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

Conceptualizing War and Creating Peace

The course is devoted to the topic of war and peace. More specifically, we will examine some authors in the tradition of Western political thought and their opposite views about the inevitability of war and how to create peace. Thucydides, Thomas Hobbes and Carl Schmitt, on the one hand, and Immanuel Kant, Hans Kelsen and John Rawls on the other will guide us in this exploration.  

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 offered in the second semester and classes will start in February 2023.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Required readings

Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War, trans. R. Warner (New York: Penguin, 2010) ISBN 0140440399.

We will read selected passages and more specifically:

I, 1-23; 68-77; 89-118.

II, 35-65.

III, 37-47; 81-83.

V, 85-112.

T. Hobbes, Leviathan (London: Penguin, 2017), selected chapters ISBN 0141395095.

C. Schmitt, The Concept of the Political, trans. G. Schwab, expanded edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007) ISBN 0226738922. 

I. Kant, Toward perpetual peace and other writings on politics, peace and history, ed. by P. Kleingeld (New Haven-London: Yale University Press, 2006). 

H. Kelsen, Peace through Law (The Lawbook Exchange, 2008) ISBN 1584771038

J. Rawls, The Law of Peoples (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001) ISBN 0674005422.

 

Teaching methods

30 classes of 2 hours each for a total of 60 hours. 

The course is offered in the second semester and classes will start in February 2023.

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