00983 - History of Political Doctrines (F-N)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students: - know the fundamental features of the modern and contemporary History of Political Thought, - know the main forms of political communication and understand the complex relationships between ideas and facts, - know the most important political doctrines and are able to critically analyze them in connection with the relevant cultural, institutional, historical and social context,- is able to understand the most important political and institutional changes in Western history.

Course contents

The course will address the history of political thought from the late Middle Ages to the second half of the 19th century through the diachronic analysis of the concepts of freedom, power, rights and justice. Special attention will be paid to the connection between ideas and the historical context in which they originated and developed.

The course will unfold through the reading of classic authors of political thought such as Machiavelli, More, Luther, Calvin, Bodin, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Sieyès, Constant, Madame de Staël, Tocqueville, Mill and Marx. Special attention will be paid to women's political thought through reading texts by authors such as Olympe de Gouges, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame de Staël, Flora Tristan, and Herriet Taylor.

The course will pay particular attention to the theme of power and the evolution of the state in the modern age, to that of the relationship between politics and religion, to the theme of constitutionalism, understood as a “technique of freedom” (particularly in its various declinations in the period of the French Revolution), to the relationship between liberalism and democracy as it comes to shape from the ages of the Revolutions to the second half of the nineteenth century, and to the theme of rights and justice also with reference to the question of women's emancipation from the French Revolution to the second half of the nineteenth century.

All topics, although approached with a focus on the historical context, will nevertheless be exposed with an eye always projected to the most recent manifestations of political phenomena.

Readings/Bibliography

STUDENTS ATTENDING THE COURSE

The program is made up of a general part and a monographic one.

1. General part:

- C. GALLI (a cura di), Il pensiero politico moderno, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017 (parts to be agreed during the lessons);

- R. GHERARDI (a cura di), La politica e gli Stati. Problemi e figure del pensiero occidentale, nuova edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2022 (parts to be agreed during the lessons).

Wait until the first class of the course to purchase one of the two manuals.

- Other materials will be provided by the professor during the course.

2. Monographic part:

- G. SCIARA, Madame de Staël, Milano, Carocci, 2024 (Collection "Donne e Pensiero politico");

 

STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE COURSE

1) C. GALLI (a cura di), Il pensiero politico moderno, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017 (the entire volume except chap. IX);

2) G. BEDESCHI, Storia del pensiero liberale, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2015;

3) G. SCIARA, Madame de Staël, Roma, Carocci, 2024.

The authors in both Galli's and Bedeschi's book (Locke, Montesquieu, Kant, Constant, Tocqueville, Mill, etc.) can be studied exclusively in Bedeschi's book.

Teaching methods

The course includes the reading and conceptual analysis of texts by classical authors of political thought. The aim is to provide the conceptual tools and vocabulary of the history of modern and contemporary political thought.

The course is organised in face-to-face classes (60 hours). The number of students admitted to the class is determined according to class capacity and health and safety regulations.

Assessment methods

STUDENTS ATTENDING THE COURSE

There will be two written tests during the course, one mid-course and one at the end of the course. These tests will be evaluative in nature and will serve as a means of checking individual learning against the course taken in the classroom.

Each verification will consist of six open-ended questions; the time available for each verification is 55 minutes.

Participation in the verifications is restricted to students attending class (the lecturer reserves the right to collect students' signatures to verify their participation).

If successful in both tests, students will earn an average grade and be eligible for a final paper on the monograph portion. This last test, which involves a single question to be answered in a 15-minute time frame, will contribute to the final grade that will be verbalized.

Those who are absent from one of the two tests or get a failing grade will have to retake the test on the entire program during one of the summer/autumn session's calls.

To be considered attending, it is necessary to take the entire exam by the September session.

There are NO make-up tests during the course.

The student's achievement of an organic view of the topics addressed jointly with their critical use, the demonstration of the possession of a mastery of expression and specific language will be evaluated with a grade of excellence. Possible failures in one or more of these aspects will determine a gradation in the grade, up to a negative evaluation where insufficient preparation and formative gaps are found.

Grading of the final grade, based on the correction of the written assignments, is done according to the following criteria:

- Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, limited ability to historical contextualization and exposition of theoretical arguments, and use of barely sufficient technical language: grade 18-19;
- Preparation on a fair number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, sufficient ability to historical contextualization and exposition of theoretical arguments, technical language mostly correct: grade 20-24;
- Preparation on a large number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, good or very good ability to historical contextualization and exposition of theoretical topics, good command of specific terminology: grade 25-29;

Preparation on the topics covered in the course, excellent ability in historical contextualization and exposition of theoretical arguments, excellent command of specific terminology: grade 30-30L.

 

STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE COURSE

For non-attending students, the verification of learning will be composed of an exclusively oral examination. The oral examination interview will have the function of testing learning related to the institutional and monographic parts agreed with the lecturer. The oral will also allow testing the student's ability about the analysis, critique and overall control of the discipline.

The methods of testing indicated seem the most suitable both to effectively assay the student's preparation and to achieve the objective of enabling the student to understand the main problems and traditions of thought in the history of political doctrines also through the reading of classical texts.

Grading of the final grade, based on the oral interview, is based on the following criteria:

- Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, limited ability to analyze and historical contextualization, mostly correct language: grade 18-19;
- Preparation on a limited number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, sufficient ability to analyze and historical contextualization, correct language: grade 20-24;
- Preparation on a large number of topics covered in the course and/or textbooks, ability to make autonomous choices of critical analysis, no doubts about historical contextualization, complete mastery of specific terminology: grade 25-29;
- Comprehensive preparation on topics covered in the course, ability to make autonomous choices of critical analysis and ability to make connections, full mastery of specific terminology and different historical contexts, excellent ability to argue and actualize: grade 30-30L.

Teaching tools

During the course, several iconographic and textual materials will be made available on the "Virtuale" platform; they will be considered an integral part of the examination programme.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Sciara