METHODOLOGY OF PHILOSOPHICAL WORK
Code
711031047
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Filosofia
Credits
6.0
Teacher in charge
Nuno Carlos Venturinha (IFL)
Weekly hours
4
Teaching language
Português
Objectives
This is an introductory course to familiarize students with methods of reading, interpreting and commenting philosophical texts and with critical and original thinking.
By the end of the semester students should be able to:
a) identify different ways of thinking characteristic of philosophical work
b) identify processes of understanding and formulating philosophical questions
c) grasp the affinities between different solutions to a philosophical question
d) undertake critical reading of texts and show hermeneutic and heuristic capacities
e) demonstrate an ability for oral and written expression in the production of philosophical work.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
Methods of Philosophy
One of the main characteristics of Wittgenstein’s thinking is that he continuously reflected on the correct method of philosophy. This occupies a decisive position in the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus but plays an even more relevant role in the author’s later writings, especially in early sketches for an unfinished book, the Philosophical Investigations. We shall follow Wittgenstein’s work by studying his metaphilosophical and methodological remarks. This will require understanding why he rejected other methods of analysis and expression characteristic of the western philosophical tradition.
Bibliography
VENTURINHA, N., Lógica, Ética, Gramática. Wittgenstein e o Método da Filosofia, Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 2010.
WITTGENSTEIN, L., Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, ed. bilingue, trad. de C. K. Ogden, Londres, Routledge, ed. rev., 1933; Tratado Lógico-Filosófico, trad. de M. S. Lourenço, Lisboa, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1987.
WITTGENSTEIN, L., Philosophical Investigations, ed. bilingue, trad. de G. E. M. Anscombe, P. M. S. Hacker e J. Schulte, Oxford, Blackwell, 2009; Investigações Filosóficas, trad. de M. S. Lourenço, Lisboa, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1987.
WITTGENSTEIN, L., Culture and Value. A Selection from the Posthumous Remains, ed. bilingue, trad. de P. Winch, Oxford, Blackwell, ed. rev., 1998; Cultura e Valor, trad. de J. Mendes, Lisboa, Edições 70, 1996.
WITTGENSTEIN, L., Wittgenstein’s 1938 Preface, in N. Venturinha (ed.), Wittgenstein After His Nachlass, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, 182-188.
A bibliografia secundária será mencionada ao longo do curso.
Teaching method
The method adopted for the class will combine exposition of the readings and commentaries on them along with discussion of student papers.
Evaluation method
Besides a final exam (60%), each student is required to write a paper to be presented and discussed in class (40%).