Teaching code

4S011619

Credits

6

Coordinator

Davide Bondì

Language

Italian

Also offered in courses:

• Italian philosophy of the course Master's degree in Philosophy
• Italian philosophy - Lezione of the course Master's degree in Philosophy
• Italian philosophy - Esercitazione of the course Master's degree in Philosophy

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

M-FIL/06 - HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

Courses Single

Authorized

Moodle Seminars 0

The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning objectives

The course aims to promote knowledge of the philosophies that occurred in Italy, choosing, from year to year, individual voices, texts or currents in a very broad time span, ranging from Humanism to contemporary debate. Students are expected to acquire the ability to read and understand the sources, assimilate their terminology and establish relationships between ideas and historical contexts. The expected learning outcomes are: - Knowledge: 1) Knowledge and ability to understand the major exponents of Italian philosophy; 2) Knowledge and ability to understand some of the most important texts of Italian thought; 3) Knowledge and ability to understand the theoretical proposals of the national tradition in their relations with European philosophy - Skills: 1) Application of acquired knowledge and comprehension skills to the critical reading and commentary of philosophical texts belonging to the tradition in question, evidenced by the acquisition of appropriate vocabulary and the ability to identify interpretive problems and propose possible solutions; 2) Development of autonomous judgment and independent reasoning skills; 3) Development of communication skills in the following activities: participating in guided discussions, expounding one's own ideas and defending them with arguments, and possibly presenting short papers in class; 4) Development of independent learning skills through appropriate methodology of study and interpretation of texts.

Prerequisites and basic notions

Fundamental notions of modern and contemporary philosophy acquired with the Bachelor's Degree.

Program

LESSONS Radical thought – 1 – Giulio Preti and Enzo Paci The course is the first stage of an investigation into 'radical thought' in Italy from the post-war period to the present. 'Radical thought' refers to the critical theories that have placed themselves in a relationship of strong tension with the historicist readings of Marxism. In this first cycle (current academic year), the conceptions of Giulio Preti and Enzo Paci will be examined. In 1957, Preti published Praxis and empirism, in which he established an operational association between the notion of 'sensitive self-consciousness' and the 'verification principle', to found a philosophy that «is placed with maximum energy from a democratic point of view». His attempt to merge Marxism and neo-pragmatism (John Dewey) will be retraced in the four initial lessons. In 1963, Paci published Funzione delle scienze e significato dell'uomo where he intertwined the notion of praxis with that of Lebenswelt or life world. His intent to articulate Marxism and phenomenology (Edmund Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre) will be examined in the remaining lectures. In both proposals the polemic against metaphysical or ontological dialectics is very evident, in favor of a practical-critical or vitalistic conception. These debates will be historically placed as responses of specific intellectual circles to the denunciations of Stalin's crimes (February 1956) and to the repression of the Hungarian Insurrection (November 1956). Responses through which it is intended to distance oneself not only from Soviet ideology (the dialectical materialist ontology, precisely, or "diamat"), but also from Italian historicist Marxism, which Norberto Bobbio believed could be traced back to a "rhetorical-humanistic culture". We are on the threshold of a process of revision of Marxian philosophy that constitutes the primary scene of contemporary Italian thought. [It is anticipated here that a second course (Radical thought - 2 - Mario Tronti and Toni Negri), to be held after this one, probably in the academic year 2026-2027, will focus on the rereading of Marxism attempted by exponents of workerism (Raniero Panzieri, Mario Tronti) and by Toni Negri. The two stages mentioned, of course, do not intend to exhaust the directions of Italian anti-dialectical Marxism, among which that of Galvano Della Volpe, Lucio Colletti and Nicolao Merker stands out] EXERCISES Writing exercises and expositions will be organised, followed by discussions (see teaching methods) aimed at exploring the issues that emerged in the lessons. In particular, short texts by Eugenio Garin, Cesare Luporini and Franco Fortini will be assigned, who – from the pages of «Società» – carried out a close examination of the positions of Preti and Paci and, on the other hand, of Franco Fergnani, Fulvio Papi, Armanda Giambrocono and Guido Davide Neri, who – from the pages of «Passato e Presente» – supported them. A little-known text by Umberto Eco, which appeared in 1962 in «Rinascita», will be useful in signalling the transition from the “Machiavelli moment” to the “Rousseau moment” of critical philosophy in Italy. The last two exercises will host contributions from Prof. Giuseppe Cospito of the University of Pavia and Dr. Elia Zaru of the University of Milan.

Didactic methods

The course will be held in accordance with the University provisions regarding COVID-19. The course will be divided into two parts: 24 hours of lectures (=4 CFU) and 24 hours of exercises (=2 CFU). Only the lectures will be recorded and made available online. In the lectures, the teacher will provide the historical, theoretical and historiographical coordinates relating to the chosen topic according to a traditional method of exposition, always open to discussion and active participation of the students. In the second part of the course, the teaching method will be declined in a seminar sense with discussions initially guided by the teacher, reports by the students and/or writing exercises, contributions from experts in the discipline. The ways of interaction and collaboration between the teacher and the students, but above all between the students themselves, will in any case be the subject of experimentation and possible redefinition during the lessons, in light of the number of attendees, their possible proposals and specific training needs. The active and proactive contribution of the students will be a crucial factor in co-constructing the common path. Non-attending students must contact the teacher to agree on alternative and substitute teaching/learning methods.

Learning assessment procedures

Oral exam for the first part of the course + exercises (or substitute activity) for the second part of the course. The oral exam will be the same for attending and non-attending students, and will focus on: 1) the presentation and commentary of the texts examined in the lessons: in particular, on chapters I, II, V, VII, VIII and IX of Giulio Preti, Praxis ed empirismo, Milan, Bruno Mondadori 2007 (130 pages – small format) and on the first part and some paragraphs of the third part of Enzo Paci, Funzione delle scienze e significato dell'uomo, Milan, Il Saggiatore 1963 (100 pages). The teacher will make the handouts of the last text available at a copy shop. 2) On the complete reading of Roberto Gronda, Filosofie della praxis. Preti e Dewey, Edizioni della normale, Pisa 2013 (100 pages small format) and on Carlo Sini, Enzo Paci, Milan, Feltrinelli 2015 (130 pages in small format). The exercises carried out in class will be sufficient to establish the corresponding grade for attending students. The assessment methods for non-attending students will include additional study of the texts covered in the exercises (as mentioned, 8 articles or short essays, if you prefer).

Evaluation criteria

1) possession of fundamental concepts; 2) ability to present clearly and with proper language; 3) ability to analyze texts; 4) autonomy of thought.

Criteria for the composition of the final grade

The final grade will be expressed in thirtieths and will be the result of a synthetic judgment, which takes into account all the evaluation criteria in line with the nature and specificities of the discipline.

Exam language

italiano, inglese, tedesco