Ontology I

Code:

FILO030

Acronym:

ONT1

Instance: 2016/2017 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle.up.pt/course/view.php?id=2114
E-learning page:	http://moodle.up.pt/
Responsible unit:	Department of Philosophy
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Philosophy

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
FILO	38	FILO - Study Plan	3	-	6	4

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

1. To understand the main issues that the philosophical question on the subject matter of metaphysics as science of being is concerned with. 
2. To identify and understand the main concepts of the specific lexicon of Ontology and its specific use by each author studied.  
3. To develop analytical skills and criticism regarding the texts of the philosophical tradition and the metaphysical issues discussed.
4. To develop critical skills concerning the different solutions presented in the history of western philosophy regardong the main issue analysed in the program about the possibility of metaphysic as a science of being qua being

Learning outcomes and competences

1. To develop skills of analysis and textual criticism of the text of the philosophical tradition and of the issues discussed within Ontology
2. To develop critical and speculative competencies on the constitution of metaphysics as a science
3. To learn the basic technical vocabulary of Ontology and its correlation with the ontological paradigms examined
4. To understand the issues and philosophical problems inherent to the question of the definition of Metaphysics as a science, in the history of philosophy

 

 

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

prerequirements : research tools and philosophical knowledge grasped in previous years of the 1st circle of the course of Philosophy

simultaneous knowledge - to read and analyse requiered bibliography (primary sources and studies)

Program

I - INTRODUCTION TO ONTOLOGY
1. Birth of a new science ( Rudolf Golclenius / Jacob Lorhard )
2 . Issues and problems of the science ' ontology '

II - BE AND THINK
1. The Poem of Parmenides and the dichotomy Being - Non-Being
2 . The problem of possibility to say «Being», against the Parmenidean monism
3 . The impossibility of the criterion for truth and falsehood: the birth of the Sophist school. 4
 . The Plato's Sophist and the foundation of the discourse on non-being .
5 . The establishment of the supreme genera and the specificity of "being" .

III - SCIENCE Metaphysics – Aristotle
1. The ' metaphysics ' of Aristotle and the problem of the diversity of objects of this science
2 . Metaphysics as ousiologia
3 . Metaphysics as a science of first causes and principles
4 . Metaphysics as ' divine science ' or ' theology '
5. Excursus - O princípio da individuação em Aristóteles
6. The paths of the " Metaphysics " of Aristotle from the Ancient
Schools to its reception in by the Arabs .

IV - The SCIENCE Metaphysics – AVICENA
1. The influence of Al - Farabi on Avicenna’s understanding of Metaphysics
2 . The Influence of the work ' Theology of Aristotle ' on Avicenna’s understanding of Metaphysics
3 . The Metaphysics of Avicenna within the work Kitab al Shifa (Book of Healing )
4 . The Metaphysics of Avicenna : discussion of the problem of the subject of this science ; its place among human knowledge .
5 . The object of the science Metaphysics: common notions of ' being ', ' thing ' and ' necessary' . The place of the demonstration of the existence of God within Metaphysics . The purpose of the science Metaphysics .
6 . Avicenna’s ontological paradigm. Emanation, Agent Intellect, Causality, Generation and corruption. The return of the soul to the One: the knowledge of the intellect by means of the sciences, the recognition of the innate ideas of ' one, thing necessary' through illumination. The union with the divine Intellect by means of Metaphysics. Prophecy, Metaphysics and Theology .
7. Excursus - Individuation on Avicenna

V - RECEPTION OF Aristotle’s Metaphysics IN THE WEST:
1. Translations of the works of Aristotle and Arabian commentaries.
2 . The incorporation of the Liber the Causis in the Aristotle’s Metaphysics '.
3 . Defining the object of metaphysics as a science : causality of the first mover and causality of the First Agent .
4 . Theology of Aristotle : Physics or Metaphysics ? The problem of the relationship between Physics , Metaphysics and Theology and debate on the first and proper/suitable object of human knowledge.
5. Excursus: Aquinas' De ente et essentia. 




VI - Duns Scotus: The FOUNDATION OF METAPHYSICS as a Science
1. Duns Scotus and Avicenna: convergences and divergences .
2 . Duns Scotus and his criticism of the doctrine of ' analogia entis " by Thomas Aquinas and Henry of Ghent .
3 . The possibility of knowing God: the debate on the first and proper object of knowledge
4 . Scotus on the univocity of being and the foundation of metaphysics as ' scientia transcendens '.
5 . Excursus - Scotus on Individuation. 

Conclusion :
1. The foundation of metaphysics as the best science of the maximum intelligible
2 . The condition of possibility of the knowledge of being and the constitution of the science Metaphysics .
3 . The reception of this science in the late Scholastics and the refounding of Metaphysics as Science of being qua being by F. Suárez.

Mandatory literature

Kirk, G.S.; Raven, J.S.; Os filósofos pré-socráticos : história crítica com selecção de textos , Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 1994
Aristóteles; Metafísica, Loyola, 2002
Platão; Sofista, F.C.G., 2011
Avicena (ed. Marmura); The Metaphysics of the Healing, Brighma Yung Univ. Press, 2005
Duns Scot (ed. Boulnois); Sur la Connaissance de Dieu et Univocité de l'étant, PUF, 1988

Complementary Bibliography

Gutas, Dimitri; Avicenna and the Aristotelian tradition : introduction to reading Avicenna’s philosophical works , Brill, 1988
Gilson, E.; Jean Duns Scot : Introduction a ses positions fondamentales , Vrin, 1952
Parménides (ed. Néstor-Luis Cordero); Poema. Fragmentos y Tradición Textual, Ágora, 2007
NEF, Frédéric; Qu'est-ce que la métaphysique?, Gallimard, 2004
Lando, G.; Ontologia. Un'Introduzione, Carocci, 2010
Galuzzo, G.; Breve Storia dell'Ontologia, Carocci, 2011
Ferraris, M. (ed.); Storia dell'Ontologia, Bompiani, 2008
Meyer, M.; Por una historia de la ontología, Idea-Books, 2000
Pseudo-Aristóteles (ed. Catarina Belo); A Teologia de Aristóteles, INCM, 2010
Jaulin, A., et alt.; La philosophie d'Aristote., PUF, 2003
Jolivet, J.; La teologia degli Arabi, Jaca Books, 2001
GIlson, E.; BEing and some philosophers, Europe Printing (2aed), 1961
De Boni, L.A.; A Entrade de Aristóteles no Ocidente, EST, 2010
AA.VV; Aristotele. Perchè la metafísica, Vita e Pensiero, 1994
Narcy, M., Tordesillas, A.; La Métaphysique d'Aristote. Perspectives Contemporaines, Vrin, 2005
Mesquita, A.P.; Aristóteles. Obras Completas. IIntrodução Geral, INCM-CFUL, 2005

Teaching methods and learning activities

Explanation of themes and matters in a theoretical way, open to the discussion of the philosophical issues and arguments with the students.

Methodology based on the commentary of the texts proposed in the program, and the discussion of its arguments involved.

keywords

Humanities

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	10,00
Participação presencial	90,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	66,00
Frequência das aulas	60,00
Trabalho de investigação	36,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

According to the evaluation standards in force

Calculation formula of final grade

Final examen - 90%
Participation in classes - 10%

Examinations or Special Assignments

As an alternative way of evaluation, students may choose a combined systhem with the folowing elements: 
1. written work (of about 6 pages) and oral presentation of it = 40%
2. Participation in classes = 10%
Final exam = 50%

The proporsal of the written work must previously be submitted in Moodle

Internship work/project

not available

Classification improvement

According to the evaluation standards in force