Main Currents in the History of Philosophy

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 1000043ANR for all students in the 1st semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

History, Archaeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics

Educational team

Emiliano Acosta (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

39 contact hours Lecture
63 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The course is divided into two colleges:
- College A: historical and systematic overview of the major currents in Western philosophy from Greek Antiquity to the philosophy of the 20th century.
- College B: detailed discussion and critical analysis of a philosopher
College A:
The lectures consist of four parts: (i) philosophy of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, (ii) modern philosophy I, (iii) modern philosophy II, and (iv) 20th-century philosophy. Following currents are discussed in the lectures: materialism, dialectical thinking, sophistry, idealism, hylemorphism, epicurism, stoicism and skepticism, monism and dualism, scholasticism, Islamic medieval philosophy, humanism, rationalism, empiricism, conservative and radical Enlightenment, transcendental philosophy, German idealism, existentialism, phenomenology, subjectivism and objectivism, structuralism and post-structuralism.
Main questions of this lecture are: what is the relationship between thinking and being with regard to the question of truth and knowledge? Is truth possible in ethics and politics? What is the subject? What is the object? What is man? What should man become?

College B:
In academic year 2021/22, Plato's Apology of Socrates will be discussed and critically analysed. Main themes of the lecture are: the historical context of Plato's Apology, religion and politics in Athenian democracy, Plato's reinvention of philosophy, socratic and platonic love, Socrates as a tragic hero, argumentative structure of Plato's Apology, Plato's vision of self-knowledge, individual and law, Plato's Socrates versus Athenian democracy.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Texts from and on the philosophers read during collega A (Canvas)
Digital course material (Recommended) : Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html, https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html
Digital course material (Required) : Plato, Apologie van Socrates online available, http://arsfloreat.nl/documents/Plato-Apologie.pdf, http://arsfloreat.nl/documents/Plato-Apologie.pdf
Handbook (Required) : Plato lezen, Liefde, filosofie en democratie in de Apologie van Socrates, Acosta, E., ASP, 9789057189494, 2020
Practical course material (Recommended) : own notes
Course text (Required) : 13 lezingen over de geschiedenis van de wijsbegeerte, Acosta, E. & Van de Vijver, G., ASP, 2021

Additional info

Presence at HOCs is strongly recommended: during the first lesson all practical information is discussed, the content of the HOCs is also part of the course material.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

College A:
- The students know the different interpretations that have been given to the words "philosophy", "being", "subject", "object" and "man" in the history of Western thought.
- The students master the fundamental concepts, arguments, and theories of the most relevant philosophical theories from Antiquity to the 20th century.
- The students are able to explain the historical and conceptual relations between philosophers, philosophical schools and currents.
- The students can identify in the discussed philosophers the historical and cultural limitations and the socio-economic conditions that make each philosophy possible.
- Students can identify the technical terminology of each philosopher discussed.

College B:
- Students can reproduce the central ideas of the philosophical text discussed in the lectures.
- The students have a basic knowledge of the political and socio-cultural conditions under which the philosophical text discussed in the lectures was written.
- The students can identify concepts and arguments in the philosophical text discussed.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Permanent evaluation with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The evaluation form is permanent evaluation.
Four evaluation moments for college A: four online multiple choice exams, 10 questions each (30 minutes each).
Four evaluation moments for college B: four multiple choice exams, 10 questions each (30 minutes each)
Procedure 2nd session: multiple choice exam about college A and B, 40 questions in 180 minutes.
The dates of the exam moments will be announced in Canvas. Students must have passed both lectures (A and B).
Facilities for foreign students and students applying for flexibility measures (https://student.vub.be/flexibiliteit#intro)

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context