B4973 - History of Modern Philosophy (2)

Learning outcomes

The course aims at clarifying the main articulations of philosophical reflection between early modernity and the Age of Enlightenment. Within the framework of a wide-ranging philosophical-historical investigation of the categories and figures that founded European philosophical rationality, the course focuses on the following topics: theories of experience and subjectivity: knowledge of the external world, the relationship between mind and body, mathematical knowledge, the relationship between nature, technology and history; political philosophy: variations in the doctrine of the law of nature and forms of government; the encyclopaedic debate: philosophy and systems theory in the modern age, the hermeneutics of the Enlightenment. Through the reading of texts, in translation and in the original language, for about 200 pages and through the examination of the fundamental critical bibliography, the student acquires the ability to understand a philosophical text and to grasp its meaning in a historical perspective.

Course contents

Styles and Forms of Modern Philosophy I.

Alterity, persuasion, heterodoxy: paths of philosophical dialogue in the early modern age

(Prof. Elisabetta Scapparone)

The form-dialogue constitutes one of the privileged modules of philosophical writing in the thought of the Renaissance and early modern period – still traversed by a typically humanistic sensitivity to the expressive values of the different literary genres –, where it takes on a very wide range of declinations, to the point of forcing and going beyond (as in the case of Giordano Bruno) the precepts codified by treatises and the traditional possibilities of the genre themselves. A manifestation of an antidogmatic attitude, a faithful theater of plurality or a vehicle of religious dissent, dialogue lends itself perfectly to illuminating and reconciling the contrasts of an age marked by deep political and theological tensions. It also renews the scientific communication, marked by the extraordinary example of the Galilean dialogue.

Based on these premises, the course intends to show – through the analysis of three exempary texts – the evolution of the genre, between the 15th and 17th centuries, around sensitive topics such as the nature of God and the value of Christian dogmatic, the search for a grammar of coexistence between different faiths, and finally the truth or imposture of religions. In Niccolò Cusano’s De pace fidei dialogue is still platonically constituted as the privileged place of opinions supported by a precise didactic intent. While the interaction of the different voices compared in the Colloquium Heptaplomeres by Jean Bodin comes to radically heterodox outcomes and removed from any mediation constraint, finally assuming a role of concealment and 'libertinism' in the only formally apologetic pages of Julius Caesar Vanini (already considered by Pierre Bayle as one of the peculiar models of atheism expressed by modernity).

 

Styles and Forms of Modern Philosophy II.
Discourse, Mos geometricus, and Characteristic in Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz

(Prof. Diego Donna)

Philosophical style is not merely a rhetorical vehicle for concepts – it is the very substance of thought. Starting from this premise, the course explores three modes of philosophical exposition in the modern age: discourse, the geometric method, and the aphorism. We will examine Descartes’ Discourse on the Method, presented as a first-person journey toward truth, tested through the Essaysaddressed to artisans and set against the metaphysics and logic taught in the Schools; Spinoza’s Ethics, which deduces the order of nature and a path to salvation for the mind from the adequate idea of God (causa sui); and Leibniz’s Monadology, where the order of reasons and the deductive chain are refracted through the “point of view” of the monads and through the essence, or “complete notion”, corresponding to the infinite web of relations forming the “universal characteristic,” grounded in the principle of sufficient reason.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Styles and Forms of Modern Philosophy I.

Alterity, persuasion, heterodoxy: paths of philosophical dialogue in the early modern age

(Prof. Elisabetta Scapparone)

 

1. During the classes will be read the following texts (or any part):

N. Cusano, La pace della fede, introduzione, traduzione e note di M. Vannini, Lorenzo de’ Medici Press, Firenze 2023 (or other editions, such as La pace nella fede, in Id., Opere religiose, a cura di P. Gaia, Torino, UTET, 2013, pp. 488-528);

J. Bodin, Colloquium Heptaplomeres, a cura di C. Peri, Milano, Asefi, 2003;

G.C. Vanini, l meravigliosi segreti della natura, libro IV: La religione dei pagani (Dialoghi Dio; Le apparizioni nell'aria; Gli oracoli; Le sibille; Gli indemoniati; Le sacre immagini dei pagani; Gli auguri; La guarigione delle malattie; La resurrezione dei morti; La stregoneria; I sogni) in Id. Tutte le opere, a cura di F.P. Raimondi, Milano, Bompiani, 2010, pp. 1345-1553.

2. In addition to in-depth knowledge of the texts referred to in paragraph 1, all students must read one of the following essays:

L'antidoto di Mercurio. La civil conversazione tra Rinascimento ed età moderna, a cura di N. Panichi, Firenze, Olschki, 2013;

J.-P. Cavaillé, Dis/simulations: Jules-César Vanini, François La Mothe Le Vayer, Gabriel Naudé, Louis Machon et Torquato Accetto, Religion, morale et politique au XVIIe siècle, Paris, Champion, 2002;

Dialogo & conversazione. I luoghi di una socialità ideale dal Rinascimento all'Illuminismo, a cura di M. Høxbro Andersen e A. Toftgaard, Firenze, Olschki, 2012;

D. Monaco, Cusano e la pace della fede, Roma, Città Nuova, 2013;

E. Peroli, Niccolò Cusano. La vita, l’opera, il pensiero, Roma, Carocci, 2022;

G. Sacerdoti, Saggi libertini, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2020;

Andrea Suggi, Sovranità e armonia. La tolleranza religiosa nel Colloquium Heptaplomeres di Jean Bodin, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2005;

C. Vasoli, Armonia e giustizia. Studi sulle idee filosofiche di Jean Bodin, a cura di E. Baldini, Firenze, Olschki, 2008.

Further bibliographical information will be provided at the beginning of the lessons.

N.B.: The course program is the same, as for attending and not attending students. Anyway, students who cannot attend classes or who don't know Italian may contact the teacher (in office hours, and not by e-mail) to decide upon any additional or alternative readings.

 

Styles and Forms of Modern Philosophy II.
Discourse, Mos geometricus, and Characteristic in Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz

(Prof. Diego Donna)

 

Required Reading (for attending and non-attending students)

MONOGRAFIC COURSE

• R. Descartes, Discorso del metodo (I, II, VI parte)

Edizione italiana:

Descartes, Opere complete, a cura di G. Belgioioso, con la collaborazione di I. Agostini, F. Marrone e M. Savini, Milano, Bompiani, 2009.

• B. Spinoza, Etica, I Parte

Edizione italiana:

Spinoza, Etica, introduzione, traduzione e note di D. Donna, Santarcangelo, Rusconi, 2021.

• G. W. Leibniz, Monadologia

Edizione italiana:

G. W. Leibniz, Monadologia, trad. it. di S. Cariati, Milano, Bompiani 2001.

 

Studies (two texts of your choice)

T. Gregory, Genèse de la raison classique, Paris, PUF, 2000.

M. Spallanzani, Descartes: la règle de la raison, Paris, Vrin, 2015.

J. Cottingham, Cartesio, Bologna, il Mulino, 1991.

D. Donna, Le catene di ragioni e l’ordine della natura. Teorie della conoscenza in Descartes e Spinoza, Milano, Mimesis, 2015.

E. Scribano, Guida alla lettura dell’Etica di Spinoza, Bari, Laterza, 2008.

P.-F. Moreau, Spinoza. La ragione pensante (1975), trad. it. di A.A. Cantucci, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 1998.

E. Cassirer, Cartesio e Leibniz, trad.it. Bari, Laterza, 1986.

Teaching methods

The course combines traditional lectures by the instructor with direct student involvement. It is structured around sessions conducted through collective reading and open discussion.

Assessment methods

This course is offered as an "integrated teaching module." Assessment consists of two examinations, one for each module, conducted by the respective instructors. Each exam contributes to the determination of the final grade. There is no required order in which the exams must be taken; however, students are required to complete both modules, demonstrating the competencies targeted by the course. The final grade will correspond to 12 ECTS credits.

The oral exam is divided into two parts. It will take place in the offices of the respective instructors and tends to verify:

1. the historical-philosophical knowledge acquired through attendance at the lessons, the study of the basic texts and the relative bibliography
2. the degree of understanding and critical reworking of the proposed content
3. expressive skills and the ability to orient oneself among the main lines of interpretation

Attendance is considered relevant both to the learning process and to the assessment.

Exam registration is available through the ALMAESAMI platform. The dates of each exam session are posted on the respective professor’s webpage. 

 

Verification criteria
30 cum laude: excellent proof, for solidity of knowledge and critical processing skills

30: excellent proof, adequate knowledge and expressive richness

27-29: good proof, satisfactory knowledge, correct expression

24-26: discrete proof, non-exhaustive and partially correct knowledge

21-23: sufficient proof, general knowledge, confused expression

18-21: barely sufficient proof. Poor articulation and relevant theoretical gaps

<18: insufficient proof, missing or incomplete knowledge, lack of guidance in the argument.

 

Exam sessions (Prof. Diego Donna)

During the 2025/26 academic year, exam sessions are scheduled for the following months: May, June, July, September, October.

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)
Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special adjustments according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the instructor but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adjustments. For more information, visit the page: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

It is recommended that students contact the University office in advance. Any proposed adjustments must be submitted at least 15 days in advance for the instructor’s approval, who will evaluate their appropriateness in relation to the learning objectives of the course.

 

Teaching tools

Text presentations; in-depth seminars; possible individualized assignments

Office hours

See the website of Diego Donna