Corso di laurea magistrale in
Comunicazione e Culture dei media

Subjects and topics of this course, together with tasks and skills that will be acquired, are necessary to get the basis of philosophy of literature. In particular the course will deal with topics and authors particularly important in the philosophy of literature of the analytic tradition. 

a) Have a good knowledge of the philosophy of literature and have the ability to analyze a philosophical text; b) have the ability to employ what has been discussed during the course and to understand the philosophical arguments that have been examined; c) have the ability to value the philosophical positions thus presented; d) ability to present philosophical positions by making use of examples and counterexamples; e) reading, comment and comprehension of the texts discussed during the course. Moreover students should be able to read and understand philosophical texts also written in English. 

Frontal lectures plus seminar with students' direct presentations.

Oral examination plus possible evaluation of written questions on the scrutinized texts. The evaluation will depend on i) the students' preparation on the programmed texts and their ability to face them critically; ii) their capacity to make an oral presentation of a paper; iii) their capacity to ask pertinent and penetrating questions on the programmed texts. During the examination students have to show to: a) have a good knowledge of the philosophy of literature together with the ability to analyze a philosophical text; b) have understood the philosophical arguments analyzed during the course; c) possess the ability to present philosophical positions by making use of examples and counterexamples; d) be able to comment and understand the selected texts.

The course aims at providing an introduction to the philosophy of literature in the analytic tradition. 

LIST OF TEXTS FOR THE EXAMINATION:

1) Barbero, C., Filosofia della letteratura, Carocci, Roma 2013.

2) The following essays:

- Braun, D., 2005, “Empty Names, Fictional Names, Mythic Names,” Nous 39/4, 596-631.

- Deutsch, H., “Making Up Stories”, in Everett A. & Hofweber T. (eds.), Empty Names, Fiction and the Puzzles of Non-existence, CSLI Publications 2000, pp. 149-181.

- Elgin C., “Art and the advancement of our understanding”, American Philosophical Quarterly, 39 (1), 2002, 1–12

- Friend, S., “Fiction as a Genre”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol. cxii, Part 2, 2012, pp. 179-209.

- Parsons, T., 1982, “Are there Nonexistent Objects?”, American Philosophical Quarterly 19/ 4, 365-371.

- Radford, C. 1975, “How can we be moved by the fate of Anna Karenina?”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, supp., 49 (6), pp. 67-80.

- Russell, B. (1905a), On denoting, in “Mind”, 14 (56), pp. 473-493 (trad. it. di A. Bonomi, Sulla denotazione, in A. Bonomi (a cura di), La struttura logica del linguaggio, Bompiani, Milano, 1973).

- Searle, J. “The logical status of fictional discourse", New Literary History 6, 1974-75.

- Stolniz, J., “On the Cognitive Triviality of Art”, British Journal of Aesthetics, 32 (3), 1992, pp. 191-200.

- Szabó Gendler, T., Kovakovich, K. 2005, “Genuine Rational Fictional Emotions”, in M. Kieran (ed.), Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 241-253.

- Thomasson, A. L., 2003, “Speaking of Fictional Characters,” Dialectica,  57/2 , 207-226.

 

SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS:

- Fusillo, M., Estetica della letteratura, Il Mulino, Bologna 2002.

- Currie, G., Narrative and Narrators, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010.

- Lamarque, P., The Opacity of Narrative, Rowman and Littlefiled International, London 2014.

 

 

Students from the "corso di laurea magistrale in filosofia" interested in including the present course among their free credits are invited to contact the professor.