General Objective: the course is aimed at providing the basic tools for  knowing and understanding themes and problems investigated by philosophical and scientific thought, knowing how to evaluate the rich complexity and the current validity for contemporary Man; it also aims to guide the student towards an autonomous development of the ability to read, to understand, and to analyze a classical text.

 Specific objectives:

1. to know how to understand the basic vocabulary of the discipline;

2. to know how to read and understand an ancient philosophical text;

3. to know how to historically contextualize the text in question;

4. know how to interpret and analyze the text in question, identifying the underlying theories and arguments used by the author to support them;

5. to know how to compare the text in question with other related texts, identifying similarities and differences in theories and topics;

6. to be able to recognize any incongruity and inconsistency in the argumentative flow and in the ideas expressed by the author;

7. to be able to reason in a transdisciplinary manner, identifying ways of applying the contents learned, even in  didactic-educational contexts, according to age groups.

8. to know how to formulate an autonomous opinion on the theories that emerged from the analysis of the text and whether they have a significance or not in today’s human world.

The course, based on Plato's thought, explores and analyzes an classical text in the history of philosophy of science: Plato's Timaeus.

Lectures:

1. Introduction to Greek philosophical thought (4 hours).

2. The revolutionary passage from oral culture to written culture in classical Greece (2 hours).

3. Introduction to Plato (4 hours).

4. Carachters of Plato's philosophy (2 hours).

5. The passage from mythos to logos (2 hours).

6. Philosophy as Dialectic (2 hours).

7. The prologue of the Timaeus (6 hours).

8. First Part of Timaeus's speech: the cosmic intelligence and its operations (6 hours).

9. Second Part of Timaeus's speech: the material principle from which the cosmos originates (6 hours).

10. Third Part of Timaeus's speech: the nature of Man (6 hours).

Ten hours will be taught in English.

A good knowledge of the English language.

1. Knowledge and the ability to comprehend: to have acquired the content foreseen by the program, understanding the fundamental lines and the particular aspects, even in a comparative perspective.

2. Application of knowledge and the ability to understand: know how to apply the concepts, ideas, theories and methodologies learned, even in contexts other than the original one; to be able to also extend across a transdisciplinary level.

3. Autonomy of judgments: reflecting and thinking about the various contents learned, developing a critical, autonomous, and flexible thought; being “open-minded”: open to the complexity of what is real, with an exploratory and investigative attitude; being able to question the theories of others and also one’s own.

4. Communicative skills: to demonstrate that we have acquired a mastery of the basic vocabulary of discipline and to know how to use it within a speech that is internally coherent and logically structured, according to a correct sequence of topics; the argumentative capacity must be in the use of analysis and synthesis, of inductive and deductive processes, as well as in the application of rhetorical techniques, up to the re-modulation of the subject according to the supposed interlocutor.

5. Learning skills: knowing how to use complementary resources available in addition to study texts – the materials entered by the lecturer in the Moodle platform, but also search engines on the web, bibliographic tools, etc. – to create a personal in-depth course.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Seminars.

Teaching

Traditional lectures; however, students will be engaged as often as possible.

Attendance

It's not compulsory.

Course books

1. Platone, Timeo, a cura di Giovanni Reale, Bompiani, Milano 2016;

2. Giovanni Reale, Invito a Platone, La Scuola, Brescia 2016;

3. Giovanni Reale, Platone. Alla ricerca della sapienza segreta, La nave di Teseo, Milano 2019;

4. Anthony A. Long, La mente, l'anima, il corpo. Modelli greci, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, Torino 2016.

Assessment

Oral exam.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Material published on the e-platform Moodle: blended.uniurb.it

Attendance

It's not compulsory.

Course books

1. Platone, Timeo, a cura di Giovanni Reale, Bompiani, Milano 2016;

2. Giovanni Reale, Invito a Platone, La Scuola, Brescia 2016;

3. Giovanni Reale, Platone. Alla ricerca della sapienza segreta, La nave di Teseo, Milano 2019;

4. Anthony A. Long, La mente, l'anima, il corpo. Modelli greci, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, Torino 2016.

.

Assessment

Oral exam.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

For the oral exam students are free to choose their preferred language: Italian, English or French.