Historical-philosophical skills, educational processes and democracy in a society in transition

The general objective of the course, in connection with the educational objectives of the L19 degree course, is to illustrate the connection between the history of philosophy, philosophical reflection and educational processes and therefore to highlight the potential of philosophical skills in the formation of the professional figure of the educator.

Philosophy and education have been connected since the origins of Western thought in the concept and practice of Greek paideia, but the need for an integral education that accompanies the self-realization of the human being remains alive and present until the twentieth century both in the philosophical and pedagogical fields; and this despite the evolution of industrial and post-industrial society having progressively curved the dynamics of training towards increasingly specialized and sectoral approaches, further complicated by the digital revolution in which we are immersed. Precisely through education understood as a complex of paths that also goes beyond the strictly scholastic sphere, it is still possible to achieve that "mass intellectual progress" (Gramsci) that allows each individual to become aware of their immersion in a cultural context and in a specific vision of the world; so as to become an active subject and undertake a path of overcoming their own condition of subordination, with a view to building a modern democracy and consolidating its inclusive practices. We cannot hide, however, that just as the emergence of the figure of the educator is linked to the last stretch of the post-war expansion cycle and to the intellectual ferment that accompanied the construction of modern democracies (and that more generally entrusted a role of vanguard to the human sciences), the current crisis of democracy - a crisis of which the course will try to fathom the profound reasons in the economic, political and cultural transformations from the 1980s to the present day - calls into question the figure and the tasks of educators, forcing them to reflect on their role in a neoliberal society in which humanism itself shows clear signs of wear.

The course therefore has the following specific educational objectives:

- to introduce the main authors and fundamental concepts of the history of philosophy, with particular attention to the political and social implications of these concepts (universal/particular; social classes; modern/antimodern/postmodern; right/left, recognition/discrimination; democracy/authoritarianism, etc. etc.) and their implications in the educational field;

- to extract from these authors and concepts the fundamental philosophical skills that can help educational work;

- to help students understand the complexity of the historical process that from the French Revolution to the second half of the twentieth century led to democratic institutional forms in the West and their unfinished expansion;

- to help them understand the profound reasons - material and cultural - of the current crisis of modern democracy and the conflicts underway in the world;

- help them to orient themselves in the political-cultural context in which the educational processes of the contemporary world take place starting from the theoretical elements learned and their application to today's communicative contexts (TV, newspapers, social networks).

The course consists of three modules, which will be carried out in an intertwined manner.

1. General part

1.1. Plato, Aristotle; 1.2. Descartes, Spinoza, Hume; 1.3. Kant; 1.4. Hegel; 1.5. Marx and Marxism, Frankfurt School; 1.6. Positivism, Nietzsche; 1.7. Hermeneutics, Existentialism, Nihilism; 1.8. Ecology, Globalization; 1.9. Philosophy of education; 1.10. History.

2. History of philosophy and philosophical skills

2.1. Abstract and concrete; 2.2. Philosophy as a question about meaning; 2.3. Philosophy as critical thinking; 2.4. Philosophy as understanding of totality; 2.5. Philosophy as conflict management; 2.6. Philosophy and educational processes; 2.7. From the Greek Paideia to the formation of neoliberal man; 2.8. Gramsci and Gentile: from the culture of the elites to culture as revolution and modern democracy.

3. The formation of modern democracy, its historical-political meaning and its crisis.

3.1. What is a democracy?; 3.2. Forms of democracy in history; 3.3. Democracy and public school; 3.4. Democracy and national health system; 3.5. Democracy and pension system; 3.6. The Welfare State: its genesis and its social function; 3.4. Democracy and modern democracy; 3.5. Modern democracy as rebalancing and redistribution of wealth, power, recognition; 3.6. Social stratification: castes and classes; 3.7. Social classes: cooperation and conflict; 3.8. Democracy as interest of the subaltern classes. 3.9. The struggle of the subaltern classes for democracy: the unification of the working classes. 3.10. The crisis of modern democracy. 3.11. Economic transformations and the crisis of democracy: post-Fordism; 3.12. Political transformations and the crisis of democracy: Bonapartization, personalization, spectacularization and concentration of power; 3.13. Cultural transformations and the crisis of democracy: postmodernism. 3.14. Rebuilding modern democracy in new forms.

None.

Knowledge and understanding:
Students must acquire a basic knowledge of philosophy in a historical perspective, demonstrating mastery of concepts, problems, theoretical trends (even the most recent ones) with particular attention to the implications in the educational, social and political fields, in order to exercise a conscious and autonomous approach to the problems that form the context of educational processes. The following specific learning outcomes are therefore required:
- Knowledge of the authors and fundamental themes of the History of Philosophy presented in class in the general part and studied in the textbooks and understanding of the fundamental concepts addressed (see Educational objectives);
- Knowledge of the cultural, historical-philosophical and socio-political dynamics presented in class in the monographic part and studied in the textbooks and understanding of the processes that accompanied them;
- Knowledge of the fundamental philosophical skills.

Applied knowledge and understanding:
The historical-philosophical skills acquired must be applied not only in the transmission of specific sectoral knowledge but for an adequate understanding of educational situations, of the problems that innervate them and of the social context from which they arise, as well as in the definition of conceptual constructs and methodological procedures suitable for putting into practice the philosophical skills acquired.
- Ability to orient oneself in the contemporary cultural debate and to understand the elements that today can strengthen the democratic diffusion of philosophical knowledge and the use of this knowledge in order to consolidate democracy.

Autonomy of judgment (making judgments):
- Ability to take a stand autonomously and critically, on the basis of the philosophical skills acquired, with respect to the main issues of the cultural debate and contemporary historical-political conflicts (e.g.: conflict of freedoms; centralization and spectacularization of power; migrations; "conflicts of civilizations"; climate crisis, etc. etc.)

Communication skills:
- Ability to communicate the themes of the history of philosophy and the problems addressed in class and in textbooks in forms appropriate to a basic university study; ability to use them and pour them into educational work through the argumentative structures absorbed through philosophical skills.

Learning ability
- On the basis of the knowledge acquired through the course and the related philosophical skills, the student must be able to independently construct paths of critical reflection and in-depth study and to understand which readings and experiences can help him in an autonomous path of personal and professional growth and understanding of reality.

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

Support seminar (10 hours).

A formative (self)assessment test will be held online in the second half of the semester, useful for students to become aware of the level of understanding of the programs covered and evaluate the level of their preparation and the effectiveness of the study method of the subject in view of the exam.

Teaching

Lectures and seminar. Debate.

Innovative teaching methods

Debate.

Attendance

At the beginning of the course, a check of the students' initial preparation regarding the main historical-philosophical problems (VPSFP) will be carried out. On this basis, students will be able to attend an intensive online seminar to strengthen their skills (10 hours).

Course books

- F. Coniglione, M. Lenoci, G. Mari, G. Polizzi: Manuale di base di storia della filosofia. Autori, indirizzi, problemi, Firenze University Press, Firenze 2009.
Di questo libro andranno studiate le parti su: Platone (5-14: 10), Aristotele (21-33: 13), Cartesio (65-72: 8), Spinoza (77-83: 5), Hume (111-120: 10), Kant (123-133: 11), Hegel (137-144: 8), Nietzsche (149-156: 8), Ecologia (231-234: 4), Ermeneutica (169-172: 4), Esistenzialismo (173-177: 5), Marxismo (190-193: 4), Nichilismo (193-196: 3), Positivismo (197-204: 8), Scuola di Francoforte (205-208: 3), Filosofia dell’educazione (240-243: 4), Globalizzazione (245-248: 4), Storia (264-267: 4): tot. pagine 116. Le parti antologiche relative a ciascun autore andranno lette. Nonostante non siano oggetto d'esame,è consigliato leggere anche le rimanenti parti del manuale.

- Stefano G. Azzarà: Democrazia cercasi, disponibile in pdf sulla piattaforma Blended, pp. 45-75, 96-104, 118-157.

Assessment

Oral interview. The exam is intended to ascertain the student's ability to understand the course's educational objectives and the knowledge actually acquired (whether approximate, imprecise, precise or systematic) in relation to the concepts presented in the general section on the history of philosophy, in the methodological section on the relationship between philosophy and educational processes, in the monographic section on the issues of the genesis and crisis of modern democracy; the exam also aims to ascertain the ability to present such knowledge and to reflect autonomously and critically on it in a relevant and reasoned manner and with a specific language: it will therefore be an oral exam.

Students who have registered the disability certification or the DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Study Office may request to use concept maps (by key words) during the exam. To this end, it is necessary to send the maps two weeks before the exam session to the course teacher, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the University guidelines and may request their modification.

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

Non-attending students must study the same program as attending students and the same textbooks, using in particular the materials available on the Blended Learning platform and coordinating with the teacher and his/her collaborators.

Attendance

None.

Course books

As for the attending students. As for attending students. To allow non-attending students to compensate for what is done during lessons with independent study, we also recommend using all the materials that will be included in the blended platform (slides, exercises, supplementary material), which are particularly useful for full understanding of the program contents.

- F. Coniglione, M. Lenoci, G. Mari, G. Polizzi: Manuale di base di storia della filosofia. Autori, indirizzi, problemi, Firenze University Press, Firenze 2009.
Di questo libro andranno studiate le parti su: Platone (5-14: 10), Aristotele (21-33: 13), Cartesio (65-72: 8), Spinoza (77-83: 5), Hume (111-120: 10), Kant (123-133: 11), Hegel (137-144: 8), Nietzsche (149-156: 8), Ecologia (231-234: 4), Ermeneutica (169-172: 4), Esistenzialismo (173-177: 5), Marxismo (190-193: 4), Nichilismo (193-196: 3), Positivismo (197-204: 8), Scuola di Francoforte (205-208: 3), Filosofia dell’educazione (240-243: 4), Globalizzazione (245-248: 4), Storia (264-267: 4): tot. pagine 116. Le parti antologiche relative a ciascun autore andranno lette. Nonostante non siano oggetto d'esame,è consigliato leggere anche le rimanenti parti del manuale.

- Stefano G. Azzarà: Democrazia cercasi, disponibile in pdf sulla piattaforma Blended, pp. 45-75, 96-104, 118-157.

Assessment

As for attending students.

Oral interview. The exam is intended to ascertain the student's ability to understand the course's educational objectives and the knowledge actually acquired (whether approximate, imprecise, precise or systematic) in relation to the concepts presented in the general section on the history of philosophy, in the methodological section on the relationship between philosophy and educational processes, in the monographic section on the issues of the genesis and crisis of modern democracy; the exam is also intended to ascertain the ability to present such knowledge and to reflect autonomously and critically on it in a relevant and reasoned manner and with a specific language: it will therefore be an oral exam.

Students who have registered the disability certification or the DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Education Office can ask to use concept maps (by key words) during the exam. To this end, it is necessary to send the maps two weeks before the exam session to the course teacher, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the University guidelines and may request their modification.

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.

Attending lessons and studying notes does not exempt students from studying the texts, whose reading and understanding will be carefully verified during the exam.