98920 - Bioethics and Biolaw (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The Course aims to explore the principles, values and moral and legal arguments fundamental to critical bioethics and democratic biolaw. At the end of the Course, students will become familiar with some of the most relevant issues in public ethics. In relation to them, they will develop a greater awareness of the processes of democratic deliberation, challenged by global political choices and moral dilemmas connected to the ever new boundaries of scientific and technological knowledge.

Course contents

Which Subjectivities? Toward a Critique of Anthropocentrism

 

The course aims to investigate the notion of subjectivity, approaching it not as a fixed and univocal category, but as a plural and plastic dimension. Its starting point will be a critical re-examination of anthropocentrism, understood as a theoretical and methodological endeavor to broaden the horizons of philosophical inquiry by incorporating cultures, traditions, and sources capable of rethinking the relationship between human beings, nature, and the living world.

Within this framework, particular attention will be devoted to problematizing the connection—far from self-evident—between nature and the animal question, with the aim of exploring new forms of subjectivity beyond the traditional boundaries of the human.

From this perspective, the course will address the concept of nature and, in close connection with it, the condition of animals, highlighting the ethical, political, and legal implications of such a rethinking. A significant point of reference will be the work of the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss, alongside recent contributions devoted to human responsibilities toward animals and to the question of animal justice, most notably Martha C. Nussbaum’s recent book Justice for Animals.

Readings/Bibliography

Textbooks:

Arne Naess, Introduzione all’ecologia, ETS, Pisa 2015, selected parts: pp. 7-67, 105-121

Martha C. Nussbaum, Giustizia per gli animali. La nostra responsabilità collettiva, il Mulino, Bologna 2023, selected parts: pp. 9-27, 49-208

One essay among the following:

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, La natura. Lezioni al Collège de France 1956-1960, a cura di Mauro Carbone, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2023, selected parts: preface and pp. 7-37, 121-182, 245-261

Flavia G. Cuturi (ed.), La natura come soggetto di diritti, Editpress, Florence 2020, selected parts: pp. 9-286 (available open access: https://unora.unior.it/retrieve/dfd1bedd-a3ca-d55a-e053-3705fe0af723/Cuturi%202020_Natura_soggetto_diritti_curatela_completa.pdf)

Alessandro Mancuso, Altre persone. Antropologia, visioni del mondo e ontologie indigene, Mimesis, Milan-Udine 2018, selected parts: pp. 7-91, 127-180, 249-280

Roberto Marchesini, Etologia Filosofica. Alla ricerca della soggettività animale, Mimesis, Milan-Udine 2016

One literary text chosen from the following:

Robert Macfarlane, È vivo un fiume?, Einaudi, Turin 2025

Anna Maria Ortese, Le Piccole Persone, Adelphi, Milan 2016

J.M. Coetzee, La vita degli animali, Adelphi, Milan 2003

Franz Kafka, Relazione per un'Accademia, ed. by Micaela Latini and Ginevra Quadrio Curzio, La Vita Felice, Milan 2022

Lev Tolstoji, Contro la caccia e il mangiar carne, Feltrinelli, Milan 2020

 

Non-attending students can usefully consult  the following text:

Serenella Iovino, Filosofie dell’ambiente, Carocci, Rome 2004

 

Class schedule:

Wednesday, 1-3 p.m. Aula A - via Centotrecento 18; Thursday, Friday -9 a.m. - 11 a.m: Aula Emilio Pasquini - via Zamboni 32.

Beginning of the Course: I Semester - 9.16. 2026

Reception hours:

From 9 September 2026, the reception of students will be held at 3pm every Wednesday, unless otherwise indicated in the Notices on the lecturer's webpage.
The reception is always without appointment;
it is also possible online by calling directly via teams. At the end of the in-person meetings, all those who have called (not written chat) will be contacted again by the lecturer.
It is advisable to always consult the lecturer's notices before going to the department. Occasionally other teaching or institutional commitments result in changes.

Teaching methods

§Lectures and discussion on bioethical themes.

Interdisciplinary seminars will be hold by experts working in the field.

§Seminars with guest speakers.

§Lessons will be recorded (but not necessary in real time) and made available by accessing ad hoc virtual teams-classroom. Access is possible through the unibo institutional credentials at the link present from September on the virtual materials of the Course.

Assessment methods

Final oral examination. Room 5.01 (str. Zamboni 38). On September there will be an examination schedule.

Evaluating criteria:

Expertise; practical reasoning ability; critical competence.

On the basis of these three main parameters it will be formalised in an evaluation expressed in thirtieths, which may vary according to the full range of available grades.

Notes:

18-21/30 basic level

22-25/30 moderate level

26-28/30 good level

29-30/30 excellent level.

Exam sessions
During the 2026/2027 academic year, (for all students) exam sessions are scheduled in the following months (please note that the examination can be taken by both attending and non-attending students once the last lecture of the course has been held):

9.9.2026 h 3 p.m.

10.28.2026 h 11 a.m.

12.16.2026 h 11 a.m.

1.13.2027 h 11 a.m.

2.9.2027 h 11 a.m.

3.10.2027 h 11 a.m.

5.5.2027 h 11 a.m.

6.09.2027 h 11 a.m.

7.07.2027 h 11 a.m.

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

Useful Links: 

https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/elenco-opere/Enciclopedia_delle_scienze_sociali/

https://plato.stanford.edu/

Office hours

See the website of Marina Lalatta Costerbosa