95676 - History of the Philosophy of Law (1)

Learning outcomes

This Course aims to provide students with basic ideas, works and thinkers of the philosophy of law. From an historical perspective, the Course focuses on specific themes and problems in relation to long-term philosophical traditions. Furthermore it offers actualizing readings of main issues of contemporary practical philosophy, models of justice, concepts of law, different and plural forms of power.

Course contents

WHAT IS THE RULE OF LAW?

The course aims to retrace the history of the rule of law through figures and fundamental texts of philosophical thought.

In particular, salient passages from Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws and Cesare Beccaria's Crimes and Punishments; but also, for an ambitious conception of the rule of law, the critical essays of Gustav Radbruch and Hannah Arendt will be commented on in the classroom.

The aim of the Course is to offer a definition of the rule of law that takes into account its conceptual complexity and the non-trivial interactions with other key notions such as legality and subjective rights. Finally, the aim of the Course is to overcome the frequent interpretative simplifications and ambiguous instrumentalisations that this notion has undergone and continues to undergo over time.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Textbooks (classics):

John Locke, Secondo trattato sul governo (selected parts*).

Montesquieu, Lo spirito delle leggi, Rizzoli, Milan 1989 (or reprints), selected parts from Books XI and XII. 

Hannah Arendt, Il tramonto dello Stato nazionale e la fine dei diritti umani, in Ead., Le origini del totalitarismo, Einaudi, Turin 1967 (or reprints), chap. 9, pp. 372-421.

Gustav Radbruch, Legalità senza diritto e diritto sovralegale, in Id., Diritto e no. Tra scritti, Mimesis, Milan-Udine 2021, pp. 123-48.

ONE critical essay:

Pietro Costa, Danilo Zolo (eds), Lo stato di diritto. Storia, teoria, critica, Feltrinelli, Milan 2006, chaps. Danilo Zolo, Pietro Costa, and Luigi Ferrajoli.

ONE literary text chosen among the following:

Gianrico Carofiglio, Ragionevoli dubbi

Friedrich Dürrenmatt, I dinosauri e la legge

Leonardo Sciascia, Porte aperte

Romain Gary, Educazione europea

Carlo Levi, Paura della libertà

 

* The selected sections will be indicated at the beginning of the Course.


For non-attending students, we recommend consulting the following text:

Roberto Bin, Lo stato di diritto, il Mulino, Bologna 2017.

 

As part of the course, the following optional seminars will be organized:

a seminar with Thomas Casadei on Montesquieu e la genesi dello Stato di diritto: separazione dei poteri, costituzionalismo, pluralismo sociale: 11.28.2025

a seminar with Francisco Javier Ansuategui Roig on fundamental rights and their decline.

Class schedule:

Wednesday, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.: Aula I - via Zamboni, n. 38; Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.: Aula IV - via Zamboni, n. 38.

Beginning of the Course: I Semester - 11.12.2025

Reception hours:
From 10 September 2025, 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, seminars and discussion on bioethical themes.

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

§In-depth seminars on course topics.

§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 2025/2026 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):

9.9.2025 h 3 p.m.

10.29.2025 h 11 a.m.

12.17.2025 h 11 a.m.

1.14.2026 h 12 a.m.

2.11.2026 h 12 a.m.

3.11.2026 h 12 a.m.

5.6.2026 h 12 a.m.

6.10.2026 h 12 a.m.

7.8.2026 h 12 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

As part of the course, the following seminars will be organized:

a seminar with Thomas Casadei on the thought of Montesquieu

a seminar with Francisco Javier Ansuategui Roig on fundamental rights and their decline.

 

Participation in these activities (conference and seminars) is optional.

 

USEFUL LINKS:

https://plato.stanford.edu/

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

https://sol.unibo.it/SebinaOpac/resource/handbook-of-the-history-of-the-philosophy-of-law-and-social-philosophy/UBO09270796?tabDoc=tabcontiene

 

Office hours

See the website of Marina Lalatta Costerbosa