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 series of lectures (Dutch: college):
- College A: a historical and systematic overview of the major currents in Western philosophy from Greek Antiquity to contemporary philosophy and a critical analysis of some ideas and writings of the following philosophers: Heraclitus, Plato, Aristoteles, Al-Farabi, Kant, Wollstonecraft, Fichte, de Beauvoir, Heidegger en Preciado.

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, structuralism and post-structuralism, decolonial and postcolonial theory.

- College B: detailed discussion and critical analysis of a philosopher. In academic year 2023/24, 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 about and by the philosophers discussed in the A lectures
Digital course material (Recommended) : Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html
Digital course material (Required) : Plato, Apologie van Socrates online beschikbaar, http://arsfloreat.nl/documents/Plato-Apologie.pdf
Handbook (Required) : Filosofische Decamerone, Acosta, E., ACCO, 9789464671605, 2023
Practical course material (Recommended) : Own notes
Handbook (Required) : Plato lezen, Liefde, filosofie en democratie in de Apologie van Socrates, Acosta, E., ASP, 9789057189494, 2020

Additional info

Presence at the lectures is strongly recommended: during the first lesson all practical information is communciated, at the beginning of each lecture, there will be a Q&A session on the content of the previous lecture, the content of the all lectures 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", "freedom", "emancipation", "subject", "object", "male", "female" 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:

Permanente evaluatie with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The evaluation form is permanent evaluation.
Two evaluation moments for college A: Two online multiple choice exams, 10 questions each (30 minutes each).
Two evaluation moments for college B: Two multiple choice exams, 10 questions each (30 minutes each)
Procedure 2nd session: multiple choice exam about college A and B, 40 questions in 120 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