75834 - History of Humanist Philosophy

Learning outcomes

Through texts and authors deemed to be emblematic, the course aims at the acquisition of basic knowledge regarding philosophy from the second half of the fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. Students will be led to recognize the main topics of Italian humanism and grasp relationships and intersections between speculative thought, philology and theory of the arts. One course objective is to enable students to master the lexis (Latin and Italian) of humanistic philosophy and be versed in the main historians’ interpretations as to Renaissance movements.

Course contents

Platonism and political discussions in the fifteenth century.

The course is divided in two parts.

In the first part, we will deal with the idea developed by Giorgio di Trebisonda in his Comparatio philosophorum Aristotelis et Platonis, which considers platonism an ideology of "universal eversion", narrating his criticism against Plato's Republic and Laws.

In the second part, the course will illustrate the political thought of Ficinus as it appears - as an ideological foundation for the Medici's regime - in the Argumenta for the platonic dialogues and in the commentaries to Plato's Symposium and Plotinus' Enneades. We will also see the contact point wil Machiavelli's thought.

Readings/Bibliography

Hans Baron, La crisi del primo Rinascimento italiano: umanesimo civile e libertà repubblicana in un'età di classicismo e di tirannide, Firenze, Sansoni, 1970.

Carlo Dionisotti, Machiavellerie, Torino, Einaudi, 1970.

Eugenio Garin, Il platonismo come ideologia della sovversione europea. La polemica antiplatonica di Giorgio Trapezunzio, in E. Hora, E. Kessler, eds., Studia Humanitatis. Ernesto Grassi zum 70. Geburtstag, Munich, W. Fink, 1973, pp. 113-120.

Massimo Cacciari, La mente inquieta. Saggio sull'Umanesimo, Torino, Einaudi, 2019.

Teaching methods

lectures. During class the teacher reads, translates and comments on relevant textual passages and thematic nodes.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: Students are recommended to bring the texts when examining.
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

texts; during the course the teacher will provide handouts and translations students.

Students who have not attended the course will find educational materials available at the secretariat of the students, via Zamboni 38, second floor.

Office hours

See the website of Franco Bacchelli