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Philosophy of History

Code: 100302 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500246 Philosophy OB 3

Contact

Name:
Jordi Riba Miralles
Email:
jordi.riba@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

None


Objectives and Contextualisation

The philosophy of history as a philosophical discipline is born with modernity, it acquires here part of its language and purpose: to explain social and political change as a result of the use of human freedom.

In this sense, the subject focuses on the study of philosophical reflection that has given us a language from which to weigh when and how to identify the meaning of a time to call historical.

In order to understand the emergence of the discipline and the new way of understanding history, the subject starts from a study of the classical view of history and then focuses on the study of great authors. disciplines and critiques of the language of modernity that have had their expression in postmodern thought.

The main objective will be to attend to the initial matrix of the discipline and its movements so that students can equip themselves with theoretical tools of analysis that, in addition, allow them to investigate their present.

The specific objectives of the subject are the following:

1. Understanding the main problems of the discipline
2. Knowledge of the main theoretical approaches in the treatment of these problems
3. Familiarity with the main texts and discourses of the tradition from the classics to the present
4. Get to know the vocabulary and arguments developed in the past
5. Establish a dialogue between the texts and ideas of tradition and the present as history
6. Cultivate the meaning of history in the student as a central element of understanding social and cultural problems
7. Cultivate student skills and abilities for storytelling


Competences

  • Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
  • Analysing and summarising the main arguments of fundamental texts of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Placing the most representative philosophical ideas and arguments of a period in their historical background and relating the most important authors of each period of any philosophical discipline.
  • Recognising and interpreting topics and problems of philosophy in its various disciplines.
  • Recognising the philosophical implications of the scientific knowledge.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Thinking in a critical and independent manner on the basis of the specific topics, debates and problems of philosophy, both historically and conceptually.
  • Using the symbology and procedures of the formal sciences in the analysis and building of arguments.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analysing historical cases about scientific facts.
  2. Applying philosophical rigour in a written text following the international quality standards.
  3. Autonomously searching, selecting and processing information both from structured sources (databases, bibliographies, specialized magazines) and from across the network.
  4. Carrying out oral presentations using an appropriate academic vocabulary and style.
  5. Communicate by making non-sexist, non-discriminatory use of language.
  6. Communicating in the studied language in oral and written form, properly using vocabulary and grammar.
  7. Demonstrating a personal stance over a problem or controversy of philosophical nature, or a work of philosophical research.
  8. Distinguishing and analysing representative texts of the main genres of the philosophical literature.
  9. Documenting a philosophical issue and contrasting its sources.
  10. Establishing relationships between science, philosophy, art, religion, politics, etc.
  11. Explaining the philosophical importance of contemporary science and its implementation area.
  12. Identifying the main ideas of a related text and drawing a diagram.
  13. Indicating and discussing the main characteristics of the distinctive thought of a period and contextualizing them.
  14. Indicating and summarising the common content of several manifestations of various fields of culture.
  15. Organizing their own time and work resources: designing plans with priorities of objectives, calendars and action commitments.
  16. Producing an individual work that specifies the work plan and timing of activities.
  17. Reading thoroughly philosophical texts of the History of Philosophy.
  18. Recognising, with a critical eye, philosophical referents of the past and present and assessing its importance.
  19. Relating elements and factors involved in the development of scientific processes.
  20. Relating several ideas of the current philosophical debates.
  21. Relating the various orders of the philosophical ideas of different authors and historical moments.
  22. Rigorously building philosophical arguments.
  23. Solving problems autonomously.
  24. Summarising the topics and arguments exposed in a classical philosophical debate.

Content

The syllabus is structured in a series of fundamental authors for the argument and the lexicon, which will be worked according to the following order and combinations:

1. What is the story? Herodotus, Thucydides and St. Augustine.
2. The Sense of History and the Idea of Progress: I. Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, K. Marx and A. de Tocqueville.
3. Criticisms of the progressive conception of history: F. Nietzsche, M. Heidegger, H. Arendt and W. Benjamin
4. Postmodernity and the end of history: A. Kojève, J.F. Lyotard, M. Foucault and R.Rorty.

 

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Tutorship 45 1.8 1, 22, 8, 10, 6, 4, 13, 17, 18, 20, 21, 19
Type: Supervised      
work at home 26 1.04 22, 8, 9, 16, 11, 6, 4, 13, 15, 18, 20, 24
Type: Autonomous      
Classes 71.5 2.86 1, 8, 9, 16, 12, 17, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24

The teaching methodology has three work fronts:

1. Theoretical classes. The program is organized following a reading schedule. Every day the teacher will present a topic that the students must prepare. The session will work from the presentation of the reading’s topics, some key concepts in the texts, and will include discussion with the students. If the face-to-face classes are modified, they will be adapted to the existing systems (teams, notes, podcasts)

2. Individualized tutorials or in small groups, made by the teacher during the hours of attention that will be arranged in advance. If it is not possible to do them in person, others of a virtual nature will be established.

3. Elaboration of personalized itineraries for the autonomous work of the student.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Final exam 40% 2 0.08 1, 2, 14, 3, 5, 22, 7, 8, 9, 16, 10, 11, 6, 4, 12, 13, 17, 15, 18, 20, 21, 19, 23, 24
Short essay I 30% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 14, 3, 5, 22, 7, 8, 9, 16, 10, 11, 6, 4, 12, 13, 17, 15, 18, 20, 21, 19, 23, 24
Short essay II 30% 3 0.12 1, 2, 14, 3, 5, 22, 7, 8, 9, 16, 10, 11, 6, 4, 12, 13, 17, 15, 18, 20, 21, 19, 23, 24

The evaluation will be based on three elements:

A) Specific writing exercises on some of the compulsory readings: exercise 1 = 30%; exercise 2 = 30%; for a total of 60% of the final grade.

B) A final exam, for a total of the 40% of the final grade.

 

Single evaluation:

The single assessment will consist of an exercise, which will be carried out in class on the day of the final exam, where three fundamental skills will be assessed to pass the subject:

- knowledge of the texts studied in the subject

- the ability to write a shor critical essay on some of the texts or concepts studied in the subject.

- the ability to develop an authonomous reflection on one of the topics or authors studied in the subject.

 

General information:

- The calendar of activities to be attached at the beginning of the course indicates the dates of delivery the exercises and the essay.

- For a correct continuous evaluation, works will not be accepted outside the established dates. For more information, see the re-assestment criteria.

- On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will iform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

 

Re-assesment criteria: To access the Reassesment, you must have evaluated at least 2/3 of the final grade and have obtained a minimum of 3.5 in the final grade for the course.

Non-evaluable students: Students will obtain a Not assessed/Not submitted course grade unless they have submitted more than 1/3 of the assessment items. 

 

WARNING: PLAGIARISM IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN.

-In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be givena zero forthis activity, regardless of any disciplinary process  that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

 

Bibliography

References:

 

Arendt, H. La promesa de la política. Madrid: Alianza, 2008.

____. La condición humana. Barcelona, Paidós, 2005.

Benjamin, W. Tesis sobre la filosofía de la historia. Madrid: Abada, 2008.

Foucault, M. Nietzsche, la Genealogía, la Historia. Pre-textos, 2014.

Fukuyama, F. "The end of History?", National Interest - summer 1989.

Hegel, F. La fenomenología del espíritu. México: FCE, 1985.

____. Lecciones sobre la Filosofía de la historia universal. Madrid: Alianza, 2019.

Heidegger, M. El ser y el tiempo. FCE, 2018.

Honneth, A. La lucha por el reconocimiento. Barcelona, Crítica, 1997.

Kant, I.  Ideas para una historia universal en clave cosmopolita y otros escritos sobre filosofía de la historia. Madrid: Tecnos, 2010.

____. ¿Qué es la Ilustración? Madrid: Alianza, 2009.

Kojève, A. Introducción a la lectura de Hegel, Trotta, 2013.

Lyotard, J.F. La posmodernidad (explicada a los niños). Barcelona: Gedisa, 1988.

Marx, K. Manuscritos de economía y filosofía. Madrid: Alianza, 2001.

____. Manifiesto Comunista. Madrid: Alianza, 2008.

____. Introducción a la Crítica de la Economía Política. Madrid: Siglo XXI eds. 2008.

Nietzsche, F. Segunda consideración intempestiva. Tecnos, 2018.

Rorty, R.; Schneewind, J. B.; y Skinner, Q. La Filosofía en la historia. Barcelona: Paidós, 1990.

 

Further Readings:

 

Atkinson, Ronald F. Knowledge and Explanation in History. Londres: MacMillan, 1989.

Burns, Robert M. y HughRayment-Pickard. Philosophies of History: from Enlightenment to Post-modernity, Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.

Cruz, M. La filosofía de la historia, Barcelona: Paidós, 2008

Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat. Bosquejo de un cuadro histórico de los progresos del espíritu humano. Madrid: Editora nacional, 1980.

Collingwood, R. G. Idea de la Historia. México. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2004.

Danto, Arthur. Historia y narración. Barcelona: Paidós, 1989.

Day, Marc. The Philosophy of History, Londres, Nueva York: Continuum,2008.

Löwith, K. Historia del mundo y salvación. Katz, 2007.

Löwith, K. De Hegel à Nietzsche. Gallimard, 1969.

Mate, R. (ed.), Filosofía de la historia. Madrid: Trotta, 2005.

Walsh, W. Introducción a la filosofía de la historia, 1968.


Software

"No specfic software is required"


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed