Theoretical Philosophy II (2007/2008)

Learning outcomes

The course proposes to lead to a direct confrontation with various pages belonging to classical texts of philosophical thought and, on the basis of this confrontation, stimulate and develop critical reflection and personal insight abilities.

The course will provide the opportunity for active debate and confrontation open to all participants, starting from a topic: «Person and act». The term person has been at the centre of philosophical and juridical debates for a long time (bioethical issues, for example), but what does “person” actually mean? The Latin meaning is commonly preferred (in Cicero and Seneca it means mask, theatrical role) as also the tradition that considers it, from Roman law onwards, as the fundamental performative device capable of distinguishing between who has rights and who does not. An alternative meaning may be identified from Augustine to Schelling and to Scheler; in the latter, the person becomes the expression of an individuality able to overturn the logics of control and to open towards others. The person exists only in the self-execution of his acts and this self-execution does not produce a dualistic separation of what is of value and what is not (the person is such to the extent in which he represents the capability not of attributing, but of recognizing the value of what is outside his own being), but an increase of the opening itself.


Texts for the exam

M. Scheler, Il Formalismo, Milano 1996 (il cap. Persona ed atto pp. 472-485)
M. Scheler, La posizione dell’uomo nel cosmo, FrancoAngeli Milano 2004.
G. Cusinato (a cura di), Scheler. Esistenza della persona e radicalizzazione della fenomenologia, Milano 2007 (3 contributions chosen by the student)

The exam will consist in an oral examination or written paper. The oral exam will begin with a critical discussion of two themes chosen by the student, among those addressed throughout the course, and will then extend to the rest of the programme. The oral exam may be replaced by a written paper if previously, during the lessons, the student presents a paper on the chosen subject matter. Given the nature of the course, attendance is recommended, students who do not attend are invited to contact the lecturer before preparing the exam.