ABOUT NOT KNOWING
Part of the course will regard a general historical reconstruction of western philosophical movements and theories, with a special focus on some of the most influential currents (such as “idealism”, “materialism”, “rationalism”, “nihilism", "cybernetics"). Each session will be supported by the reading of some of the most representative thinkers in each historical frame. The course will focus on practical applications of philosophical thinking, in the main fields of ethics, metaphysics, politics and science. One or more films are envisaged, depending on time schedule.
The purpose of this course is to give students an opportunity to understand and use the basic philosophical instruments of argumentation. In fact having and settling arguments is a basic function in any kind of intellectual or scientific discipline and research. The choice of concepts leading the discussions allows students not only to understand where the history of philosophy finds its origins, but also enables them to open their conceptual analysis from classical to modern thinking.
Students are encouraged to focus on:
1. how philosophers use their arguments to support (scientific) theories or hypotheses;
2. what is a philosophical solution of a (scientific) problem;
3. how philosophers always go back to perennial questions.
The following areas will be examples of the function of philosophical thinking, examined through classical and modern philosophers:
These philosophers are studied in depth, through the reading of excerpts from:
H. Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, The Human Condition, Thoughts on Politics
Aristotle, Metaphysics
R. Descartes, Meditations
T. Hobbes, Leviathan
I. Kant, Critique of Pure reason
J. Locke, Human Understanding
N. Machiavelli, The Prince
K. Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party. Fragment on Machines
F. Nietzsche, Gay Science
Plato, Sophist, Phaedo
A. Smith, Wealth of Nations, Moral Sentiments
G. Vico, A New Science
Voltaire, Micromegas
Related to one or more philosophers, each class addresses a specific argument:
Plato: Do we need innate ideas to explain knowledge?
Aristotle: Is naturalism a realism? (slavery in Aristotle’s time).
Machiavelli: Why is it important to recognize and analyze the pragmatic intelligence of the governors?
Hobbes: Is a social contract a sign of progress or of conservatism?
Descartes: Are we rational beings?
Locke: Is experience is the only source of knowledge, how is science possible?
Smith: Is social psychology a relativism? Is free market justified by progress?
Vico: Do we know nature or history?
Voltaire: What is the place of humans in the universe?
Kant: Do we know the world as it is? Is there purpose in nature? Is there progress in history?
Marx: Is the critique of capitalism a battle for social justice or a constraint of freedom?
Nietzsche: If science is a human invention, what is knowledge?
Arendt: Is work/politics emancipation or slavery?
Required course materials/study visits and expected expenditure for the students
All the material can be found in the library on reserve for this course, or online.
Reference texts:
Thomas Nagel, What does it all mean? A very short introduction to philosophy, 1987
G. Skirrbekk, History of Western Thought, Routledge 2001.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
http://plato.stanford.edu/
Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/podzim2014/LJMgrB07/um/Cambridge_Dictionary_of_Philosophy.pdf
Cosmolearning. General Introductions to philosophy.
http://www.cosmolearning.com/philosophy/
Videos:
Excerpts from
Modern Times by C.Chaplin
The Matrix by A. and L. Wachowsky
Enjoy Poverty, by Renzo Martens