00961 - History of Philosophy

Learning outcomes

The student, by the end of the course, understands the origin, structure, and purpose of the theories developed by various authors in the context of philosophical research and gains awareness of the complexity of philosophical inquiry.

Course contents

Course Title: The Book of Nature and the Book of God. Bruno, Galileo, Spinoza between Truth and Law

The metaphor of the world as a book, closely tied to the key concept of nature’s decipherability – understood as a creation of God and the highest manifestation of his power – has undergone continuous reinterpretations and rewritings through the centuries, beginning at least with Augustine. Early modernity marks a significant stage in this trajectory, characterized by the complex relationship between the epistemological ambitions of the new natural philosophy – anti-Aristotelian and Copernican, later Cartesian – and the authority of the other great divine book, traditionally regarded as the unassailable foundation of truth: the Bible. The tools originally developed to combat religious heresy –the Index of Prohibited Books and the Tribunal of the Inquisition –were redirected toward a strict effort to normalize philosophical or scientific formulations that did not conform to biblical doctrine or scholastic precepts. This dynamic is exemplified by the condemnations of Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei. Both philosophers agreed that a modern and true understanding of nature could only arise from an investigation not subordinated to the physica sacra that theologians claimed to derive from the Bible. Yet, each articulated this position in distinct and original ways (with Bruno’s stance open to progressively radical developments), particularly concerning the relationship between the 'domain of law' and the 'domain of truth'. Spinoza, in turn, adopts a markedly different perspective in his subtle and complex engagement with Calvinist orthodoxy and the various strands of the Reformation. His theoretical motivations also differ, fueling his powerful attempt to untie the centuries-old knot binding obedience to reason, faith to philosophy. The originality and significance of his Theological-Political Treatise lie not only in its ultimate aim, but also in the path it charts to reach that aim: a thorough exercise in biblical hermeneutics – no longer restricted, as in Bruno and Galileo, but systematic and far-reaching – undertaken with the goal of naturalizing the very 'book of God', its origins, its interpretative strategies and its truth content.

Building on these premises, the course aims to offer a reading of these three thinkers that highlights the most significant moments of their reflections on this crucial theoretical issue.

The analysis of the primary texts listed in the bibliography will be accompanied by the reading of selected excerpts from the trial records of Bruno and Galileo, from Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo, and from Spinoza’s correspondence.

Readings/Bibliography

1. During the lessons excerpts from the following texts will be examined. Their reading is mandatory for all students:

G. Bruno, Cena de le Ceneri (Proemiale Epistola e Dialoghi I, III e IV) in Id., Dialoghi filosofici italiani, a cura e con un saggio introduttivo di M. Ciliberto, Milano, Mondadori, 2000, pp. 9-39 e 61-107 (N.B.: La lettura del Dialogo II è facoltativa);

G. Bruno, Spaccio de la bestia trionfante (il solo Dialogo III), in Id, Dialoghi filosofici italiani, sopra cit., pp. 595-668;

G. Galilei, Scienza e religione. Scritti copernicani, a cura di M. Bucciantini e M. Camerota, Roma, Donzelli, 2009, pp. XI-XLVI, 3-84, 249-262 (corrispondenti a: Introduzione; Lettere a Benedetto Castelli, Piero Dini, Cristina di Lorena; Dossier sulle vicende 1615-16);

B. Spinoza, Trattato teologico-politico, in Id., Opere, a cura di F. Mignini e O. Proietti, Milano, Mondadori, 2007 [paperback 2015], pp. 427-569, 622-659 (Prefazione, capp. I-VII e XII-XV). Altra edizione consigliata: B. Spinoza, Trattato teologico-politico, a cura di E. Giancotti Boscherini, Postfazione di P. Totaro, Torino, Einaudi, 2007.

2. In addition of the in-depth knowledge of the texts referred to in paragraph 1, students must read an essay of their choice for each of the following groups**:

Group A

H. Blumenberg, La leggibilità del mondo. Il libro come metafora della natura, a cura di R. Bodei, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009;

P. Hadot, Il velo d'Iside. Storia dell'idea di natura, Torino, Einaudi, 2006;

T. Kuhn, La rivoluzione copernicana. L'astronomia planetaria nello sviluppo del pensiero occidentale, Torino, Einaudi, 2000;

The Philosophers and the Bible. The Debate on Sacred Scripture in Early Modern Thought, edited by A. Del Prete, A. Schino, P. Totaro, Leiden, Brill, 2021;

S. Ricci, Davanti al S. Uffizio. Filosofi sotto processo, Viterbo, Sette città, 2011;

S. Ricci, Inquisitori, censori, filosofi sullo scenario della Controriforma, Roma, Salerno, 2008;

L. Strauss, Scrittura e persecuzione, Venezia, Marsilio, 1990.

Group B

M. Bucciantini, Galileo e Keplero. Filosofia, cosmologia e teologia nell'età della Controriforma, Torino, Einaudi, 2003;

M. Bucciantini, In un altro mondo. Galileo Galilei, Vincent van Gogh, Primo Levi, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 2023;

M. Camerota, Galileo Galilei e la cultura scientifica nell'età della Controriforma, Roma, Salerno, 2024;

M. Ciliberto, Il sapiente furore. Vita di Giordano Bruno, Milano, Adelphi, 2020;

D. Donna, Norma, segno, autorità, Filosofia, teologia e politica in Spinoza, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2019;

Giordano Bruno. Filosofia, magia, scienza, Direzione scientifica di M. Ciliberto, a cura di S. Carannante, G. Licata, P. Terracciano, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2020 (sezioni Riforma universale, pp. 227-314; Forme del sapere, pp. 351-406; Archetipi e simboli, pp. 407-432);

S. Nadler, Un libro forgiato all'Inferno. Lo scandaloso Trattato di Spinoza e la nascita del secolarismo, Torino, Einaudi, 2013;

J.S. Preus, Spinoza e la Bibbia. L'irrilevanza dell'autorità, Brescia, Paideia, 2015;

P. Secchi, «Del mar più che del ciel amante». Bruno e Cusano, Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2006;

D. Tessicini, I dintorni dell’infinito. Giordano Bruno e l’astronomia del Cinquecento, Pisa-Roma, F. Serra, 2007;

L. Vinciguerra, Spinoza, Roma, Carocci, 2015.

** To help students make informed choices, the teacher will explain, at the start of the course, the features and difficulty levels of the various recommended readings, and will also suggest some effective ways to combine them for learning purposes.

3. For a general knowledge of the historical-philosophical context in which the authors covered by the course fit in, a selective consultation of one of the following manuals is required:

F. Cioffi et al., Il testo filosofico. Storia della filosofia: autori, opere, problemi, vol. 2: L'età moderna, Milano, B. Mondadori, 1995 (o edizioni successive);

C. Esposito-P. Porro, I mondi della filosofia, vol. 2: Dall'Umanesimo all'Idealismo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2022;

L. Fonnesu, M. Vegetti et al., Le ragioni della filosofia, 2: Filosofia moderna, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2008 (o edizioni successive);

Storia della filosofia occidentale, a cura di G. Cambiano, L. Fonnesu e M. Mori, vol. 2: Medioevo e Rinascimento; vol. 3: Dalla rivoluzione scientifica all'Illuminismo, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2014.

N.B.: The course program is the same, as for attending and not attending students. Anyway, students who cannot attend classes or who don't know Italian may contact the teacher (in office hours, and not by email) to decide upon any additional or alternative readings.

Teaching methods

The course, consisting of 30 lectures, will be mostly devoted to reading, text analysis and commentary. Students are therefore required to provide the texts at the start of the course.

The illustration of themes and concepts will be accompanied by the reconstruction of the cultural contexts and sources - both classical and modern - that have fuelled and enriched the reflection of the philosophers covered by this course.

Class attendance and direct participation of the students (either through discussion or the presentation of in-depth reports on particular topics) are strongly encouraged.

The course will be held in the first semester and will start on September 17, 2025.

Timetable:

- Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Aula Magna Lercaro, Via Riva Reno 55;

- Thursday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Aula Magna Lercaro, Via Riva Reno 55;

- Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, Aula Magna Lercaro, Via Riva Reno 55.

Office hours: Prof. Scapparone will receive students on Thursday, h. 4-6 p.m. (by appointment, to be agreed with the teacher via email).

Assessment methods

Final oral examination.

Assessment criteria

The goal of the exam is to measure the achievement of the following learning objectives:

1. Ability to navigate with confidence regarding the overall problem of the discipline and to comment analytically on the philosophical texts discussed during the lessons;

2. Knowledge of secondary literature works listed in the bibliography, combined with the ability to learn how to reference them in autonomous and critical forms;

3. Basic knowledge of the history of philosophy in 15th-17th centuries.

The student's ability to learn how to operate with confidence and autonomy within the sources and the secondary literature and the possession of a language and forms of expression appropriate to the discipline will be assessed in a particular manner.

Assessment thresholds

30 cum laude: Excellent as to knowledge, terminology and critical expression.

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

29-27: Good: knowledge comprehensive and satisfactory, essentially correct expression.

26-24: Fairly good: knowledge present in significant points, but not complete and not always expressed with correctness.

23-21: Sufficient: knowledge is sometimes superficial, but the guiding general thread is included. Expression and articulation incomplete and often not appropriate.

20-18: Almost sufficient: but knowledge presents only on the surface. The guiding principle is not included with continuity. The expression and articulation of the speech show important gaps.

< 18: Not sufficient: knowledge absent or very incomplete, lack of guidance in discipline, expression seriously deficient. Exam failed.

Exam schedule: during the 2025/26 academic year, exam sessions will be scheduled in the following months: November, January, March, May, June and September.

Students with Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or temporary or permanent disabilities

It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance. The office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Slides;

Photocopies (limited to hard to find texts);

Advanced seminars;

Any individualized works.

Office hours

See the website of Elisabetta Scapparone