BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims not only to familiarise students with one of the texts that has become fundamental in modern Western philosophy of knowledge, but also – and above all – to develop reading skills for the analysis of argumentative structures characteristic of the discipline. Particular attention is paid to the expository and structural aspects of how arguments are presented, and students are encouraged to analyse and criticise the crucial moves by formalising and reformulating them, in light also of objections that have become "classic".
Course Prerequisites
None
Teaching Methods
The prevailing mode of teaching in both modules is that of the lecture. Students are nevertheless encouraged to intervene with questions, objections and criticisms, and to propose further debate. Student presentations may be taken into account in assessment.
Assessment Methods
Given that a university exam mark is valid only if it is certified by the student’s signature on the register in the presence of at least one member of the examining commission of the course in question, and holding fast the student’s right to refuse a mark by not signing the register, a variety of ways of generating a mark is on offer.
The standard mode is that of the oral interrogation. Typically, this lasts 10-15 minutes and begins with the student’s choice of subject among the topics covered in lessons. The teacher reserves the right to ask questions also about the matters on which the student is not forthcoming. If a student is ready to accept a mark generated by one of the other modalities, the interrogation may be reduced to the minimum.
At the end of the course, a written paper is offered on the topics covered in lessons, The paper lasts two hours and offers a choice of three questions out of six. Each question weighs 10/30; the choice of three among six is free. Answers in excess of requirements are not taken into account.
Students who present personal elaborations in class may gain credits.
A further proposal is the term paper, which is to say a typed report of two to four thousand words based on autonomous reading and reflection concerning a question relevant to the course. In any case, and especially for students who do not follow lessons, the teacher warmly recommends agreeing the topic to be discussed.
Contents
The Meditations on First Philosophy of René Descartes (1596-1650) were first published in Latin in 1641 along with a collection of the objections of some leading philosophers of the day and Descartes' own replies to them. The short text, running to a little over a hundred pages in the now-standard edition, is divided into six "days" and is recounted in the first person; but this person is not to be identified with the flesh-and-blood Descartes, and we may call him "Renatus". The dynamic of the first day starts with the recognition that, from his earliest childhood, Renatus has accepted certain unjustified opinions, and proceeds to radicalise the motives that could have undermined many of his convictions, so as to make uncertain any beleif that might have been imposed on him by a malign demon. At the beginning of the second day, Renatus recapitulates the things that would be made doubtful by the malign demon, but quickly realises that, if he is to be misled, he must himself exist. This realisation is known as the "cogito" and has been the object of heated debate. The main uses that Renatus makes of it are to reassure himself that at least one thing is certain (his own existence), and to indicate that this fact does not seem to depend on the existence of anything bodily. He proceeds then to investigate what might be the foundation of his existence, and concludes that this must be a non-contingent being, namely God. In the fourth day, Renatus investigates the sources of his previous errors, and he finds that he has been misled by affirming or denying (operations of the will) the notions that he finds in his intellect. He returns, then, to consider which of the contents of intellect can be trusted and finds, once more, that the notion of God presents itself as undeniable. The sixth day returns to the question of the conditions in which it is permissible to trust some of the information we derive from the senses.
Online Resources
More information
None