90068 - History of Philosophy from Renaissance to Enlightenment (2) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide depth knowledge on modern philosophical culture of the period that goes from fifteenth to the eighteenth century, with particular interest for Renaissance philosophical texts, seventeenth century philosophy and and Enlightenment philosophy. In this perspective, which focuses on modernity and its origins, specific themes will be examined and classical texts questioned, contextualizing their analysis in the framework of long-term traditions, but also underlining moments of crisis and rupture with the past. The aim of the course is to allow students to autonomously face the reading of philosophical texts in a historical perspective; to perceive the relevance of historiographical and methodological questions related to periodization and polarity between continuity and disruption; to know the main lines of modern and contemporary historiography, acquiring, at the same time, the awareness of the problematic nature and complexity of philosophical research.

Course contents

Course Title: The power of God, the freedom of man and ‘innocent nature’ in the early modern age

Necessity and choice, determinism and the possibility of free, creative action in man are philosophical and theological themes that permeate the history of thought in a diachronic and consistently problematic way. The course proposes a return to certain fundamental turning points in the debate of the early modern age, focusing in particular on reflections about the condition of Adam. A condition which represents an essential point of comparison in defining the intrinsic characteristics of human nature before and after the loss of original perfection on the one hand, and the physical, intellectual and moral consequences of man's act of transgression and decadence on the other.

 

Module 2: Images of Adam and interpretations of original sin in modern philosophy

Discussed since the early centuries of the Christianity Era with great theoretical intensity and authority, principally by Augustine, the theme of original sin, as revived by Luther with the utmost radicalism, also occupies an important position in modern philosophical debate, in terms of both its traditional meanings and new interpretations. The story of the Genesis and the disobedience of the progenitors gave rise, on the one hand, to important philosophical issues such as the origin of evil and its entry into history; man's loss of communion with the truth; his descent into suffering, passion and injustice; the possibility of knowledge and the morality of a corrupt nature.

On the other hand, between the 16th and 17th centuries, when the debate around the nature of new populations triggered by geographical discoveries put the subject of the origin of man back under the spotlight, the traditional creationist and ethnocentric vision of Jewish-Christian origin was supplanted by new, non-creationist models. These models instead considered the birth of man in the light of polygenesis and spontaneity, thus calling into question both the unity of human history and the uniqueness and universality of the history of salvation and redemption that Christ represented.

The course will illustrate the strengths of some of these debates –the first part focusing on texts by Giordano Bruno and Isaac de La Peyrère, and the second part on writings by Spinoza, Locke and Kant.

Readings/Bibliography

1. During the classes will be read pages from the following texts:

G. Bruno, Spaccio de la bestia trionfante in Id., Dialoghi filosofici italiani, a cura e con un saggio introduttivo di M. Ciliberto, Milano, Mondadori, 2000, Dialogo terzo, pp. 595-668;

I. Kant, Congetture sull’origine della storia, in Id., Scritti di storia, politica e diritto, a cura di F. Gonnelli, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2009;

I. Kant, La religione entro i limiti della semplice ragione, a cura di V. Cicero e M. Roncoroni, Milano, Bompiani, 2001;

I. Kant, Lezioni di filosofia della religione, a cura di C. Esposito, Napoli, Bibliopolis, 1988;

I. La Peyrère, I preadamiti, a cura di G. Lucchesini e P. Totaro, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2004;

J. Locke, La ragionevolezza del cristianesimo, in Id., Scritti etico-religiosi, a cura di M. Sina, Torino, Utet, 2000, pp. 285-429;

B. Spinoza, Carteggio con van Blijenbergh, in Id., Opere, a cura di F. Mignini e O. Proietti, Milano, Mondadori, 2015, pp. 1335-1390.

2. In addition to in-depth knowledge of the texts referred to in paragraph 1, all studens must read one of the following essays:

Adam, la nature humaine, avant et après. Epistemologie de la Chute, sous la direction de G. Briguglia et I. Rosier-Catach, Paris, Publications de la Sorbonne, 2016;

P. Almond, Adam and Eve in the Seventeenth Century Thought, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994;

G. Briguglia, Stato d’innocenza. Adamo, Eva e la filosofia politica medievale, Roma, Carocci, 2017;

J. Delumeau, Il peccato e la paura. L’idea di colpa in occidente dal XIII al XVIII secolo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1987;

Favole, metafore, storie. Seminario su Giordano Bruno, a cura di O. Catanoerchi e D. Pirillo, Introduzione di M. Ciliberto, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2007;

K. Flasch, Eva e Adamo. Metamorfosi di un mito, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2007;

G. Gliozzi, Adamo e il Nuovo Mondo. La nascita dell’antropologia come ideologia coloniale. Dalle genealogie bibliche alle teorie razziali (1500-1700), Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1977;

P. Harrison, The Fall of Man and the Foundation of Science, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007;

W. M. Spellmann, John Locke and the Problem of Depravity, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1988.

N.B.: The course program is the same, as for attending and not attending students. Anyway, students who cannot attend classes or who don't know Italian may contact the teacher (in office hours, and not by e-mail) to decide upon any additional or alternative readings.

Teaching methods

The course consists of 15 lessons.

Since it is a course/seminar, attending students will be encouraged to conduct brief individual works of critical analysis on topics or authors relating to the course contents.

These works will have value to the examination.

The course will be held in the second semester and will start on March 20, 2023.

Timetable

- Monday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Room E, Via Zamboni 34;

- Tuesday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Room E, Via Zamboni 34;

- Thursday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Room C, Via Zamboni 34.

Office hours: Prof. Scapparone will receive students on Thursday, h. 16-18 p.m.

Assessment methods

Final oral examination.

Students who have attended the course will be able, if they wish, to integrate the examination with short essays or presentations on topics agreed with the teacher.

In accordance with the class, a written text on a specific part of the program could be organized. Detailed procedures about this text shall be laid down at the beginning of the course.

Assessment criteria

The goal of the exam is to measure the achievement of the following learning objectives:

- Analysis and interpretation of the texts commented on in class;

- Knowledge of secondary literature works listed in the bibliography, combined with the ability to learn how to reference them in autonomous and critical forms;

- Knowledge of the history of modern philosophy.

The student's ability to learn how to operate with confidence and autonomy within the sources and the secondary literature and the possession of a language and forms of expression appropriate to the discipline will be assessed in a particular manner.

Assessment thresholds

30 with distinction: Excellent results for the solidity of skills, wealth of critical articulation, expressive properties and maturity.

30: Excellent result: complete and well-articulated knowledge of themes addressed in lessons, with critical ideas, and illustrated with adequate expressive features.

29-27: Good result: complete knowledge and adequately contestualized, fundamentally correct presentation.

26-24: Moderate result: knowledge is present in the essential areas, though not thorough and not always articulated correctly.

23-21: Sufficient result: superficial or purely mnemonic understanding of the subject, confused articulation of the presentation, with often inappropriate expression.

20-18: Barely sufficient result: knowledge of the subject, articulation during discussions and methods of expression demonstrate considerable gaps in understanding.

< 18: Insufficient result, exam failed. The student is invited to attend a subsequent exam session where the essential skills have not been acquired, lacking the ability to orient themselves within the subjects of the course and of the same discipline and where the methods of expression demonstrate considerable gaps in understanding.

Teaching tools

Slides and photocopies (limited to hard to find texts);

Advanced seminars;

Any individualized works.

Office hours

See the website of Elisabetta Scapparone