74786 - Political Philosophy

Learning outcomes

Political Philosophy is conceived as the application of philosophical investigation to politics and thus as a study of the contribution that philosophy may give to political practice. This implies both a clarification of the terms used in our everyday political vocabulary and an attempt at designing models of a just society. The course intends to provide the students with the following abilities: a) notions on methodology in historical investigation; b) ability to analytically read a text while at the same time situating it into the historical and linguistic context of the age; c) knowledge of the perennial tasks of political philosophy; d) an introduction to political realism.

Course contents

The Origin and Development of Political Psychology> From Plato to Martha Nussbaum

The course is devoted to the examination of the origin and development of political psychology. We will start with Plato's notion of the tripartite soul and will arrive to the role of emotions in Martha Nussbaum's thought. 

The first classes will be devoted to a clarification of the notion of 'political philosophy' and to an account of the methodology in the history of political thought.

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following programme. Lectures (28 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into 2 groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (16 hours) and one group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (16 hours). Therefore, a total of 44 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

The course is taught in the second semester and classes will start in February 2021.

 

Readings/Bibliography

We will read selected parts of the following works:

Plato, Republic, transl. D. Lee, London, Penguin, 2007: books 4-5.

Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, transl. T. Irwin, Indianapolis, Hackett, 2019, book 6.

G. Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, Dover Publications, 2002: book 1 and 2 (excluding 3).

S. Freud, Mass Psychology and Analysis of the I in Mass Psychology and Other Writings, London, Penguin, 2004, pp. 15-100.

J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Belknap Press, 2002: part 1, chapters 1-3..

S. Hampshire, innocence and Experience, London, Penguin, 1989, chapter 1.

M. Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999: part I.

Teaching methods

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following programme. Lectures (28 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into 2 groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: one group will do the seminar in classroom (16 hours) and one group will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (16 hours). Therefore, a total of 44 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

The course is taught in the second semester and classes will start in February 2021.

Assessment methods

The final exam will consist in an oral discussion at the end of the course. During this discussion the instructor will evaluate the student's ability to identify the central notions of a text, to examine them critically and to argue consistently.

Students who attend the classes have the option to write a paper on a subject agreed with the instructors. The final exam will be in English; however, students who prefer to take it (or to write the paper) in Italian are welcome to do so.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Giorgini

See the website of Alina Scudieri