75834 - History of Humanist Philosophy

Learning outcomes

Through texts and authors deemed to be emblematic, the course aims at the acquisition of basic knowledge regarding philosophy from the second half of the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. Students will be led to recognize the main topics of Italian humanism and grasp relationships and intersections between speculative thought, philology and theory of the arts. One course objective is to enable students to master the lexis (Latin and Italian) of humanistic philosophy and be versed in the main historians’ interpretations as to Renaissance movements.

Course contents

The Italian Religious Problem in the Time of Machiavelli

The course will take its cue from a detailed and precise commentary on some chapters of the Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy (Book I, Chapters 11-14, and especially the surprising Book II, Chapter 2). The objective will be to show the continuity of a critique of religion from Machiavelli to the works of Bruno and Spinoza, reconsidering in them the religion-politics nexus.

During the lessons, little consideration will be given to the influences on Machiavelli from the criticisms of Catholicism made by evangelism starting from 1520. Instead, it will be shown how the Machiavellian reasons were influenced by the philosophical religion-politics nexus coming from Aristotelianism, Averroism, the late Byzantine neo-paganism of Plethon (whose main text is titled Book of Laws), along with the influence of Ficino’s commentary (a friend of Bernardo, Machiavelli’s father) on the main political works of Plato.

Readings/Bibliography

Bibliography

Niccolò Machiavelli, Opere, edited by Rinaldo Rinaldi, Vol. I, Tome I and II, Torino: UTET, 1999. Alternatively, any other edition of the Discourses can be used.

Roberto Ridolfi, La vita di Niccolò Machiavelli, Firenze: Sansoni, 1978.

Hans Baron, La crisi del primo Rinascimento italiano: umanesimo civile e libertà repubblicana in un'età di classicismo e di tirannide, Firenze, Sansoni, 1970.

Eugenio Garin, Il platonismo come ideologia della sovversione europea. La polemica antiplatonica di Giorgio Trapezunzio (Platonism as an Ideology of European Subversion. The Anti-Platonic Polemic of George of Trebizond), in E. Hora, E. Kessler, eds., Studia Humanitatis. Ernesto Grassi zum 70. Geburtstag, Munich, W. Fink, 1973, pp. 113-120.

Teaching methods

lectures. During class the teacher reads, translates and comments on relevant textual passages and thematic nodes.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: Students are recommended to bring the texts when examining.
Students who have attended lectures may agree on exams (whether written or oral) devoted to specific topics.

Assessment criteria and thresholds of evaluation:

30 cum laude - Excellent as to knowledge, philosophical lexicon and critical expression.

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

27-29 – Good: thorough and satisfactory knowledge; essentially correct expression.

24-26 - Fairly good: knowledge broadly acquired, and not always correctely expressed.

21-23 – Sufficient: superficial and partial knowledge; exposure and articulation are incomplete and often not sufficiently appropriate

18-21 - Almost sufficient: superficial and decontextualized knowledge. The exposure of the contents shows important gaps.

Exam failed - Students are requested to show up at a subsequent exam session if basic skills and knowledge are not sufficiently acquired and not placed in the historical-philosophical context.

Teaching tools

Texts; during the course the teacher will provide handouts and translations students.

Office hours

See the website of Franco Bacchelli