This course will consider major Italian political philosophers in the context of their era and in the light of theorists in other European countries. Through analysis of original works, students will improve Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Marsilio of Padua, Machiavelli, Campanella, Beccaria, Vico, Pareto, Gramsci and others as reflective of their eras and as important figures in the history of political philosophy. The topics will be presented through the comparison between different theories and their link with political and social Italian History. In particular, the course will review the question of national identity (also in reference to Italian contemporary society).
Attendance policy:
Successful progress of the program depends on the full cooperation of both students and faculty members: regular attendance and active participation in class are essential parts of the learning process. Attendance at and participation in all class meetings and field-studies are required. More than TWO unjustified absences (that are not medically excused with a written certificate of the doctor or caused by serious sudden family and/or personal occurrences, as for example death of a family member) will result in a lowering of your grade.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students are able to:
gain an essential knowledge of major Italian political philosophers, from Middle Ages to XX Century;
understand the main differences between unlike theories;
analyze the Italian civilization and social evolution from the political theory’s point of view.
Method of presentation:
Lectures and discussions supported by audiovisual material (excerpts from movies, analyses of artistic works, etc.); field study activities (‘Risorgimento’ at the municipal museum of Siena, Machiavelli’s Florence, etc.).
Required work and form of assessment:
Active participation and class discussions (10%); mid-term written exam (20%), 5-7 page research paper in Italian based on a subject suggested by the instructor at the beginning of the course (20%), oral presentation (10%), written final exam (40%).
content:
Introduction to the course; Middle Ages in Italy: general characteristics. Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 1-16).
Medieval thought: from Agostino to Scolastica.
Thomas Aquinas: historical-cultural context and general theoretical frame.
Thomas Aquinas: the political thought (natural and divine law; the polities; sovereignty and popular approval). Readings: Albertoni and Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri (course-pocket pp. 17-21 and 119-127).
Dante Alighieri’s political conception: the Monarchia; reading, analysis and interpretation of an exemplary text. Readings: Albertoni and Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri (course-pocket pp. 21-23 and 127-133).
Marsilio of Padua: historical-cultural context and general theoretical frame.
Marsilio of Padua: Defensor pacis (‘universitas civium’ and ‘pars valentior’; the controversy about theocracy); reading, analysis and interpretation of an exemplary text. Readings: Albertoni and Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri (course-pocket pp. 23-26 and 134).
Humanism, Renaissance and the birth of modern political thought.
Machiavelli: historical-biographical frame. Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 27-33).
Machiavelli: the political thought (the citizen and the ‘virtù’; the founding and manteining of the State in relation to ethics and religion; cyclical conception of History; the relation between ‘virtù’ and ‘fortuna’; Roman history and Republican myth).
Machiavelli: from Il Principe (reading, analysis, interpretation). Readings: Il Principe, chap. XXV.
The utopian thought: Tommaso Campanella and La città del Sole (politics, pedagogy, theology). Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 34-37).
Giambattista Vico's thought (the controversy about rationalism; the ‘verum ipsum factum’; History’s science; the stage of civilization and historical recurrences). Readings: Albertoni (course-packet pp. 41-44).
Italian Enlightenment: between pragmatism and ideal impetus; Cesare Beccaria: from Dei delitti e delle pene (reading, analysis, interpretation). Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 45-51).
Rosmini and Cattaneo’s political conception. Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 52-55 and 58- 64).
Pareto: historical-biographical and theoretical frame (‘gusti’ and ‘ostacoli’; the ‘azioni non-logiche’; ‘derivazioni’ and ‘residui’; the élites and social stability). Readings: Albertoni (course-pocket pp. 70-73).
Pareto: from the Trattato di sociologia generale (reading, analysis, interpretation).
Italian idealism: general characteristics.
Gramsci: historical-biographical frame. Readings: Bedeschi (course-pocket pp. 108-116).
Gramsci: the political theory (society and hegemony; the lower class; intellectual’s function).
Required readings:
Primary Source Materials
Dante. Monarchia. A cura di Maurizio Pizzica, BUR 1988. Gramsci, Antonio. Le opere. Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1997.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il principe. Testo originale con la versione in italiano di oggi di Piero Melograni.
Milano: Rizzoli, 1999.
Marsilio da Padova. Il difensore della pace. Introduzione di M. Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri, traduzione e note di M. Conetti et al.. Milano: Rizzoli 2001.
Commentaries On a general framing
Albertoni, Ettore A. Storia delle dottrine politiche in Italia. Milan: Mondadori, 1985, chapters I, III (3), IV (1, 2), VI (1), VIII (5), IX (2, 4), XI (1, 1.1, 2), XII (3), XIII (3, 4).
On twentieth century and Gramsci
Bedeschi, Giuseppe. La fabbrica delle ideologie. Il pensiero politico nell’Italia del Novecento. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2002, pp. 247-56, 270-95.
Paladini Musitelli, Marina. Introduzione a Gramsci. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1996.
On medieval thought
Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri, Mariateresa. Il pensiero politico medievale. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2000, pp. 87-104, 130-40, 165-80.
On an introduction to modern political theories
Reinhard, Wolfgang. Il pensiero politico moderno. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2000.
Recommended readings:
Badaloni, Nicola. Introduzione a Vico. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1988.
Bagnoli, Paolo. Profilo di storia del pensiero politico italiano nel Novecento. Firenze: Polistampa, 1999.
Bonetti, Paolo. Il pensiero politico di Pareto. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1994.
Dante. Monarchy. Translated and edited by Prue Shaw, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
De Bernardi, Alberto/Ganapini, Luigi. Storia d’Italia. 1860-1995. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1996.
Dolcini, Carlo. Introduzione a Marsilio da Padova. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1995.
Fiori, Guiseppe. Vita di Antonio Gramsci. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1989.
Galli, Giorgio. Storia delle dottrine politiche. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1995.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. Gramsci in Europa e in America. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1995, pp. 85-122.
Marsilius of Padua. The defender of peace. Edited and translated by Annabel Brett, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005.
Mertens, Dieter. Il pensiero politico medievale. Bologna: il Mulino, 1999. Sanguineti, Federico. Gramsci e Machiavelli. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1982.
Vanni Rovighi, Sofia. Introduzione a Tommaso d’Aquino. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1973.
Viroli, Maurizio. Il sorriso di Niccolò: Storia di Machiavelli, Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1998.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Marco Gaetani earned a Ph.D. in Semiotics and Psychology of Symbolic Communication in 2001 from the University of Siena, where he has taught as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Faculty of Medicine. Since 2000, he has been teaching seminars and lectures on communications science and relations between ethnic communities. Current research areas focus on symbolic communication and mass-mediatic persuasive languages. His more recent publications include “Realtà dell’immagine, immagine della realtà” (2010), “Leonardo Sciascia: l’intellettuale e la transizione” (2010), “Medioevo tardo-moderno” (2010).
History Of Italian Political Philosophy (Italian-Taught)
This course will consider major Italian political philosophers in the context of their era and in the light of theorists in other European countries. Through analysis of original works, students will improve Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Marsilio of Padua, Machiavelli, Campanella, Beccaria, Vico, Pareto, Gramsci and others as reflective of their eras and as important figures in the history of political philosophy. The topics will be presented through the comparison between different theories and their link with political and social Italian History. In particular, the course will review the question of national identity (also in reference to Italian contemporary society).
Successful progress of the program depends on the full cooperation of both students and faculty members: regular attendance and active participation in class are essential parts of the learning process. Attendance at and participation in all class meetings and field-studies are required. More than TWO unjustified absences (that are not medically excused with a written certificate of the doctor or caused by serious sudden family and/or personal occurrences, as for example death of a family member) will result in a lowering of your grade.
By the end of the course, students are able to:
Lectures and discussions supported by audiovisual material (excerpts from movies, analyses of artistic works, etc.); field study activities (‘Risorgimento’ at the municipal museum of Siena, Machiavelli’s Florence, etc.).
Active participation and class discussions (10%); mid-term written exam (20%), 5-7 page research paper in Italian based on a subject suggested by the instructor at the beginning of the course (20%), oral presentation (10%), written final exam (40%).
Primary Source Materials
Dante. Monarchia. A cura di Maurizio Pizzica, BUR 1988. Gramsci, Antonio. Le opere. Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1997.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Il principe. Testo originale con la versione in italiano di oggi di Piero Melograni.
Milano: Rizzoli, 1999.
Marsilio da Padova. Il difensore della pace. Introduzione di M. Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri, traduzione e note di M. Conetti et al.. Milano: Rizzoli 2001.
Commentaries
On a general framing
Albertoni, Ettore A. Storia delle dottrine politiche in Italia. Milan: Mondadori, 1985, chapters I, III (3), IV (1, 2), VI (1), VIII (5), IX (2, 4), XI (1, 1.1, 2), XII (3), XIII (3, 4).
On twentieth century and Gramsci
Bedeschi, Giuseppe. La fabbrica delle ideologie. Il pensiero politico nell’Italia del Novecento. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2002, pp. 247-56, 270-95.
Paladini Musitelli, Marina. Introduzione a Gramsci. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1996.
On medieval thought
Fumagalli Beonio Brocchieri, Mariateresa. Il pensiero politico medievale. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 2000, pp. 87-104, 130-40, 165-80.
On an introduction to modern political theories
Reinhard, Wolfgang. Il pensiero politico moderno. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2000.
Badaloni, Nicola. Introduzione a Vico. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1988.
Bagnoli, Paolo. Profilo di storia del pensiero politico italiano nel Novecento. Firenze: Polistampa, 1999.
Bonetti, Paolo. Il pensiero politico di Pareto. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1994.
Dante. Monarchy. Translated and edited by Prue Shaw, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
De Bernardi, Alberto/Ganapini, Luigi. Storia d’Italia. 1860-1995. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1996.
Dolcini, Carlo. Introduzione a Marsilio da Padova. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1995.
Fiori, Guiseppe. Vita di Antonio Gramsci. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1989.
Galli, Giorgio. Storia delle dottrine politiche. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 1995.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. Gramsci in Europa e in America. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1995, pp. 85-122.
Marsilius of Padua. The defender of peace. Edited and translated by Annabel Brett, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005.
Mertens, Dieter. Il pensiero politico medievale. Bologna: il Mulino, 1999. Sanguineti, Federico. Gramsci e Machiavelli. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1982.
Vanni Rovighi, Sofia. Introduzione a Tommaso d’Aquino. Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1973.
Viroli, Maurizio. Il sorriso di Niccolò: Storia di Machiavelli, Rome-Bari: Laterza, 1998.
Marco Gaetani earned a Ph.D. in Semiotics and Psychology of Symbolic Communication in 2001 from the University of Siena, where he has taught as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Faculty of Medicine. Since 2000, he has been teaching seminars and lectures on communications science and relations between ethnic communities. Current research areas focus on symbolic communication and mass-mediatic persuasive languages. His more recent publications include “Realtà dell’immagine, immagine della realtà” (2010), “Leonardo Sciascia: l’intellettuale e la transizione” (2010), “Medioevo tardo-moderno” (2010).