Learning objectives
The course aims to provide:
- Descriptor 1 (Knowledge and understanding): in-depth knowledge on a classic theme of aesthetic reflection; the ability to understand aesthetic-philosophical texts, even complex, analyzing and discussing the theories contained in them; analytical and logical-argumentative skills for what concerns artistic language and the relationship it has with other languages and forms of knowledge (scientific and philosophical).
- Descriptor 2 (Applying knowledge and understanding): ability to apply the logical-argumentative techniques in a particular case (the question of metaphor), assessing the correctness and logical rigour; the ability to argue and expose some thesis in writing, and comparing them to the critical bibliography.
- Descriptor 3 (Making judgments): ability to integrate knowledge and to approach critically aesthetic-philosophical concepts and theories; ability to infer, from reading a text, the author's theoretical perspective; ability to analyze thoroughly an aesthetic-philosophical problem, by reconstructing in autonomous way the main lines of interpretation and the related bibliography.
- Descriptor 4 (Communication skills): ability to communicate clearly and strictly his own thesis, to both specialist and non-specialist.
- Descriptor 5 (Learning skills): ability to understand, analyze and discuss new aesthetic and philosophical theories, even in an interdisciplinary framework.
Course unit content
Course Title: "Metaphor and Knowledge"
The course will focus on the metaphor, a classic theme of aesthetics that is now, in recent decades, a subject of wider discussion. Will be considered in fact the function of metaphor in art, philosophy and science; we will compare different approaches and theories. The metaphor will not be understood as a mere poetic-rhetorical artifice, but as a device that extends the meaning of a term, brings together different conceptual domains, rearrange categories and knowledge.
The first part of the course will focus on the interaction view of Max Black, who has had great influence on later studies (whether in philosophy in the area of cognitive sciences), stating the cognitive value of metaphor and its proximity to the theoretical models of science. The second part of the course will focus on the conception of metaphor developed by Nelson Goodman in Languages of art and in Ways of Worldmaking, that is, in the context of a constructivist philosophy which criticizes the idea of knowledge as a unique description and objective of the world, and vice versa emphasizes the similarities between art and science, between verbal and nonverbal symbols, set between literal and metaphorical, between descriptive and normative statements.
The third part of the course will analyze finally some questions posed by Paul Ricoeur: Why cognitive function of metaphor emerges only when switching from a theory of "metaphor-word" to a theory of "metaphor-sentence"? What links exist between the cognitive function of metaphor and its ability to produce innovation semantics? And what links exist between the semantic innovation produced by a metaphor "alive" and the type of reference due to the poetic language and artistic?
The discussion around the metaphor will therefore reflect both the peculiarities of the language of art, and on the relationship that it can entertain with other languages and other forms of rationality.
Bibliography
Examination program for students attending:
-M. Black, Modelli archetipi metafore, Pratiche, Parma, 1983 o 1992 or any other issue, including in the English language (the following three chapters: “Metaphor”; “Models and Archetypes”; “More about Metaphor”).
-N. Goodman, I linguaggi dell’arte, Il Saggiatore, Milano, 1998 or any other issue, including in the English language.
-P. Ricœur, La metafora viva, Jaca Book, Milano, 2010 or any other issue, including in the English language (the following two chapters: 3 and 7).
- A. Martinengo, Filosofie della metafora, Guerini, Milano, 2016.
- A. Contini (ed.), Metafora e conoscenza, special issue of the review "estetica. studi e ricerche", 1, 2017.
Non-attending students will also add a text to your choice between the following:
- M. Black et alii, Capire Wittgenstein, a cura di M. Andronico, D. Marconi, C. Penco, Marietti, Genova, 1988.
- N. Goodman, Vedere e costruire il mondo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2008, or any other issue, including in the English language.
- D. Davidson, “What Metaphors Mean”, Critical Inquiry, Vol. 5, No. 1, Special Issue on Metaphor, 1978, pp. 31-47. Ristampato in D. Davidson, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 245–264; trad. it. di R. Brigati, Verità e interpretazione, a cura di E. Picardi, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1994.
- E. Franzini e M. La Matina (a cura di), Nelson Goodman, la filosofia e i linguaggi, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2007.
- S. Chiodo, Visione o costruzione: Nelson Goodman e la filosofia analitica contemporanea, Led, Milano, 2006.
- L. Marchetti, Arte ed estetica in Nelson Goodman, Aesthetica Preprint, Palermo, 2006.
- P. D’Angelo (a cura di), Introduzione all’estetica analitica, Laterza, 2007.
- S. Velotti, Estetica analitica. Un breviario critico, Aesthetica Preprint, Palermo, 2008.
- R. Messori, Poetiche del sensibile. Le parole e i fenomeni tra esperienza estetica e figurazione, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2013.
Teaching methods
During the lessons will be analyzed, discussed and compared with each other theories of metaphor Max Black, Nelson Goodman and Paul Ricoeur. The course will be supported by seminars, in which we will emphasize the analysis of texts, urging students to extrapolate, discuss and critically reconstruct the theories contained therein. There will also be individual exercises in the form of written reports, in which the student can apply the knowledge and skills learned while developing independence of judgment and ability to communicate clearly and strictly his own thesis.
Assessment methods and criteria
- Mode of the final assessment: a written report on a topic agreed with the teacher and an oral interview. Each of the two tests will be evaluated in thirty, and the final grade will be the average between the two votes. The examination as a whole is passed if the average of the two votes is at least 18/30.
- The oral examination, by means of open questions on the topics covered in the course, will check both the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, both the analytical and logical argumentation. The written report will test the ability to apply knowledge and logical- argumentative techniques in a particular case, and to communicate their thesis in a clear and rigorous way; it will also verify the ability to expose critical concepts and theories, even independently tracking the most relevant literature in relation to a given problem.
BANDS OF SCORING
EXCELLENT: 30-30 E LODE
DISTINGUISHED: 28-29
GOOD: 25-27
DISCREET: 22-24
SUFFICIENT: 18-21
INSUFFICIENT: 0 to 17
Other information
The course will be held in blending modes: most of the lectures will be conducted by videoconference from the CEA of Unimore (Viale Allegri 13, Reggio Emilia), recorded and made available on the specific portal http: //moodle.filosofia.edunova. en. Therefore, they will be considered as attending students also those who did not attend in person, attend remotely or by downloading at a later time the recorded lessons.
