Philosophy

This course examines Existentialism and Phenomenology in terms of their unique and considerable contributions to the Western, and particularly French, aesthetic tradition. Students examine views on art by some of the best-known modern theorists to gain understanding of the philosophical issues motivating French aesthetic thought at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Centuries. The course then covers a shift from a broadly existentialist view of literature to one influenced by the growing structuralist movement and reviews philosophical investigations of the arts in relation to theories of perception.  

This course is part of the laurea magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor.

At the end of the course, students have acquired the theoretical and practical conceptual framework of the field of literature and philosophy studies, gaining a deep understanding of how philosophy and literature are two ways of reflection and expression of issues in common that can illuminate each other. At the end of the course, students are expected to possess: (1) knowledge of key theories and texts for the study of the interdisciplinary field of literature and philosophy, including philosophical and aesthetic texts on the study of literature, rhetorical and literary approaches to philosophical texts and philosophical theories of literary criticism, as well as familiarity with exemplary historical connections with a particular focus on the German context; (2) the ability to analyze convergences and differences in the argumentative, representative, and performative modes of the two disciplinary approaches with a particular focus on the different uses and registers of language in one and the other disciplinary context, as well as the development of critical awareness in relation to both textual traditions and their ways of addressing issues of ethical, social, and political significance; (3) differentiated and convincing presentation and argumentation skills that produce an original point of view in the debate, starting from a critical analysis of both philosophical and literary texts.

This course follows the traces of melancholy as a phenomenon connected to the longing for reference in both texts in philosophy of language and literature. During the course, students apprehend an important part of Western literary and philosophical reflection on questions regarding the nexus between language and (mostly) existential and (to a lesser extent) political questions. Students read and collectively interpret canonical and less canonical texts, and train their presentation and discussion skills.

The course traces the tradition of the linguistic turn back to one of its potential roots or affine forerunners, i.e., Early German Romanticism, to see how similar constellations were discussed and expressed in Modernism, and finally engages with more openly postmodern texts. It ends on more optimistic tones (with Judith Butler) that stress the spaces of agency that open up when not being determined by a fixed reference scheme. Readings include: Derrida’s Grammatology; Friedrich Schlegel’s programmatic, theoretic texts; Hegel’s critiques; the novel Nightwatches of Bonaventura; Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols; Hofmannsthal’s programmatic texts for the Sprachkrise; Borges’ “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”; Ellis’ American Psycho; Hermann’s text “Red Corals”; and end with Butler.

The course discusses big picture questions about the purpose and defensibility of law—for example, scrutinizing the obligation to obey the law, the justification of punishment, and the circumstances in which we can engage in civil disobedience. The course examine a variety of philosophically interesting legal questions. An indicative list includes: When should a court consider something proven? How should the law use algorithms? Should we defer to juries or professional judges? Does it make sense to treat a corporation as morally responsible? Throughout the course, students explore the connection between legal philosophy and other areas of philosophy—especially moral philosophy, political philosophy, and epistemology.  

The course offers critical reflection on the design and evaluation of public policies from the perspective of moral and political philosophy. To this end, students learn a range of theories and concepts that are used in policy evaluation. They evaluate them by focusing on specific policy proposals. 

This course examines, from a philosophical perspective, what is known about the minds of other animals - and what this means for the ethics of how people treat them.

This course is an introductory survey of the art and nature of philosophy, i.e., the ability and activity of articulating one’s views about a philosophical problem and defending them with good arguments. The course examines problems representative of and fundamental to both Western and Asian philosophical traditions and provides perspectives related to current philosophical issues. The main readings are selected from classics in both traditions.   

The course consists of an integrated historical and a philosophical part. In the historical part, the period ca. 1900 until the present and concentrate on the development of biology as a separate scientific discipline, characterized by research programs that took shape over time is covered. In this section the following topics are reviewed Kant’s Critic of Judgment and the emergence of the teleological understanding of living beings; The Cuvier-Geoffroy debate and its influence in the development of Darwin’s theory of evolution; Darwin's theory of evolution; The rise of experimentalism in the nineteenth-century biology; The eclipse of Darwinism and discussion of neo-Lamarckism in early twentieth century; The emergence of the synthetic theory of evolution; The foundations of genetics and molecular biology; and The postgenomic turn in 21th century. The historical part ties in with several of the themes covered in the philosophical part. Some of the philosophical debates discussed in the class are Philosophy of biology and its relation to biology; The central concepts of Darwin’s theory of evolution; Adaptationist debate; Species, genes, race, classification, and taxonomies; Causality and explanation in biology; and Experimental biology and epistemic objects. The course includes lectures and tutorials. Participants are expected to have carefully read the required material and have completed the weekly assignment in advance of the meeting. The weekly assignment is a reading report or a critical question depending on the week. Entrance requirements included enrollment in a degree programme of the Faculty of Science.

This course provides an introduction to epistemology and metaphysics. Topics to be discussed include the nature of knowledge, scepticism, the existence of God, whether theism is rational, why the universe exists, free will, personal identity, and the metaphysics of race.

This course introduces and explains a range of concepts from set theory, philosophy of language and metaphysics, probability theory, and decision theory. These include the notions of set, cardinality, infinity, analyticity, necessity, possible worlds, reference, scope, probability, conditionals, utility, decision rules, dominance, backward induction. The emphasis is on basic ideas rather than on technical elaboration. The concepts are sketched, illustrated by examples, and made familiar via exercises. 

This course explores the causes of the paradigm shift in the relations between human and non-human beings. It focuses on moral and political theories and on their implementation in the law of the European Union and European member states. Legislation and case law are critically assessed in light of the relevant international rules. Particular attention is paid to the protection of endangered species; the legal regulation of the breeding and slaughter for consumption of non-human beings; the abusive practices of bio-medical research, cosmetic testing, sports and entertainment; the treatment of pets; and the deliberate extinction of undesirable non-human beings. The course discusses the contribution of the activist movements to the prohibition of cruel traditions (foie gras, corrida, fur industry, cosmetics). It focuses on the recent approaches towards a “global animal law” as a matter of global justice and on the project “1 HEALTH”. Lastly, the course offers an overview of the relations between human and non-human beings in art history, of the animals’ symbolism, and of the transition “from aesthetics to ethics."