suggestions for in-depth study are provided during the course and published, together with the teaching materials, on the University's online learning platform. The adopted texts listed above are sufficient for the preparation of the examination.

Attendance

Attendance is not compulsory, but it is strongly recommended: the module benefits in particular from the guided reading of the texts and from classroom discussion. No attendance records are kept and no minimum attendance threshold is required for admission to the examination. The examination programme, the adopted texts and the assessment methods are the same for attending and non-attending students. Non-attending students are encouraged to contact the lecturer at the beginning of the course, during office hours or by email, in order to agree on a guided study path; they also have access to the teaching materials made available on the University's online learning platform. Module A and Module B may be attended independently of each other; attending them in order is nevertheless recommended, since Module A provides the theoretical framework that Module B tests against the psychopathological literature.

Type of evaluation

Learning is assessed through a final oral examination on the contents of the programme and on the adopted texts. There are no intermediate tests and no selective tests: the outcome of the oral examination determines the final mark in full. The oral examination normally consists of three questions covering the whole programme and lasts approximately 20-30 minutes. The first question assesses knowledge of the general framework of the problem of personal identity; the following ones explore specific junctures of the trajectory examined during the course, starting from the reading of the adopted texts. The examination is designed to assess: (a) knowledge of the course contents and of the adopted texts; (b) effective understanding of the concepts and the ability to apply them; (c) the ability to reconstruct the trajectory of the constitution of personal identity, from its bodily and emotional roots to its autobiographical rationalization; (d) the ability to analyse a philosophical problem critically and to argue in support of a thesis; (e) the use of vocabulary appropriate to the discipline. CRITERIA FOR GRADING The final mark, expressed out of thirty, is determined by taking into account the level and quality of knowledge of the topics, the ability to analyse a theme critically, the logic of the arguments put forward in support of a thesis, the ability to apply theories and concepts to contexts, and the use of vocabulary appropriate to the discipline. Specifically: - 18-21: essential knowledge of the contents; mainly descriptive presentation; still approximate disciplinary vocabulary; limited critical ability. - 22-24: adequate knowledge of the contents and of the texts; correct but not fully articulated reconstruction of the trajectory examined; broadly appropriate vocabulary. - 25-27: good knowledge of the contents; correct and articulated reconstruction of the connections between the philosophical and the psychological dimensions of personal identity; coherent argumentation; appropriate vocabulary. - 28-30: broad and confident knowledge of the texts; autonomous critical analysis; rigorous argumentation; full command of the disciplinary vocabulary. - 30 cum laude: excellent command of the contents, combined with personal elaboration, the ability to connect the different perspectives examined autonomously, and originality in framing the answers. Students with disabilities and with specific learning disorders (SLD/DSA) may request the support measures to be granted during the examination through the dedicated University portal, available at the following link: https://www.uniroma3.it/roma-tre-inclusiva-studenti-con-disabilita-e-con-dsa/