PHILOSOPHY

The course aims to introduce students to the foundational concepts and key debates concerning the problem of knowledge in Western philosophy, from the first explorations of sensation and perception to contemporary discussions on phenomenology and the digital age. Through the analysis of major philosophers—including Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Hegel, and Husserl—students will explore the evolution of the concepts of knowledge, truth, and reality. The course will also integrate reflections on artistic production as a mode of knowing and expressing reality, connecting philosophical concepts to aesthetic and technological transformations.
The course provides a historical and conceptual framework for understanding how philosophical thinking on knowledge has shaped and been shaped by cultural, artistic, and technological transformations. It also aims to stimulate critical reflection on the nature of human understanding, the relationship between perception and reality, and the impact of digital technologies on our conceptions of knowledge and truth.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a solid understanding of the main philosophical approaches to the problem of knowledge, from Plato to phenomenology.
2. Analyze key philosophical texts, identifying central arguments and concepts related to perception, understanding, and the nature of truth.
3. Discuss and critically evaluate different philosophical positions on the nature of knowledge, reality, and human understanding.
4. Connect philosophical ideas to contemporary issues in art and digital technologies, understanding their influence on modern thought.
5. Develop critical thinking and argumentation skills through written and oral discussions of philosophical problems.

No specific prerequisites are required. A general interest in philosophy and critical thinking is recommended.

First Module – The Origins of Knowledge: Sensation and Perception
• Introduction to the problem of knowledge.
• Plato: The Allegory of the Cave and the Theory of Ideas:
◦ Sensation as illusion and the role of reason in accessing true knowledge.
◦ The distinction between opinion (doxa) and knowledge (episteme).
• Aristotle: Sense Perception and the Active Intellect.
◦ The role of the senses in acquiring knowledge.
◦ The distinction between potentiality and actuality in perception.


Second Module – Rationalism and Empiricism: Descartes, Locke, and Hume
• Descartes: The Method of Doubt and the Cogito:
◦ The quest for certainty and the foundation of knowledge.
◦ Mind-body dualism and the role of innate ideas.
• Locke: The Empiricist Theory of Knowledge:
◦ The mind as a tabula rasa and the formation of ideas through experience.
◦ The distinction between primary and secondary qualities.
• Hume: Skepticism and the Limits of Human Understanding:
◦ Critique of causality and the problem of induction.
◦ Knowledge as habit rather than rational certainty.

Third Module – Transcendental Idealism and Absolute Idealism: Kant and Hegel
• Kant: The Copernican Revolution in Philosophy:
◦ The distinction between phenomena and noumena.
◦ Space and time as forms of intuition.
◦ The role of the categories of understanding in structuring experience.
• Hegel: Knowledge and Absolute Spirit:
◦ The dialectical process of self-consciousness.
◦ The development of knowledge through history.

Fourth Module – Phenomenology and the Experience of the World
• Husserl: The Return to the Things Themselves:
◦ The suspension of judgment (epoché) and the intentionality of consciousness.
• Merleau-Ponty: The Body as Living Perception:
◦ The centrality of the body in perceptual experience.


Fifth Module – Artistic Production and Knowledge
• Art as a mode of knowing: Plato vs. Aristotle.
◦ Plato’s suspicion of artistic imitation.
◦ Aristotle’s defense of art as catharsis and mimesis.
• The Kantian conception of art:
◦ The main characters of beauty and the role of aesthetic ideas.
• Schelling and the Absolute:
◦ Art as revelation of the infinite and expression of the Absolute.
• Aesthetic experience as knowledge in Nietzsche and Heidegger:
◦ Nietzsche’s idea of the Dionysian and Apollonian in art.
◦ Heidegger’s interpretation of art as the disclosure of truth.

Sixth Module – Knowledge in the Digital Age
• The digital as a new epistemic paradigm: from data to knowledge.
• Reality and virtuality: Deleuze and the concept of the virtual.
• How mixed realities challenge traditional epistemologies.
• Aesthetic experience in the digital world.

Seventh Module – Conclusions and Critical Reflection
• Reflection on the main themes addressed: sensation and perception, rationalism and empiricism, idealism and phenomenology, art and digital technology.
• Comparative discussion on the evolution of the concept of knowledge and its implications for the present.

• Plato, The Republic, books 6 and 7
• Aristotle, De Anima, book 2
• René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Second Meditation
• John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, book 2
• David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, chapter 6
• Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, Preface to the Second Edition,
• Immanuel Kant, Critique of Judgement, Analytic of the Beautiful
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Preface
• Edmund Husserl, Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology, First Book, §§ 27-31
• Martin Heidegger, The Origin of the Work of Art
• Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy
• Gilles Deleuze, The Actual and the Virtual

Selected passages from these works will be provided and read during the course. Secondary literature will be provided to support analysis and critical reflection.

The evaluation will be based on the following components:
• Active participation in lessons and discussions: 30%
• Oral presentation on a selected topic, agreed upon with the lecturer: 30%
• Final written report: 40%

written and oral

Grades are awarded on a scale of thirty, from a minimum of 0/30 to a maximum of 30/30 with honors.
With regard to the grading criteria (the way in which marks will be assigned):
A. Scores in the range 18–22 will be awarded in the case of:
- sufficient knowledge and applied understanding of the course material;
- limited ability to gather and/or interpret texts and concepts, formulating independent judgments;
- sufficient communication skills, particularly with respect to the use of the specific language of philosophy.
B. Scores in the range 23–26 will be awarded in the case of:
- fair knowledge and applied understanding of the course material;
- fair ability to gather and/or interpret texts and concepts, formulating independent judgments;
- fair communication skills, particularly with respect to the use of the specific language of philosophy.
C. Scores in the range 27–30 will be awarded in the case of:
- good to excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course material;
- good to excellent ability to gather and/or interpret texts and concepts, formulating independent judgments;
- fully appropriate communication skills, particularly with respect to the use of the specific language of philosophy.
D. Honors (lode) will be awarded in the case of excellent knowledge and applied understanding of the course material, together with outstanding judgment and communication skills.

Lectures, text analysis, use of multimedia materials, discussion groups, symposium and round table, workshops.