PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

FS3146

Academic Year of enrolment:

2017

Year of supply:

2019/2020

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES

Disciplinary Sector:

MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Language:

Italian

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

DI BIASE Giuliana

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

162

Prerequisites:

A basic knowledge of philosophical vocabulary, such as that which may be obtained from secondary school philosophy manuals, is assumed as a prerequisite.

Objectives

The teaching contributes to achieving the learning objectives of the degree course, in the sense illustrated below:

-Knowledge and ability of comprehension
The teaching aims at favouring the knowledge of the object and vocabulary of philosophical anthropology, taking into account the relationship of the discipline with various branches of applied anthropology (cultural, medical psychological, etc.) and its specific contribution to anthropology in a broad sense;

-Autonomy of Judgment
The teaching aims at encouraging the ability to judge autonomously when searching for and analysing meanings, or when collecting and organizing complex cultural data pertaining to wider frameworks;

-Communication skills
The teaching aims at developing individual communication skills, both written and oral, through the exposition of the results of individual study and research; the use of computer tools will be encouraged.

Contents

The course aims at exploring the contents and scope of philosophical anthropology in the contemporary world; in particular, it focuses on the concept of race and the role it played, and continues to play, in orienting scientific discourse and practice. This concept has never been abandoned altogether, despite the many attempts made by some members of the scientific community to modify or eliminate it as a residuum of the past; it depends on postulates whose content exceeds that of the history of sciences, involving fundamental ethical and political problems. The course aims at highlighting these aspects, focusing on the various but constant intermingling of ideological prejudices and scientific theories, science practicing and world visions underpinning the concept of race.

Extended Syllabus

The programme is divided into three modules:
Module 1 (3cfu): The first part of the course will focus on the origins, object and scope of philosophical anthropology in the context of the various branches of applied anthropology; the thought and work of the founders of the discipline, Max Scheler, Helmuth Plessner and Arnold Gehlen, will be considered in detail.

Module 2 (3cfu): The second part of the course will examine the origins of the concept of race in the seventeenth century and its history.

Module 3 (3 cfu): the last part of the course will focus on the moral and political implications of the concept of race, as well as on its persistence in contemporary scientific discourse and practice.

Recommended Bibliography

B. Mondin, "Philosophical Anthropology. Man: an Impossible Project?", Rome: Urbaniana University Press, 1991.

E. Voegelin, "The History of the race idea.From Ray to Carus", Louisiana State University Press 1998.

C. Lévi Strauss, "Race and History", Unesco, Paris 1952.

Further reading:

M. Scheler, "The Human Place in the Cosmos", Northwestern University Press 2009 (or any other edition);

A. Gehlen, "Man. His nature and Place in the World", Columbia University Press 1988 (or any other edition);

J. de Mul, "Plessner's Philosophical Anthropology. Perspectives and Projects", Amsterdam University Press 2014.

N. Sesardic, "Race: a social destruction of a biological concept", Biology and Philosophy (2010), pp. 143–162

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Frontal lessons, lectures and talks by experts of the area, teamwork.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The final assessment consists of an oral exam on the entire syllabus. The aim is to assess students’ skills and in particular, an understanding of the issues discussed during the course, an appropriate knowledge of the bibliography in the course programme, a correct command of the specific language as well as critical and methodological abilities will be evaluated. The grading scale goes from 1 to 30 with honours (cum laude): 1-17 fail, 18-21 sufficient, 22-24 fair, 25-27 good, 28-29 very good, 30-30 with honours (cum laude) excellent. An individual or group project, focusing on the content of the course programme, will be taken in consideration when attributing the final mark.

Contacts/More Information

The course programme is the same for students not attending the course, with the addition of one of the texts recommended as further reading (or part of a text, if it exceeds 100 pp).
Office hours: Tuesday, 11-12; Tutorial hours (for English speaking students),12-13.
Email: giulianadibiase@unich.it
An email appointment is required.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree