HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
cod. 00963

Academic year 2021/22
3° year of course - First semester
Professor
- Fabrizio AMERINI
Academic discipline
Storia della filosofia antica (M-FIL/07)
Field
Attività formative affini o integrative
Type of training activity
Related/supplementary
30 hours
of face-to-face activities
6 credits
hub: PARMA
course unit
in ITALIAN

Learning objectives

The course will provide students with tools for critical, informed and
independent judgment, and will reinforce their skills for communication
and continuing education. In particular, through this course students will
develop the following abilities of acquiring knowledge and understanding
(Dublin Descriptor I): they will be acquainted with the philosophical
thought in the Antiquity; they will be able to read and understand the
classical texts of ancient philosophy, know their specific terminology and
the different philosophical methods required for the discussion of topics
and the interpretation of texts; they will be acquainted with the
historiography of ancient philosophy. Through this course students also
will develop the following abilities to apply the acquired knowledge and
understanding (Dublin Descriptor II): they will be educated to elaborate
clear, documented and argument-based papers or oral expositions; they will be able to apply
argumentative and conceptual tools, borrowed from ancient philosophy,
in interdisciplinary fields, to solve philosophical as well as non philosophical problems; they will be able to reconstruct the genesis and
development of a concept, a doctrine and/or a philosophical debate; they
will be able to reconstruct the cultural contexts, with particular attention
to the interplay of the different positions involved; they will be
able to identify the connection of ideas between the history of philosophy
and other disciplines, in particular litterature and science.
Finally, through this course students will reinforce their communication
and learning skills and abilities of making independent judgments (Dublin
Descriptors III - IV - V). Specifically, they will be able to analyze in an
independent way a philosophical text, both from a historical and a
philosophical point of view; they will be able to assess, historically as well
as philosophically, the arguments used in a philosophical debate in order
to decide a sentence, resolve a problem and/or defend a thesis; they will
be able to criticize a philosophical position and/or a topic; they will be
able to examine concepts as to their evolution and their relations, also
with respect to other disciplinary areas; they will be able to follow,
historically as well as philosophically, the genesis of a concept, a problem
and/or a philosophical debate; they will be able to communicate the
acquired knowledge and ablities of analysis and judgment in a clear,
documented, complete and logically consequential and well-organized
way, orally or through written papers; they will be able to evaluate
and reconstruct their learning process and the skills, abilities and
knowledge they have acquired.

Prerequisites

No specific prerequisite. The course is addressed to students with no
specific knowledge of ancient philosophy. It is only recommended a general
knowledge of the history of philosophy.

Course unit content

Title of the course: "Aristotle".

The course aims to provide an introduction to the main themes of Aristotle's philosophy. Some crucial issues from his logic and theory of science, physics and metaphysics, anthropology and ethics will be discussed.

Full programme

During the course some major themes of Aristotle's philosophy will be examined, such as his doctrine of being and substance, of virtue and knowledge. In particular, each week will be dedicated to a chapter of his thought: logic and theory of science, physics, metaphysics, philosophical anthropology and ethics. Introductory lessons will alternate with the reading of selected passages from Aristotle's works.

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) F. Trabattoni, "La filosofia antica. Profilo critico-storico", Carocci, Roma 2002.

2) C. Natoli, "Aristotele", Carocci, Roma 2014.

Aristotle's texts that will be examined or distributed during the lessons will be uploaded to the ELLY platform.

Teaching methods

Oral lessons. During the classes the topics that will be discussed are
those of the general contents of the course; they could be implemented
by other didactic materials, in addition to those indicated in the
bibliography, materials that will be made available on the ELLY platform.
Oral lessons could be complemented with seminars reserved to the
reading of texts and/or discussion of ancient texts and topics, also in
collaboration with other colleagues.
Lessons will be in presence and will be video recorded. The links for the videos will be indicated on the ELLY platform.

Assessment methods and criteria

Students' knowledge and understanding and learning skills, and their
abilities to apply them, will be verified by a final oral examination based
upon the texts of the bibliography, and with the reading and the analysis
of a philosophical text.
The final exam aims to verify the degree of preparation, knowledge and
understanding skills reached by the students. Average duration of
the exam is about 30 min. In particular, the oral exam aims to verify: 1)
students' degree of historical, philosophical and historiographic
knowledge; 2) students' ability to follow the development of a concept or
a doctrine in the same field and/or in related and interdisciplinary fields,
and to reconstruct a cultural context, with particular attention to the
interplay of the different positions therein involved; 3) students'
acquaintance with the philosophical vocabulary and, specifically, with the
terminology and concepts proper to the ancient philosophy; 4) students'
ability to contextualize and analyze a philosophical text.
The final score (on scale 0-30) is the result of the final exam and will be
determinated by five criteria: 1) speech clarity and accuracy; 2)
argumentative skills; 3) ability to explain a concept or a doctrine,
historically and philosophically, and to make historical and philosophical
connections; 4) ability to read, understand and analyze a philosophical
text; 5) extent and degree of the historical and philosophical preparation,
reached on the basis of the texts indicated in bibliography.
The exam is passed if the minimum grade of 18/30 is reached. The final
mark will be awarded according to the following table:
30 and praise: excellent; extremely solid preparation and extensive
knowledge of ancient philosophy, excellent expressive skills, complete
and exhaustice ability of comprehension and analysis of concepts, topics
and/or arguments of ancient philosophy;
30: excellent; complete and adequate knowledge, excellent analysis
skills, correct and well articulated expression;
27-29: very good; more than satisfactory knowledge, adequate analysis
skills and essentially correct and articulate expression;
24-26: good; good but not complete knowledge, satisfactory analysis
skills and not always correct expression;
21-23: discrete; discrete albeit superficial knowledge, occasionally
unsatisfactory analysis skills and inappropriate expression;
18-21: sufficient; acceptable but very superficial knowledge,
unsatisfactory analysis skills, often inappropriate expression;
0-18: insufficient; the preparation has important gaps in terms of content,
lack of clarity in exposition, inability to understand and analyze concepts,
topics and/or arguments of ancient philosophy.

Other information

Two or three dates are scheduled for every session of exam, as indicated
in the official calendar.