HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY II

The course is counted among the formative activities of History of Philosophy of the degree in Philosophy. As such the course aims to provide a critical knowledge of the main philosophical topic and questions in their historical development and in their connections with other disciplines and fileds of research (psichology, human sciences, educational science, art). Within this framework, the course aims to provide 1) a deep knowledge of the main authors, works and philosophical oriantations of ancient though; 2) the capacity of contextualising, analysing and critically interpreting sources of different kinds (witnesses, fragments, dialogues and treatises, letters and sentences); 3) the lexical and conceptual tools necessary to the study of the history of ancient and medieval and to the acquisition of good communative skills .
More in particular, the course will focus on the study of the ancient theory of the soul with a specific concern on Aristotle's psychology and its ethical relevance.

At the end of the course students are expected :
1) to know and understand :
- the main questions concerning Aristotle's philosophy, in particular natural philosophy, psychology and Ethics.
- the terminology appropriate to this field of study
2) to apply their knowledge to the analysis of ancient texts; to discuss in a pertinent and argumentative way philosophical and exegetical questions;
3) to present in written and oral form the acquired contents of the course.

Students are expected to have attended History of Ancient Philosophy I

The course will be diveded into three parts. The first will be devoted to a general Introduction to Aristotle's philosophy of nature and psychology. The second will be dedicated to the analysis of some selected parts of Aristotle's De Anima. In the last part of the course the relevance of Aristotle's psychology for its Ethics and in particular for his theory of happiness and virtue will be explained.

G. Movia (a cura di), Aristotele, De Anima, Bompiani.
C. Natali (a cura di), Aristotele, Etica Nicomachea, Laterza.
E. Berti, Guida ad Aristotele, Laterza, capp. II e III.
C. Natali, Aristotele, Carocci, capp. 3 e 5.
C. Natali, Il metodo e il trattato. Saggio sull'Etica Nicomachea, Edizioni di Storia e letteratura, capp.2, 3, 5
M. Vegetti, F. Ademollo, Incontro con Aristotele. Quindici lezioni, Einaudi, capp. 8, 10, 11.
G. Mingucci, La fisiologia del pensiero in Aristotele, il Mulino.

The exam will verify the knowledge of Aristotle's Philosophy, of his physics, his psychology and his Ethics; the capacity of discussing and arguing the topics dealt with during the course, of mastering the philosophical terminology; of contextualizing, analyzing and commenting the texts that have been read during the course. A presentation or an essay concerning one of the questions dealt with during the lectures can contribute to the final result of the exam.

Lectures;
Reading, commentary and discussion of some selected parts of Aristotle's De Anima and Nicomachean Ethics.
Conferences;
Students will have the possibility to give short presentations and write essays.

Italian

oral