History of Political Thought
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to provide students with the acquisition of theoretical, methodological and critical tools proper to the history of political thought. The student will acquire the ability to apply the knowledge learned in the context of the history of political thought for the purpose of a critical re-elaboration of the problems and will be able to express critical judgments. At the end of the course, students will have achieved the ability to communicate clearly, and to write in a correct way, synthetic considerations on the main issues of modern and contemporary politics, critically reshaping ideas and theses put forward by the main authors who have contributed to the Western political and philosophical tradition.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student:
1. will have a fully adequate knowledge of the theories and themes in the history of political thought and will be able to identify and discuss their critical points;
2. will have a systematic and in-depth knowledge of the history of political thought from ancient times to contemporary times, acquired through the reading of the classics and the study of secondary literature.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student:
1. will be able to apply appropriately the knowledge and critical skills acquired from the study of the history of political thought in order to make critical judgments in different areas of contemporary concrete reality;
2. will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in order to develop the ability to discuss and compare different theoretical and cultural perspectives;
3. will be able to apply with mastery the methodology of historical-political research and will be able to produce original research.
At the end of the course, the student:
1. will have a fully adequate knowledge of the theories and themes in the history of political thought and will be able to identify and discuss their critical points;
2. will have a systematic and in-depth knowledge of the history of political thought from ancient times to contemporary times, acquired through the reading of the classics and the study of secondary literature.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student:
1. will be able to apply appropriately the knowledge and critical skills acquired from the study of the history of political thought in order to make critical judgments in different areas of contemporary concrete reality;
2. will be able to apply the acquired knowledge in order to develop the ability to discuss and compare different theoretical and cultural perspectives;
3. will be able to apply with mastery the methodology of historical-political research and will be able to produce original research.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The course will be devoted to clarifying the multiple dimensions of the concept of recognition and its different reformulations in contemporary philosophical and political reflection. Obligatory starting point will be Hegel's elaborations in the Jena period. Desire for the other, struggle or conflict over recognition, recognition of the other and self-knowledge, self-consciousness, intersubjectivity are all closely intertwined concepts in the pages of the Jena writings and those of the Phenomenology of Spirit. Having delineated the Hegelian constellation of Anerkennung in its underlying articulations, we will proceed to study how the category of recognition has returned to the center of philosophical and political debate in the last three decades. While particular attention will be paid to the successive reformulations proposed by Axel Honneth, careful attention will also be paid to different philosophical voices on the contemporary scene, from that of Paul Ricoeur to that of Judith Butler, for example, and to some significant elaborations in the social sciences, such as those of Donald Winnicott and Alessandro Pizzorno, among others, may be. New conceptualizations, such as those related to non-recognition and its consequences, the so-called misrecognition, will thus be reckoned with, and the distinctive features of political recognition and legal recognition will be examined.
Prerequisites for admission
This course is reserved for master's degree students and assumes as a prerequisite the basic knowledge of the history of modern philosophy, the history of contemporary philosophy and the history of political thought acquired during the three-year course of study.
Teaching methods
The course will start with some general lectures by the professor, but will
requires the active participation of students through presentation of papers, group work and classroom discussions.
At the end of each lecture, space will be left for discussion of the main conceptual issues addressed. Every two to three weeks a few lectures will be devoted to the presentation of group work prepared by students.
requires the active participation of students through presentation of papers, group work and classroom discussions.
At the end of each lecture, space will be left for discussion of the main conceptual issues addressed. Every two to three weeks a few lectures will be devoted to the presentation of group work prepared by students.
Teaching Resources
Program for attending and non-attending students
1. First part:
G.W.F. Hegel, «Fenomenologia dello Spirito», con testo tedesco a fronte, introduzione, traduzione, note e apparati di Vincenzo Cicero, Milano, Bompiani, 2017 [other translations of the Hegelian text are not accepted]:
- «Prefazione» e «Introduzione», pp. 42-167;
- cap. IV «La verità della certezza di se stesso», pp. 260-331.
2. Second part:
A. Honneth, Lotta per il riconoscimento. Proposte per un'etica del conflitto,
Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2002
Axel Honneth, Riconoscimento. Storia di un'idea europea, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2019.
or
Axel Honneth, La libertà negli altri. Saggi di filosofia sociale, a cura di Barbara Carnevali, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017
3. Third part:
Students are required to bring ONE of the following texts to the exam:
- Paul Ricoeur, Percorsi del riconoscimento, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2005;
- Judith Butler, Soggetti di desiderio, presentazione di A. Cavarero, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009;
- Alessandro Pizzorno, Il velo della diversità. Studi su razionalità e riconoscimento, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2007;
- Frantz Fanon, Pelle nera, maschere bianche, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2015.
Students are required to bring ONE of the following texts to the exam:
- Recognition and Ambivalence, ed. by H. Ikäheimo, K. Lepold, and T. Stahl, New York, Columbia University Press, 2021 [includes chapters by A. Honneth, J. Butler, A. Allen, D. Owen, among others];
- Axel Honneth - Jacques Rancière, Recognition or Disagreement. A Critical Encounter on the Politics of Freedom, Equality, and Identity, ed. by K. Genel and J.-P. Deranty, New York, Columbia University Press, 2016;
- La reconnaissance avant la reconnaissance. Archéologie d'une problématique moderne, sous la direction de F. Toto, T. Pénigaud de Mourgues et E. Renault, Lyon, ENS Éditions, 2017;
- La reconnaissance aujourd'hui, sous la direction de A. Caillé et C. Lazzeri, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2009.
The 6 CFU exam program for attending and non-attending students includes preparation of part 1 and part 2.
General notices:
1. The professor is willing to agree to partial changes in the syllabus at the substantiated request of students made during office hours.
2. International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to make timely contact with the professor in charge of the course.
3. Examination arrangements for students with disabilities and/or with DSA must be agreed with the professor, in consultation with the appropriate office.
4. Students who have NOT taken the examination of "History of Political Philosophy" in the bachelor's degree are required to bring the following textbook to the examination: B. Henry, A. Loretoni, A. Pirni, M. Solinas, eds., «Filosofia politica», Milano, Mondadori Università, 2020. Students in this situation should discuss with the professor in order to have a partial reduction of the program.
5. The course syllabus may be subject to minor changes, also depending on the commercial availability of some texts. The final version of the syllabus will be uploaded to the course teaching site before the start of classes at the beginning of the second semester.
1. First part:
G.W.F. Hegel, «Fenomenologia dello Spirito», con testo tedesco a fronte, introduzione, traduzione, note e apparati di Vincenzo Cicero, Milano, Bompiani, 2017 [other translations of the Hegelian text are not accepted]:
- «Prefazione» e «Introduzione», pp. 42-167;
- cap. IV «La verità della certezza di se stesso», pp. 260-331.
2. Second part:
A. Honneth, Lotta per il riconoscimento. Proposte per un'etica del conflitto,
Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2002
Axel Honneth, Riconoscimento. Storia di un'idea europea, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2019.
or
Axel Honneth, La libertà negli altri. Saggi di filosofia sociale, a cura di Barbara Carnevali, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017
3. Third part:
Students are required to bring ONE of the following texts to the exam:
- Paul Ricoeur, Percorsi del riconoscimento, Milano, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2005;
- Judith Butler, Soggetti di desiderio, presentazione di A. Cavarero, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009;
- Alessandro Pizzorno, Il velo della diversità. Studi su razionalità e riconoscimento, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2007;
- Frantz Fanon, Pelle nera, maschere bianche, Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2015.
Students are required to bring ONE of the following texts to the exam:
- Recognition and Ambivalence, ed. by H. Ikäheimo, K. Lepold, and T. Stahl, New York, Columbia University Press, 2021 [includes chapters by A. Honneth, J. Butler, A. Allen, D. Owen, among others];
- Axel Honneth - Jacques Rancière, Recognition or Disagreement. A Critical Encounter on the Politics of Freedom, Equality, and Identity, ed. by K. Genel and J.-P. Deranty, New York, Columbia University Press, 2016;
- La reconnaissance avant la reconnaissance. Archéologie d'une problématique moderne, sous la direction de F. Toto, T. Pénigaud de Mourgues et E. Renault, Lyon, ENS Éditions, 2017;
- La reconnaissance aujourd'hui, sous la direction de A. Caillé et C. Lazzeri, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2009.
The 6 CFU exam program for attending and non-attending students includes preparation of part 1 and part 2.
General notices:
1. The professor is willing to agree to partial changes in the syllabus at the substantiated request of students made during office hours.
2. International or Erasmus incoming students are invited to make timely contact with the professor in charge of the course.
3. Examination arrangements for students with disabilities and/or with DSA must be agreed with the professor, in consultation with the appropriate office.
4. Students who have NOT taken the examination of "History of Political Philosophy" in the bachelor's degree are required to bring the following textbook to the examination: B. Henry, A. Loretoni, A. Pirni, M. Solinas, eds., «Filosofia politica», Milano, Mondadori Università, 2020. Students in this situation should discuss with the professor in order to have a partial reduction of the program.
5. The course syllabus may be subject to minor changes, also depending on the commercial availability of some texts. The final version of the syllabus will be uploaded to the course teaching site before the start of classes at the beginning of the second semester.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The exam consists of a preliminary written test, on a topic to be agreed upon, to be handed in to the professor at least two weeks before the oral exam, and an oral test, aimed at ascertaining in-depth knowledge of the texts and topics on the syllabus.
In the oral test, in particular, the degree of understanding and punctual knowledge of the texts will be assessed first: students will have to show that they can deal with philosophical texts in a rigorous and critical manner, contextualizing them and recognizing the conceptual, argumentative and rhetorical devices at work in them. In the oral test, moreover, students' ability to master the main philosophical problems addressed and to discuss general issues by adopting the appropriate methodological perspectives will be assessed. Students will have to show that they are able to discuss the arguments of the different authors, and the main problems addressed, making use of appropriate vocabulary and taking into account the most important contributions of the relevant historiography.
In summary, the following will be assessed during the tests:
- the knowledge of the historical and conceptual aspects addressed during the course (knowledge and understanding);
- the ability to analyze texts, their argumentative structures, and the metaphorical networks employed (knowledge and understanding);
- the autonomy of judgment and ability to apply the concepts learned to contemporary issues (autonomy of judgment and ability to apply knowledge and understanding);
- clarity of exposition and appropriateness of philosophical language employed (communication skills).
Students are required to bring texts with them at the time of the oral test: the examination may begin by reading and commenting on a few significant passages from a philosophical work discussed in the course.
In the oral test, in particular, the degree of understanding and punctual knowledge of the texts will be assessed first: students will have to show that they can deal with philosophical texts in a rigorous and critical manner, contextualizing them and recognizing the conceptual, argumentative and rhetorical devices at work in them. In the oral test, moreover, students' ability to master the main philosophical problems addressed and to discuss general issues by adopting the appropriate methodological perspectives will be assessed. Students will have to show that they are able to discuss the arguments of the different authors, and the main problems addressed, making use of appropriate vocabulary and taking into account the most important contributions of the relevant historiography.
In summary, the following will be assessed during the tests:
- the knowledge of the historical and conceptual aspects addressed during the course (knowledge and understanding);
- the ability to analyze texts, their argumentative structures, and the metaphorical networks employed (knowledge and understanding);
- the autonomy of judgment and ability to apply the concepts learned to contemporary issues (autonomy of judgment and ability to apply knowledge and understanding);
- clarity of exposition and appropriateness of philosophical language employed (communication skills).
Students are required to bring texts with them at the time of the oral test: the examination may begin by reading and commenting on a few significant passages from a philosophical work discussed in the course.
SPS/02 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL THOUGHT - University credits: 9
Lessons: 60 hours
Professor:
Geuna Marco
Professor(s)