PROJECT EPISTEMOLOGY

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Academic Year of enrolment:

2018/2019

Type of Course:

Related/Supplementary

Optional/Mandatory:

Compulsory

Degree:

Bachelor's Degree Programme in ARCHITECTURAL AND DESIGN SCIENCES

Disciplinary Sector:

LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Language:

Italian

Credits:

Programme Year:

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

None

AF code:

40001499

Assessment Methods

Verification of learning:

Written exam. The exam usually consists in 5/6 open questions in English. The accepted languages for answers are: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese.

Teaching period

First semester

Objectives

• Knowledge and understanding:
By the end of the first part of the class the students will possess a basic knowledge of the main approaches currently available in political philosophy, their principles and styles, as well as their strong and weak spots.
By the end of the second part of the class the students will possess a basic knowledge in contemporary philosophy of science, and an advanced capacity of using it in order to bring light on the methodology of planning. Particular attention will be given to the issue of the ontology of social reality, in order to investigate its epistemological effects.
It will be crucial for the student to understand the difference between the a political and a scientific thesis.

• Applying knowledge and understanding:
A basic knowledge of the main approaches currently available in political philosophy will be constructed so as to let the students possess valid argumentative skills and the capacity to apply them to the largest possible number of issues and situations where ethico-political problems rise in the domain of urban studies.
The main goal of the second part of the class is then to make the students able to apply in a critical way a basic mastery of epistemology and theory of knowledge to the activity of designing and planning, in each possible occasion.

• Making judgements:
By the end of the first part of the class the students will be able to develop new arguments within specific debates in political philosophy, and to estimate the strength of one specific argument when it is compared to a rival one. The very same ability will be cultivated in the second part of the class relatively to arguments supporting or rejecting empirical statements and scientific theories.
By the end of the class the student will be able to access to a self-reflective critical stance about her/his planning activity - a metalevel where philosophical concepts and problems as well as scientific theories about the mind are used to improve one's capacity to control planning without limiting it. In particular, certainty about the objectivity of data planning leans on will be called into discussion.

• Communication skills:
The students will be able to express their own ethico-political intuitions by using the language of professional political philosophy; to build up arguments in favour and against every conceivable position; to engage into an argumentative challenge with one or more than one interlocutors; to correctly evaluate their own and others’ argumentative performances.
Furthermore, the students will be able to make use of an essential set of concepts from philosophy of science and theory of knowledge, and to develop compelling arguments to support her/his positions concerning choices in designing and planning as well as about the reliability of the data those choices are grounded upon.

• Learning skills:
The class is aimed at letting the students to have the sufficient skills in order to develop higher-level knowledge in political philosophy, general philosophy of science, and generally speaking in critical thought, over time.
The class is aimed at letting the students have a more critical stance to designing and planning, which should bring to a more intimate and profound comprehension of the methods, techniques, history, authors and approaches in architecture and urban studies.

Contents

In the first half of the semester we will address the main approaches to social justice as an introduction to political philosophy. We will explore how to apply such theories to interesting ethical problems arising in the fields of architecture and of city and territorial planning, through developing arguments for and against the various positions one can take. We will assume, of course, that rational argumentation in practical ethics is not only possible but also desirable. We will give particular attention to the problem of the ethical concerns for future generations in architectural planning, and to the ethical status of NIMBY positions.
During the second half of the semester we will study the basic notions of philosophy of science, bringing particular attention to the permeability of perception to cognition, language and culture; realism and objectivity; social reality. Our goal is making students more deeply aware of the complex nature of those "data" above which the activity of planning is proposed as based.

During the 2020-21 academic year, we will also develop a critical reflection over the opportune engagement of the design disciplines in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing, and in the reaction to their changing effects upon human spaces and habits.

Recommended Bibliography

1. personal notes from classes.
2. Sandel, Michael, 2009, Justice, Farrar, Straus and Giroux;
3. Hermansson, Hélène, 2007, "The Ethics of NIMBY Conflicts." Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 10.1: 23-34.
4. Giubilini, Alberto, Thomas Douglas, and Julian Savulescu, 2018, "The moral obligation to be vaccinated: utilitarianism, contractualism, and collective easy rescue." Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 21.4: 547-560.
5. Feldman, Simon, and Derek Turner, 2010, "Why not NIMBY?." Ethics Place and Environment (Ethics, Place & Environment (Merged with Philosophy and Geography)) 13.3: 251-266.
6. Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science. A very Short Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002.
7. Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, London, Hutchinson, 1959 (1934), chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 e 5;
8. John Searle, The Construction of Social Reality, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1995, chapters 1, 2 e 3;
9. Ernst H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1960, chapters 1 e 2;
10. Fabio Bacchini, “Epistemology and Responsibility”, 2016, Corela. Cognition, Représentation, Langage;

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Active participation; students will be asked to produce arguments to support or reject theories and points of view

Contacts/More Information

Readiness to offer individual assistance also in a foreign language to incoming students

Readiness to accept examination of incoming students also in a foreign language

Availability of supporting material and bibliographic references also in a foreign language (English; French; Spanish; Portuguese)

PROJECT EPISTEMOLOGY

Course year: 1

Course year: 2

Course year: 3

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PROJECT EPISTEMOLOGY