90064 - History of Philosophy from Renaissance to Enlightenment (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide depth knowledge on modern philosophical culture of the period that goes from fifteenth to the eighteenth century, with particular interest for Renaissance philosophical texts, seventeenth century philosophy and and Enlightenment philosophy. In this perspective, which focuses on modernity and its origins, specific themes will be examined and classical texts questioned, contextualizing their analysis in the framework of long-term traditions, but also underlining moments of crisis and rupture with the past. The aim of the course is to allow students to autonomously face the reading of philosophical texts in a historical perspective; to perceive the relevance of historiographical and methodological questions related to periodization and polarity between continuity and disruption; to know the main lines of modern and contemporary historiography, acquiring, at the same time, the awareness of the problematic nature and complexity of philosophical research.

Course contents

Course Title: «Souls without a seam». Rethinking Angelic Nature and Mind between the Renaissance and Modernity

Building upon a theme already present in Cartesian studies from the early decades of the 20th century, the most recent historiography has shown how the debate on ‘separate souls’ – which spans from the early to the late Scholastic period, from the great angelologies of Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas to Francisco Suárez – represented an important conceptual laboratory  for the development of a model of the ‘mind without body’. This model was later inherited by modernity in the midst of the discussion on the relationship between created and finite minds and the infinity of God, as well as on the instruments that human beings, in their finitude, may employ to access a grounded and true knowledge.

The course also offers a complementary interpretative path focused on the Renaissance transformation of the angelic paradigm. In this period, the angel’s dual status – both celestial and terrestrial – becomes a powerful symbol in philosophical texts. It emerges, on the one hand, as a dynamic expression of divine energy and universal harmony; on the other, as a mirror and provocation for human life, suspended between nature and divinity. We will explore how this figure comes to embody the potential for human metamorphosis into higher forms of experience and knowledge, aiming to overcome the limitations of finite existence.

The final portion of the course addresses the modern revival of angelic thought, with particular emphasis on the renewed interest in angelology within 20th-century literature and philosophy. Central to this exploration is the ‘myth of the angel’ in the work of Walter Benjamin, read through the lens of Gershom Scholem, Benjamin’s close friend and one of the most important scholars of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.

Readings/Bibliography

1. During the classes will be read the following texts (or any part):

M. Ficino, Teologia platonica, a cura di E. Vitale, Milano, Bompiani, 2011, pp. 75-83, 207-223, 1605-1625, 1773-1777;

G. Pico della Mirandola, La dignità dell'uomo, a cura di R. Ebgi, traduzione di F. Padovani, Torino, Einaudi, 2021;

G. Pico della Mirandola, Heptaplus, in Id., De hominis dignitate, Heptaplus, De ente et Uno e scritti vari, a cura di E. Garin, Torino, Aragno, 2004, vol. I, pp. 169-203, 247-267;

G. Bruno, De magia naturali, in Id., Opere magiche, edizione diretta da M. Ciliberto, a cura di S. Bassi, E. Scapparone, N. Tirinnanzi, Milano, Adelphi, 2000, pp. 221-285;

G. Bruno, Spaccio de la bestia trionfante, in Id. Dialoghi filosofici italiani, a cura e con un saggio introduttivo di M. Ciliberto, Milano, Mondadori, 2000, pp. 630-649;

T. Campanella, Del senso delle cose e della magia, a cura di G. Ernst, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007 (libri II e III);

T. Campanella, L'ateismo trionfato, a cura di G. Ernst, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2008, pp. 64-91 (capp. VII -VIII), 132-159 (cap. XI);

R. Descartes, Meditazioni metafisiche, a cura di S. Landucci, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1997 (o altra edizione).

2. In addition to in-depth knowledge of the texts referred to in paragraph 1, all studens must read one of the following essays:

Les anges dans la philosophie médiévale et moderne. Études offertes à Tiziana Suarez-Nani, édité par V. Breckman et A. Petagine, Roma, Aracne, 2023;

S. Guidi, L'angelo e la macchina. Sulla genesi della res cogitans cartesiana, Milano, F. Angeli, 2018;

P.O. Kristeller, Il pensiero filosofico di Marsilio Ficino, Firenze, Le lettere, 2005;

La lama del sapiente. Saggio sulla filosofia di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, a cura di G. Licata e P. Terracciano, Pisa-Firenze, Edizioni della Normale-Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, 2022;

E. Scribano, Angeli e beati. Modelli di conoscenza da Tommaso a Spinoza, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006;

T. Suarez-Nani, Les anges et la philosophie. Subjectivité et fonction cosmologique des substances séparées à la fin du XIIIe siècle, Paris, Vrin, 2002.

Other (optional) readings on the topic:

Angeli. Ebraismo Cristianesimo Islam, a cura di G. Agamben e E. Coccia, Vicenza, Neri Pozza, 2013;

M. Cacciari, L'angelo necessario, Milano, Adelphi, 1992;

G. Scholem, Walter Benjamin e il suo angelo, Milano, Adelphi, 1978;

S. Zucal, L'angelo nel pensiero contemporaneo, Brescia, Morcelliana, 2012.

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 e-mail) to decide upon any additional or alternative readings.

Teaching methods

The course is structured into 15 lessons. The reading and commentary of the texts will be accompanied by in-class discussions, led by students, on the most relevant topics.

The course will be held in the second semester and will start on February 16, 2026.

Timetable

- Monday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Room B, Via Centotrecento 18;

- Thursday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Room E, Via Zamboni 34;

- Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Room B, Via Centotrecento 18.

Office hours: Prof. Scapparone will receive students on Thursday, h. 3.30-4.30 p.m.

Assessment methods

Final oral examination.

Students who have attended the course will be able, if they wish, to integrate the examination with short essays or presentations on topics agreed with the teacher.

In accordance with the class, a written text on a specific part of the program could be organized. Detailed procedures about this text shall be laid down at the beginning of the course.

Assessment criteria

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

- Analysis and interpretation of the texts discussed in class;

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

- Knowledge of the history of Renaissance and early modern philosophy.

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 with distinction: Excellent results for the solidity of skills, wealth of critical articulation, expressive properties and maturity.

30: Excellent result: complete and well-articulated knowledge of themes addressed in lessons, with critical ideas, and illustrated with adequate expressive features.

29-27: Good result: complete knowledge and adequately contestualized, fundamentally correct presentation.

26-24: Moderate result: knowledge is present in the essential areas, though not thorough and not always articulated correctly.

23-21: Sufficient result: superficial or purely mnemonic understanding of the subject, confused articulation of the presentation, with often inappropriate expression.

20-18: Barely sufficient result: knowledge of the subject, articulation during discussions and methods of expression demonstrate considerable gaps in understanding.

< 18: Insufficient result, exam failed. The student is invited to attend a subsequent exam session where the essential skills have not been acquired, lacking the ability to orient themselves within the subjects of the course and of the same discipline and where the methods of expression demonstrate considerable gaps in understanding.

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