39423 - History of Modern Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The lectures allow the student to interpret the significant nodes of European thought in the fifteenth and eighteenth Centuries and to identify intersections with other areas of Western culture. Skills about the main interpretation and historiographical lines in order to modern philosophy and the concept of modernity, allow to recognize topics and themes' projections of modern thought in the contemporary philosophical debate, and to proceed retrospectively to the origin of subjects and long-running problems.

Course contents

The science of infinity and the infinity of science in the symbolic philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa

The difference between the ontological order and the gnoseological order and the consequent emergence of "functionalist" or "symbolic" conceptions characterize currents of modern, contemporary philosophical, anthropological and scientific tradition. Despite their differences, all of them rely on a notion of scientific certainty and validity not as an attribute of being, but as a condition of thought.

This notion is beginning to emerge in the fifteenth century and coincides with the consciousness of the fragility of human reason in relation to an infinite inaccessible to reason and sense, but also with the affirmation of the authority and the freedom of the subject within a symbolic universe, fully accessible to human knowledge.

Starting from the analysis of two texts of the mature production of Nicholas of Cusa (De mente and De visione dei) the course will focus on the origins of a conception of 'truth' and scientific knowledge as a product of a dynamic mind. An imperfect mind, of course, but precisely for this reason free and perfectable, and therefore able to act, though not to know, infinity.

Last but not least course goal is to highlight the relationship between mathematics, figurative arts and mysticism in the building of a new philosophical-scientific paradigm.

Readings/Bibliography

All students are expected to know the following sources:

Niccolò Cusano, De mente, in Opere filosofiche, a cura di G. Federici Vescovini, Torino, UTET,1972, pp. 463-520
Niccolò Cusano, De Visione dei, in Opere filosofiche, a cura di G. Federici Vescovini, Torino, UTET, 1972, pp. 543-605

                                        furthermore:

two of the following essays (students who have not attended classes should choose and read three essays):

E. Cassirer, Individuo e cosmo nella filosofia del Rinascimento, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1935 o edizioni successive (capitoli 1 e 2)
K. Flash, Niccolò Cusano. Lezioni introduttive a un'analisi genetica del suo pensiero, Torino, Aragno, 2010
G. Cuozzo, Raffigurare l'invisibile. Cusano e l'arte del tempo, Milano, Mimesis, 2012
A. Angelini, Matematica e immaginazione nel Rinascimento, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2016

Teaching methods

15 lectures.
During the course central paragraphs of the texts listed in the bibliography will be read and commented. Students are required to provide the text before the course begins.
Summaries and schemes of the classes will be periodically uploaded on AlmaDigital Library.
Students who attend classes are required to enroll, before the course begins, to the distribution list, ID: annarita.angelini.Cusano, password: Cusano
We recommend the students to see regulary the teacher's web page on which will be uploaded any information and change useful to those who attending the classes.
Students who have attended classes can replace the above texts with specific topics. These topics have to be agreed with the teacher at the end of the course.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: Students are recommended to bring the texts when examining.The interview focuses mainly on analysis and critical interpretation of the sources.
Students who have attended lectures may agree on exams (whether written or oral) devoted to specific topics.

Assessment criteria and thresholds of evaluation:

30 cum laude - Excellent as to knowledge, philosophical lexicon and critical expression.

30 – Excellent: knowledge is complete, well argued and correctly expressed, with some slight faults.

27-29 – Good: thorough and satisfactory knowledge; essentially correct expression.

24-26 - Fairly good: knowledge broadly acquired, and not always correctely expressed.

21-23 – Sufficient: superficial and partial knowledge; exposure and articulation are incomplete and often not sufficiently appropriate

18-21 - Almost sufficient: superficial and decontextualized knowledge. The exposure of the contents shows important gaps.

Exam failed - Students are requested to show up at a subsequent exam session if basic skills and knowledge are not sufficiently acquired and not placed in the historical-philosophical context.

Teaching tools

The texts of Cusanus is an essential tool in order to actively participate in the classes. It is recommended to get hold of the text before classes.
The summaries of the lectures will be periodically (every three to six lectures) uploaded on AlmaDigital Library. To be allowed to the online consultation of classes slides, students have to enroll to the distribution list ID: annarita.angelini.Cusano, password: Cusano

Office hours

See the website of Annarita Angelini