History of Philosophy
Cod: 51140
Department: DH
ECTS: 6
Scientific area: Philosophy
Total working hours: 156
Total contact time: 15

This course unit aims at debating the the core issues in Western philosophy, which are organised thematically, although their roots in time and space are to be identified, so that the student has access to a historical overview of the Western philosophical thought. The thematic structure aims furtherly at giving a condensed panorama of the history of philosophy from it origins in Greece to our days, through the study of some of its key disciplines, such as ontology, metaphysics, ethics, dialectics, logic, epistemology, aesthetics and philosophy of language.

In each of the syllabus themes in this course unit there will be given access to philosophical texts vital to understand fundamental concepts which aim at answering the questions that inhabt philosophy since its very origins. These readings will also give some light on how in philosophy the past reads the present, as the present updates the past.

Mythos / Logos
Beauty / Goodness
Knowledge / Truth

After studying this course unit, the student should have acquired the following competences:

- Aquisition of generic and specific knowledge on the history of philosophical thinking, namely in the following issues:

• To know the basic rationality conceptions.

• To be able to recognise the fundamental philosophical problems and how they develop

- To be able to identify the philosophical subfields or disciplines, how they unfold throughout the history of phconnection with other scientific fields

• To be able to identify the philosophical concepts studied throughout the semester, the authors linked with them and their specific subject-matter

- Critical reading of selected documents and historic sources and its use in the context of a given reflexive exercise on certain philosophical issues.

- Ability to gather, select and interpret certain data/information, which is important for the analysis or the philosophical reflection.

- Proficiency in the comparison of different viewpoints on the same philosophical subject-matter.

- Ability to compare, argue and communicate in the theoretical description of philosophical themes and concepts.
 

I. Starting question: a history of philosophy or a voyage through philosophical problems?

II. What is the beginning of everything? What is good and evil?

III. Why do we need to justify our views? Is a valid thought always a true one? What are the limits of scientific research?

IV. What is beauty? What is a language-game?

All study materials are available in the online classroom, organized in files with selected philosophical texts and concptual literature involved in each thematic unit. Online resources might also be of use throughout the semester.

A short list of part of the resources are listed bellow:

Online Guide to the Problems of Analytical Philosophy / Compêndio em Linha de Problemas de Filosofia Analítica http://compendioemlinha.letras.ulisboa.pt/

Aristotle's Works / Obras Completas de Aristóteles:
http://www.obrasdearistoteles.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=53

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/index.html

Dicionário prático de filosofia (Élisabeth Clément, et alii), Terramar.

Dicionário de filosofia (Simon Blackburn), Gradiva.

Dicionário de filosofia (José Ferrater Mora), Publicações Dom Quixote.

Enciclopédia Logos - Luso-Brasileira. Ed. Verbo. Lisboa.

Grayling, A.C., Uma História da Filosofia, Ed. 70.

Tunhas, Paulo, Alexandra Abranches, As Questões que se Repetem, Ed. D. Quixote.

Abbagnano N., História da Filosofia, Presença Editores

Giorgio Colli, O Nascimento da Filosofia, ed. 70

Pinharanda Gomes, Filosofia Grega Pré-Socrática, Guimarães Editores

Galvão, Pedro, Filosofia - Uma introdução por disciplinas, Ed. 70.

Some of the selected philosophers for reading: Aristotle, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Stuart Mill, Kant, Plato, Perelman, Kuhn, Popper…

 

E-learning

Continuous assessment is privileged: 2 digital written documents (e-folios) during the semester (40%) and a final digital test, Global e-folio (e-folio G) at the end of the semester (60%). In due time, students can alternatively choose to perform one final exam (100%).