00961 - History of Philosophy

Learning outcomes

The student, by the end of the course, understands the origin, structure, and purpose of the theories developed by various authors in the context of philosophical research and gains awareness of the complexity of philosophical inquiry.

Course contents

Course title: Prophecy, Utopia, Politics: Forms of the Future in Modern Philosophy

The relationship between prophecy and politics – and more generally, the centrality of the theological-political code – constitutes a crucial theme in historical-philosophical research at the origins of the modern era, beginning at least with the extraordinary experience of Girolamo Savonarola and the (often very sharp and articulated) judgments on the outcomes of his prophetic and political actions. These judgments will continue to resonate through the following centuries – from Niccolò Machiavelli to Gabriel Naudé, from Francesco Guicciardini to Pierre Bayle – intertwining with the principles of so-called 'political realism' and with a genuine, concerned attention toward the future, intensified by a continually lively debate on the nature and limits of true prophecy.

Moreover, during these years, a further peculiar model of political writing emerges, capable of combining – like prophecy, but in now secularized forms – analysis of the past, denunciation of injustices or present evils, and hypotheses for concrete intervention in history. Exemplary in this sense is the well-known archetype text by Thomas More, Utopia (1516), with its dialectic between disillusioned analysis of contemporary society and description of a distant happy society, a place of life according to nature and reason. Even more exemplary is Tommaso Campanella’s Città del Sole – a writer who assigns himself an important prophetic role and constructs his texts in a continuous interplay between theoretical and historical planes, deeply exploring the connection between poetry, prophecy, and politics.

If already in Jean Bodin, in polemic with Protestant philosophy of history, we witness the expulsion of prophetic time, sacred history and eschatology from the time of politics and human history, during the 17th century the cognitive nature of prophecy is decisively called into question, albeit from different angles and with different aims – from libertine disenchantment, critical re-elaboration of the connection between 'human prudence' and forecasting the future (as in the case of Hobbes), to the refusal to credit prophecy as a place of maximal enhancement of human knowledge. By erasing any possible interweaving between the eminence of prophetic language, the truth-authority of Scripture, and the legitimization, through this means, of religious prejudice, the false imaginary on God and theology itself as a system of superstition, control, and enslavement of individuals, Spinoza, in the incipit of his Theological-Political Treatise, makes the analysis of prophecy and prophets the true access path to any possible investigation into the problem of authority – of Scripture, theologians, and political powers, amid the discussions and urgencies of republican Netherlands of his time.

Starting from these considerations, the course aims to illustrate a series of possible configurations of the prophecy/politics binomial, which will have as its central reference points the figures of Savonarola, Bodin, Campanella and Spinoza – all significantly marked by a reflection on tyranny as the archetype and destiny of the worst politics, and all in dialogue with decisive aspects of Machiavelli’s thought.

Readings/Bibliography

1. During the lessons excerpts from the following texts will be examined. Their reading is mandatory for all students:

G. Savonarola, Compendio di rivelazioni e Dialogus de veritate prophetica, a cura di A. Crucitti, Roma, A. Belardetti, 1974, pp. 3-71, 122-125;

G. Savonarola, Contro gli astrologi, a cura di C. Gigante, Roma, Salerno, 2000, pp. 33-124;

G. Savonarola, Trattato sul governo di Firenze, introduzione di M. Ciliberto, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 2006 (or other editions);

J. Bodin, Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem, edizione, traduzione e commento a cura di S. Miglietti, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2013, cap. VII, pp. 609-627;

T. Campanella, La città del Sole, a cura di L. Firpo e G. Ernst, Roma-Bari Laterza, 1997 (or later editions);

T. Campanella, Del senso delle cose e della magia, a cura di G. Ernst, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2019;

B. Spinoza, Trattato teologico-politico, in Id., Opere, a cura e con un saggio introduttivo di F. Mignini, Milano, Mondadori, 2007, Prefazione e capp. 1-2, pp. 427-476 (other recommended edition: B. Spinoza, Trattato teologico-politico, a cura di E. Giancotti Boscherini, Postfazione di P. Totaro, Torino, Einaudi, 2007).

2. In addition of the in-depth knowledge of the texts referred to in paragraph 1, students must read an essay of their choice for each of the following groups:

Group A

M. Cacciari-P. Prodi, Occidente senza utopie, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2019;

V.I. Comparato, Utopia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006;

G. Imbruglia, Utopia. Una storia politica da Savonarola a Babeuf, Roma, Carocci,

Profezia, filosofia e prassi politica, a cura di G. Garfagnini, A. Rodolfi, Pisa, ETS, 2013;

La profezia nel pensiero del Rinascimento e della prima età moderna, a cura di G. Frilli, M. Lodone, Pisa, ETS 2022;

R. Rusconi, Profezia e profeti alla fine del Medioevo, Roma, Viella, 2011;

Utopia. Storia e teoria di un'esperienza filosofica e politica, a cura di C. Altini, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013;

M. Viroli, Tempi profetici. Visioni di emancipazione politica nella storia d'Italia, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2021.

Group B

M. Ciliberto, Niccolò Machiavelli. Ragione e pazzia, Roma-Bari, Laterza 2022;

G. Ernst, Tommaso Campanella. Il libro e il corpo della natura, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2010;

V. Frajese. Profezia e machiavellismo. Il giovane Campanella, Roma, Carocci, 2002;

G. Garfagnini, Questa è la terra tua. Savonarola a Firenze, Firenze, Sismel-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2000;

P. Grassi, L'interpretazione dell'immaginario. Uno studio in Spinoza, Pisa, ETS, 2002;

I. Melani, Il tribunale della storia. Leggere la Methodus di Jean Bodin, Firenze, Olschki, 2006;

S. Nadler, Un libro forgiato all'Inferno. Lo scandaloso Trattato di Spinoza e la nascita della secolarizzazione, Torino, Einaudi, 2022;

C. Vasoli, Ficino, Savonarola, Machiavelli. Studi di storia della cultura, Torino, Aragno, 2007;

L. Vinciguerra, Spinoza, Roma, Carocci, 2015;

D. Weinstein, Savonarola. Ascesa e caduta di un profeta del Rinascimento, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013.

3. For a general knowledge of the historical-philosophical context in which the authors covered by the course fit in, a selective consultation of one of the following manuals is recommended:

F. Cioffi et al., Il testo filosofico. Storia della filosofia: autori, opere, problemi, vol. 2: L'età moderna, Milano, B. Mondadori, 1995 (or later editions);

C. Esposito-P. Porro, I mondi della filosofia, vol. 2: Dall'Umanesimo all'Idealismo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2022;

L. Fonnesu, M. Vegetti et al., Le ragioni della filosofia, 2: Filosofia moderna, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2008 (or later editions);

Storia della filosofia occidentale, a cura di G. Cambiano, L. Fonnesu e M. Mori, vol. 2: Medioevo e Rinascimento; vol. 3: Dalla rivoluzione scientifica all'Illuminismo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

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 email) to decide upon any additional or alternative readings.

Teaching methods

The course, consisting of 30 lectures, will be mostly devoted to reading, text analysis and commentary. Students are therefore required to provide the texts at the start of the course.

The illustration of themes and concepts will be accompanied by the reconstruction of the cultural contexts and sources - both classical and modern - that have fuelled and enriched the reflection of the philosophers covered by this course.

Class attendance and direct participation of the students (either through discussion or the presentation of in-depth reports on particular topics) are strongly encouraged.

The course will be held in the first semester and will start on September 18, 2024.

Timetable:

- Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Room B, Complesso di S. Cristina, Piazzetta G. Morandi 2;

- Thursday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Room B, Complesso di S. Cristina, Piazzetta G. Morandi 2;

- Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Room B, Complesso di S. Cristina, Piazzetta G. Morandi 2.

Office hours: Prof. Scapparone will receive students on Thursday, h. 4-6 p.m. (by appointment, to be agreed with the teacher via email).

Assessment methods

Final oral examination.

Assessment criteria

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

1. Ability to navigate with confidence regarding the overall problem of the discipline and to comment analytically on the philosophical texts discussed during the lessons;

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

3. Basic knowledge of the history of philosophy in 15th-17th centuries.

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 cum laude: Excellent as to knowledge, terminology and critical expression.

30: Excellent: knowledge is complete, well articulated and correctly expressed, although with some slight faults.

29-27: Good: knowledge comprehensive and satisfactory, essentially correct expression.

26-24: Fairly good: knowledge present in significant points, but not complete and not always expressed with correctness.

23-21: Sufficient: knowledge is sometimes superficial, but the guiding general thread is included. Expression and articulation incomplete and often not appropriate.

20-18: Almost sufficient: but knowledge presents only on the surface. The guiding principle is not included with continuity. The expression and articulation of the speech show important gaps.

< 18: Not sufficient: knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of guidance in discipline, expression seriously deficient. Exam failed.

Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or temporary or permanent disabilities

It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance. The office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Slides;

Photocopies (limited to hard to find texts);

Advanced seminars;

Any individualized works.

Office hours

See the website of Elisabetta Scapparone