Learning objectives
1- Knowledge and comprehension skill
Goal of the course: knowledge of the principal philosophical theories during the Classical German Philosophy. Comprehension of the connection which joins these different theorical options with the themes of the course.
2- Applied knowledge and comprehension skill
Application of the methodologies and topics of the Classical German Philosophy to set of problems in other periods of the history of philosophy.
3-4-5- Autonomy of judgment, communication and apprehension skills
Development of autonomous as well as critical judgment of the philosophical texts through oral communications and historical well-documented papers.
Course unit content
The course retraces some of the most important steps of the discussion of the problem of God’s existence in the Classical German Philosophy. The different proofs that God exists give a large spectrum of theoretical options which are ascribable to various assumptions about the concept of philosophy.
Subjects: the concept of God in the transcendental philosophy; analysis of Kant’s and Fichte’s position concerning this matter; God in Hegel’s speculative philosophy; the idea of Schelling’s positive philosophy and its implications in respect to God’s existence.
Bibliography
Sources (obligatory):
I. Kant, Critica della ragion pura (any edition as long as integral): Dialettica trascendentale, B 611-670;
I. Kant, Critica della ragion pratica (any edition as long as integral): L’esistenza di Dio come postulato della ragion pura pratica;
J.G. Fichte, Saggio di una critica di ogni rivelazione, Laterza, Bari-Roma 1998;
G.W.F. Hegel, Lezioni sulle prove dell’esistenza di Dio, Laterza, Bari 1984;
F.W.J. Schelling, Filosofia della rivelazione, Bompiani, Milano 2002.
Supplementary texts (optional):
D. Henrich, La prova ontologica dell’esistenza di Dio. La sua problematica e la sua storia nell’età moderna, Prismi, Napoli 1983;
F. Tomatis, L’argomento ontologico. L’esistenza di Dio da Anselmo a Schelling, Citta Nuova Editrice, Roma 2010.
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Lecture and analysis of texts.
Active interaction between the teacher and the students in form of discussion of individual problems of the course.
Assessment methods and criteria
The final exams consist in a paper and an oral discussion. The student has to send to the teacher, at least one week before the oral examination, a paper (7-9 pp.) about a subject of the course. The student must show the ability to develop in a sinthetic way a coherent as well as in-depth discussion of a philosophical question. The paper will be evaluated in “trentesimi” and discussed with the student during the oral examination.
The oral examination will focus on the paper and on the texts of the bibliography. The final grade represents the average of the grade of the paper and the grade of the oral examination. The oral examination aims especially to verify: 1. the comprehension of philosophical texts; 2. the ability to think in a philosophical way and apply the learned concepts to specific problems; 3. the appropriate use of the philosophical terminology.
