PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Recommended attendance of the "Introduction to Philosophy" Precourse. For a first approach to the style of philosophical argumentation, we also recommend viewing the "Introduction to Philosophy" videos available online at this address: https://www.uninsubria.it/la-didattica/orientamento/preparati-allunivers....
The verification of learning will consist of oral test only, with evaluation in thirtieths.
The outcome of the verification will be considered positive upon the achievement of an assessment of 18/30.
Three to five questions designed to ascertain the achievement of the training objectives and expected learning outcomes will be asked during the interview, with strict reference to the texts provided, including by reading and commenting on passages chosen by the teacher.
The final grade will also take into account any materials developed and presented by students during the hours of laboratory/seminar activities. 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%).
The course aims to solicit an informed and contextual approach to the different forms of narration of collective human events and their historical reworking. The very concept of "history" will be problematized so as to understand on what philosophical basis rests the current debate regarding the meaning of historical knowledge.
Expected learning outcomes include:
- basic skills in the use of philosophical vocabulary and argumentation;
- ability to interpret and problematize the notions of "narrative," "testimony," "document," "memory," "progress," and "temporality" implicit in current practices of historical knowledge;
- ability to identify the philosophical assumptions implicitly or explicitly operating in the conception of history that has flourished in the contemporary age;
- critical ability to read the present, aware of the cultural transformations that redefine the meaning of human action and knowledge in different historical epochs.
The teaching activities will consist of three interconnected levels.
1) GENERAL PART (about 20 hours). An overview of the birth and developments of the notion of "history" in the Western philosophical tradition, from its Greek origins to the present day, will be provided. Within this horizon, the assumptions that, between the 18th and 19th centuries, led to the emergence of the concept of "universal history" and the related concept of "historical progress" will be examined. The reasons why, during the 20th century, both of these concepts came into crisis will then be analyzed.
2) MONOGRAPHIC PART (approx. 36 hours). The central part of the course will be devoted to the theme of «Time and Memory in the construction of historical knowledge». It will first examine the critique of historicism elaborated by Friedrich Nietzsche (Sull’utilità e il danno della storia per la vita). A critical path will then be elaborated on the concepts of "time," "memory," and "knowledge," with particular reference to Walter Benjamin's (1892-1940) reflection around new possible practices of memory for the construction of unprecedented forms of cognitive action and historical knowledge.
3) LABORATORIES/SEMINARS (12 hours). A number of interdisciplinary seminars are planned in "crossover" mode (i.e. with the presence of other faculty members of the Degree Course or external guests), in which some topics covered in class will be explored in depth through different keys of interpretation. In the workshop hours, students will present papers in the classroom based on written materials prepared individually or in groups.
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 12 hours of interdisciplinary workshop/seminar activities (with crossover) will be added, encouraging the active participation of students.
Students will also be able to present papers in the classroom regarding the topics covered, based on short writings prepared individually or in groups, which will be considered part of the results to be submitted for learning verification.
The lecturer receives students by appointment, to be arranged by emailing florinda.cambria@uninsubria.it.