Università Roma Tre

The course aims to provide conceptual and historical tools around the philosophy of action, focusing on the analysis of the relationship between free will, determinism, intentionality, everyday life and the clothes of action. The first module is aimed at providing both a synthetic overview of the theories on free will in correlation also with the contemporary debate. The second module will focus on the specificity of habitual actions, which philosophy, also of analytical matrix, has only recently resumed to deal with, in a close dialogue with psychology, sociology and neuroscience. To this end, Bill Pollard's recent theory on habitual actions will be compared with elements derived from the nineteenth and twentieth century philosophical and psychological tradition, in order to identify the key elements for reflection on the relationship between action, freedom and habits.

Unit 1:
1. M. De Caro, A. Lavazza, G. Sartori (a cura di), Siamo davvero liberi? Le neuroscienze e il mistero del libero arbitrio, Torino, Codice, 2019 (limitedly to Chapters 2, 3, 4, 9 and 12)

Unit 2:
2. M. Piazza, “Credenze, disposizioni, effetti e regimi”, in Id., Creature dell’abitudine. Abito, costume, seconda natura da Aristotele alle scienze cognitive, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2018, pp. 131-165 (§§ 1-5).
3. B. Pollard, “Habitual Actions”, in T. O’Connor, C. Sandis (ed. by), A Companion to the Philosophy of Action, Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, pp. 74-81 (an Italian translation will be provided by the teacher for educational purposes).
4. B. Pollard, “Identification, Psychology, and Habits”, in New Waves in Philosophy of Action, edited by J. Aguilar, A. Buckareff and K. Frankish, 8 New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, pp. 81–97 (an Italian translation will be provided by the teacher for educational purposes).