28013 - History of Philosophy (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide general and at the same time in-depth knowledge of the history of modern and contemporary philosophical thought. The lessons will focus on specific themes, contextualising their analysis in the context of long-term traditions. The aim of the course is to put the student in a position to face the reading of classical texts independently and to orient himself among the main interpretative and historiographical lines.

Course contents

Heterogenesis of ends and spontaneous order

Through the reading of some pages from classics of modern and contemporary philosophy (among which Mandeville, Vico, Ferguson, Smith, Kant and Hegel), some crucial problems of reflection on the logic of the historical process will be examined. The idea that human history is governed by a logic that transcends the conscious will of individuals and collectivities seems to resist the collapse of the providential scheme, and to constitute a tenacious link between the modern vision of history and previous representations. But the perspective changes, because chance or the reproductive logic of the economic-social system replace providence.

 

Class schedule

Monday, Wednesday, 3-5 pm, classroom I, via Zamboni, 38 (and, on line, via Teams)

Tuesday, 3-5 pm, classroom IV, via Zamboni, 38 (and, on line, via Teams)

 

Starting date of the lectures

September 21, 2020

Readings/Bibliography

1. Basic texts (two of your choice)

Bernard Mandeville, La Favola delle api. Vizi privati e pubbliche virtù, Bur, Milano 2011

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, Le ricchezze, il progresso e la storia universale, ed. by R. Finzi, Einaudi, Torino 1978

Adam Ferguson, Saggio sulla storia della società civile, Vallecchi, Firenze 1973

Adam Smith, Lezioni sulla “Jurisprudence” 1763-64, in Id., Lezioni di Glasgow, ed. by E. Pesciarelli, Giuffrè, Milano 1989, pp. 507-733

Immanuel Kant, Scritti di storia, politica e diritto, ed. by F. Gonnelli, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1999

Carl Menger, Sul metodo delle scienze sociali, ed. by R. Cubeddu, liberilibri, Macerata 1996

Friedrich August von Hayek, Legge, legislazione e libertà, il Saggiatore, Milano 1986

 

2. Texts commented in class (at the end of the course made available online in Teaching materials)

 

3. Secondary literature (two of your choice)

Karl Löwith, Significato e fine della storia. I presupposti teologici della filosofia della storia (1949), il Saggiatore, Milano 1989

Ronald L. Meek, Il cattivo selvaggio (1976), il Saggiatore, Milano 1981

Albert O. Hirschman, Le passioni e gli interessi. Argomenti politici in favore del capitalismo prima del suo trionfo (1977), Feltrinelli, Milano 1979

M. Emanuela Scribano, Natura umana e società competitiva. Studio su Mandeville, Feltrinelli, Milano 1980

Otto Mayr, La bilancia e l’orologio. Libertà e autorità nel pensiero politico dell’Europa moderna (1986), il Mulino, Bologna 1988

Alberto Burgio, Strutture e catastrofi. Kant, Hegel, Marx, Editori Riuniti, Roma 2000

Massimo Mori, Libertà, necessità, determinismo, il Mulino, Bologna 2001

Stefano Fiori, Ordine, mano invisibile, mercato. Una rilettura di Adam Smith, Utet, Torino 2001

Roberto Finzi, La superiore prosperità delle società civilizzate. Adam Smith e la divisione del lavoro, clueb, Bologna 2008

Alberto Burgio, Il sogno di una cosa. Per Marx, DeriveApprodi, Roma 2018

 

4. Institutional part

For the purposes of the examination, the knowledge of the fundamental authors of the history of philosophy between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries will be required (see the list below).

List of authors to prepare for the exam:

Vico, Berkeley, Hume, Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, Montesquieu, Condillac, Rousseau, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Tocqueville, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Comte, Bentham, Mill, Nietzsche, Freud, Sorel, Croce, Gentile, Benjamin, Wittgenstein, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Schmitt, Kelsen, Gadamer, la scuola di Francoforte, Deleuze, Althusser, Foucault, Derrida, Lévinas, Habermas, Rawls.

The program is the same for attending and non-attending students. Thus, for everyone, the exam interview will also focus on the subject covered in class.

 

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures with discussion in class of the crucial issues.

Assessment methods

The final oral exam focuses on the program’s material.

It usually takes place at the Professor’s office (via Zamboni, 38 - 5.08); due to the health emergency, exams may take place remotely on the Teams platform.

The evaluation considers the degree of learning of the fundamental notions, the level of the argumentative competence, expressive property and the critical skills of candidates.

On the basis of these parameters an overall evaluation in thirtieths is expressed, according to the following judgment criteria:

18-21 Sufficient

22-25 Average

26-28 Good-Very Good

29-30 Excellent.

Office hours

See the website of Alberto Burgio