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

              Apology of the shadow in modern thought

                                        First module
                                    The Ray of Shadow

Traditionally a symbol of the fragility of human thought, of a limited access to a truth presumed to be eternal, of the failure of human knowledge with respect to the dimension of being or of the idea, the shadow becomes in modern philosophy the positive sign of the insufficiency of a defining and rigidly deterministic science, of the need for thought to grasp the indefinite dynamics of a reality that eludes the senses, of an infinite abyss of possibilities that the human mind can face, probe or approximate. In the works of Alberti, Cusano, Ficino, Giordano Bruno, and then in Leibniz and again in Kant, the shadow is combined with the productive imagination, pointing to a cognitive possibility that goes beyond the rational. Not a copy of an original reality extenuated in the semblances of sensible nature, the shadow goes beyond physical reality to adumbrate an ideal, dynamic, "transcendental" dimension, within which absence, the negative, the possible assume a precise cognitive relevance. The itinerary of this re-evaluation of the shadow in modern philosophical conception is accompanied and often guided by representational and cognitive awarenesses matured in the sphere of the figurative arts. Awarenesses and acquisitions of which the course will attempt to account for.

The first module (30h) of the course deals with the theme of the shadow in philosophy between the 15th and 16th century, focusing in particular on Leon Battista Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci and Giordano Bruno.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Students attending the course are required to know one of the following works.
Non-attending students are required to know two texts from this group:

- L.B. Alberti, Intercenales, a cura di F. Bacchelli e L. D'Ascia, Bologna, Pendragon, 2003

- G. Bruno, De umbris idearum, ed. it. in Giordano Bruno, Opere mnemotecniche, t. I, a cura di M. Matteoli, R. Sturlese, N. Tirinnanzi, Milano, Adelphi, 2004

                                       moreover

Students who have attended the course are required to read one of the following studies; non-students must read three of them

- H. Blumenberg, Uscite dalla caverna, tr. it., Milamo, Medusa, 2009
-V. I, Stoichita, Breve storia dell'ombra. Dalle origini della pittura alla Pop Art, tr. it., Milano, Il - Saggiatore, 2008
- N. Tirinnanzi, Umbra naturae: l'immaginazione da Ficino a Bruno, Roma, Le lettere, 2000
- Profili dell'ombra, a cura di A. Angelini, in "Dianoia", 19 (2014), pp. 5-167

 

Teaching methods

15 lectures.
During the course central paragraphs of the Diderot's Pensées will be read and  and compared with some sources and some critical interpretations of later philosophers.  Students are required to provide the text before the course begins.
Summaries and schemes of the classes will be periodically uploaded on AlmaDigital Library.
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  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 and allowed to the online consultation.

Office hours

See the website of Annarita Angelini