FACOLTÀ DI STUDI UMANISTICI DIPARTIMENTO DI FILOSOFIA Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 During the Academic Year 2014-2015, the Department of Philosophy offers the following five courses in English: History of Contemporary Metaphysics... 2 History of Contemporary Philosophy... 3 Philosophical Analysis... 4 Philosophy of History... 6 Philosophy of Science... 7
History of Contemporary Metaphysics SEMESTER: I TEACHER: Paolo Valore TITLE OF THE COURSE: An Introduction to Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics and Ontology 1. Foundations of Ontology and Metaphysics 2. New Perspectives in Meta-Metaphysics 3. Case Studies in Ontology BIBLIOGRAPHY Papers are available for free online. First Unit: Foundations of Ontology and Metaphysics R. Carnap, The Elimination of Metaphysics, on line at: http://goo.gl/j8ngly W.V. Quine, Two Dogmas of Empiricism on line at: http://goo.gl/d0kpdw R. Carnap, Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology, on line at: http://goo.gl/csvpp0 W.V. Quine, On What There Is, on line at: http://goo.gl/4qswgi Second Unit: New Perspectives in Meta-Metaphysics P. van Inwagen, Meta-Ontology, on line at http://goo.gl/lqrxss H. Price, Metaphysics After Carnap: the Ghost Who Walks?, on line at http://goo.gl/otyy8f K. Fine, The Question of Ontology, on line at http://goo.gl/7iwtz0 Third Unit: Case Studies in Ontology D. Lewis, "Possible Worlds", on line at http://goo.gl/pzrwzo (pp. 84.91) D. Lewis, "Anselm and Actuality, on line at: http://goo.gl/5l8hyt W.V. Quine, Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis on line at: http://goo.gl/xfrp1j T. Sider, Four-dimensionalism, on line at: http://goo.gl/at8l1m Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 2
History of Contemporary Philosophy SEMESTER: II TEACHER: Renato Pettoello TITLE OF THE COURSE: Functionalism vs. Substantialism. The Philosophy of Ernst Cassirer 1. The Nature of Concepts 2. Induction and Deduction 3. Reality and Objectivity COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course discusses the first great systematic work of Ernst Cassirer, Substance and Function (1910), in order to stress the actuality of his functionalism for today s epistemology. The lecture content is divided into three parts; each of them discusses a main topic of the work. Intended learning outcomes. By the end of this course, students should: Have a grasp of fundamental issues, views and concepts in Cassirer s epistemology. Be able to critically analyze and engage with the contemporary epistemological problems. BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Cassirer, Substance and Function & Einstein s Theory of Relativity, Dover, Mineola, New York 2003. M. Friedman, A Parting of the Ways. Carnap, Cassirer, and Heidegger, Open Court, Chicago 2000. Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 3
Philosophical Analysis SEMESTER: I TEACHER: Giuliano Torrengo TITLE OF THE COURSE: The Ways of Philosophical Explanation 1. Explanatory strategies: realisms and anti-realisms 2. Truth and disagreement: relativism and pragmatics 3. Case Study: what are beliefs? COURSE DESCRIPTION Generally speaking, ordinary and scientific explanations can be seen as tentative answers to questions concerning why and how (and sometimes when and where) something is the case. In philosophy, explanations are often concerned with the nature of things, namely with what something is. For instance, recent debates focus on questions such as: what are moral properties and facts, and how do they relate to what people believe to be good and bad? What are mental states and emotions? Are they nothing over and above neural activity in the brain? And what is the role of our interaction with the environment around us in them? What it meaning and what is its link to language use and communication? What is taste, and what are aesthetic properties? In this course, I will present several strategies that philosophers have endorsed to provide answers to questions like those. In particular, in the first unit we will discuss: (i) strategies of reduction/elimination, (ii) modal strategies (supervenience, emergence), and (iii) strategies of metaphysical priority (grounding, ontological dependence). In the second unit, we will face the problems concerning disagreement and the possibility of relativizing explanations to different conceptual frameworks. In the third and last unit, we will focus on the case study of beliefs: what does it mean for someone to believe something, and what kind of reality beliefs have in the personal and the social domains. The requirements for the exam are (i) one book from the list of classics below, (ii) five articles of contemporary philosophers among those that will be discussed in class (the list will be available on the website of the teacher from September). Hand-outs and other auxiliary materials will provided during the course. Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hume D. (1739) A Treatise on Human Nature (Book I). Moore G. E. (1903) Principia Ethica Russell B. (1912) The Problems of Philosophy Ayer A.J. (1936) Language, Truth, and Logic Quine W.V.O (1960) Word and Object Nozick R. (1981) Philosophical Explanations Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 5
Philosophy of History SEMESTER: II TEACHER: Gianfranco Mormino TITLE OF THE COURSE: Politics and History in Hobbes 1. Hobbes's Anthropology 2. The State of Nature and the Dawn of Society 3. The English Revolution BIBLIOGRAPHY: Thomas Hobbes, The elements of law natural and politic Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan Thomas Hobbes, Behemoth Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 6
Philosophy of Science SEMESTER: I TEACHER: Corrado Sinigaglia TITLE OF THE COURSE: Sharing Action and Intention 1. The two faces of intention: Searle vs. Bratman 2. Sharing intention: Bratman vs. Searle 3. Sharing action: a new perspective Philosophy Courses in English - 2014-2015 7