PHILOSOPHY OF THE PRESENT

Degree course: 
Corso di First cycle degree in STORIA E STORIE DEL MONDO CONTEMPORANEO
Academic year when starting the degree: 
2021/2022
Year: 
2
Academic year in which the course will be held: 
2022/2023
Course type: 
Compulsory subjects, characteristic of the class
Seat of the course: 
Varese - Università degli Studi dell'Insubria
Credits: 
8
Period: 
First Semester
Standard lectures hours: 
72
Detail of lecture’s hours: 
Lesson (56 hours), Seminar (16 hours)
Requirements: 

There are no prerequisites.

The verification of learning will take place in oral form and will consist of an interview focusing on the reference texts provided. The evaluation will be expressed in thirtieths (sufficiency: 18/30).
Three to five questions designed to ascertain the attainment of the training objectives and expected learning outcomes will be asked during the interview, with strict reference to the provided texts, including by reading and commenting on passages of the teacher's choice.
The final grade will also take into account the materials developed and presented by students during lecture and seminar activity hours. Grading will be based on the following criteria: accuracy of answers (60%), linguistic and argumentative mastery (30%), ability to independently formulate an adequately reasoned critical judgment (10%).

Assessment: 
Voto Finale

Building on the fundamental skills and knowledge acquired in the "Philosophy of History" course (Year I), the Philosophy of the Present course first and foremost proposes a concrete approach to the practice of philosophy, its way of problematizing and constructing knowledge. Indeed, the "present" to which the course refers in philosophical terms is not to be understood as mere "actuality," but as the locus of firsthand lived reality: a "present" always "in progress," never totally translatable into the object of universal knowledge and the order of linear time. Within this framework, the course intends to shed light on some of the main research trajectories in contemporary philosophy, showing the profound cogency that questions posed from a purely theoretical perspective also reveal on the ethical, gnoseological and epistemological, social and political levels.

Among the expected learning outcomes are:
- refinement of skills in the use of philosophical vocabulary and argumentation;
- ability to interpret and problematize the notions of "lived reality" and "known reality," "existence" and "knowledge."
- ability to grasp the ethical, social and political implications of philosophical reflection around the criteria of truth and historicity of knowledge;
- critical ability to read the present, aware of cultural transformations that redefine the meaning of human action and knowledge in different historical epochs.

Teaching activities will be on three interconnected levels.
1) GENERAL PART (approx. 20 hours). The first part of the course will present an overview of the orientations of the "philosophy of existence" with particular reference to the thought of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and his interlocution with the intellectuals, especially French, of his time.
2) MONOGRAPHIC PART (approx. 36 hours). The central part of the course will be devoted to the theme Existence and Knowledge. In light of Sartre's reflection, it will address the problematic relationship between "lived life" and "known life," that is, between the singularity of subjective experiences on the one hand and, on the other, the universality and neutrality of objective knowledge. This relationship lies at the heart of historical knowledge and, more generally, of any knowledge that aspires to be scientifically grounded. It will also be addressed with direct references to Sartre's biographical story, as well as the positions he took with respect to the political debate of his time.
3) SEMINAR (16 hours). The Seminar, led by Prof. Fabio Minazzi, will focus on developments in epistemological reflection in comparison with French existentialism. In particular, the notion of "foreigner" elaborated by Albert Camus (1913-1960) and the concept of "epistemological obstacle" elaborated by Gaston Bachelard will be analyzed. Special attention will be paid to the critical analysis of reference texts, with the aim of grasping the essential lines of thought of the language adopted by the Authors. The reference texts for the seminar will be as follows: - Albert Camus, The Stranger, Bompiani, Milan 2015 (or any other edition), unabridged reading
- Gaston Bachelard, The Formation of the Scientific Spirit. Contribution to a psychoanalysis of objective knowledge, Italian edition edited by Enrico Castelli Gattinara, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milan 1995, chapters 1,2 and 3 only).

Students in the course will also be offered the opportunity to participate, in the second semester, in a study trip to CERN in Geneva, in collaboration with the teachings of Philosophies of Science and Knowledge, History of Science and Technologies of the Present (expected period: April 2023), and in an educational trip to Valveddasca, in collaboration with the teachings of Philosophies of Science and Knowledge, Geographies, Cultures and Territory (expected period: April-May 2023).

Convenzionale

The educational objectives of the course will be achieved through the mode of face-to-face lectures (for a total of 56 hours), to which will be added 16 hours of seminar (by Prof. Fabio Minazzi).
During the course, students will also be able to present papers in the classroom regarding the topics covered, on the basis of short writings prepared individually or in groups, which will be considered an integral part of the results to be submitted for learning verification. In particular, the Seminar will promote the active participation of students through analytical and collective discussion of reference texts.

The lecturer receives students by appointment, to be arranged by emailing florinda.cambria@uninsubria.it.