75834 - History of Humanist Philosophy

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide basic knowledge concerning the European Philosophy between the 14th and 16th century through texts and authors judged emblematic. In particular, students are able to recognize the major topics of Italian Renaissance and the relationships between speculative thought, philology and theory of the arts. Among the objectives of the course is to know and use the lexicon (in Latin and in Italian) of the humanistic philosophy as well as the main historiographical interpretations of the philosophical currents of the Renaissance

Course contents

                       Seeing, knowing, showing the invisible
                  From Nicholas of Cusa to Leonardo da Vinci

                        12 cfu Program and 6 cfu Program

 

12 cfu Program
L in Lettere and L in Filosofia
The course analyzes a turning point of humanistic thought.During the Renaissance the legacy of Platonic idealism and the abstractonist conceptions of the Peripatetic and Scholastic tradition, are flanked and sometimes replaced by a productive conception of knowledge, which is based on the faculty of the human mind to conceive mental (or rational) forms as models and criteria of representation, measurement and interpretation of reality, both ideal and sensible.Such a theory arises from the assimilation between a philosophy that seeks to renew itself with respect to the medieval tradition, a theory of arts that intends to emancipate artistic production from a mimetic and reproductive intention, and a mathematics that identifies in its symbolic feature an alternative both idealism and abstractionism.

The main points discussed will be the following:
- Nicholas of Cusa: mind and reason; mental images in the De mente and in the De sapientia; number and the visible form of infinity in the De filiation dei
- the invention of the linear perspective by Brunelleschi, Alberti, Piero della Francesca: the illusion of depth on a flat surface, the "vanishing point"
- Leonardo: the shadow power and its superiority with respect to the light, the “effigie dell’idea”, the “ingegno” beyond the intellect and the sensibility

6 cfu Program CdL in Filosofia curriculum "contesti e applicazioni"
c.i.
The course analyzes a turning point of humanistic philosophy which will have important outcomes in contemporary thought: a productive conception of knowledge, which is based on the faculty of the human mind to conceive mental (or rational) forms as models and criteria of representation, measurement and interpretation of reality, both ideal and sensible .Such a theory arises from the assimilation between philosophy, visual arts and a mathematical approach which identifies I'm its symbolic feature an alternative both idealism and abstractionism.

The main points discussed will be the following:
- Nicholas of Cusa: mind and reason, mental images, number and the visible form of infinity in the De filiatione dei
- the invention of the linear perspective by Brunelleschi, Alberti, Piero della Francesca: the illusion of depth on a flat surface, the "vanishing point"
- Leonardo: the shadow power and its superiority with respect to the light, the “effigie dell’idea”.

Readings/Bibliography

12 cfu Program
All students are expected
a) to know the following works:
- Nicola Cusano, La sapienza, or  La mente, in Opere filosofiche, teologiche e matematiche, Torino, Bompiani, 2017,   pages. 787-845; pages 849-975
- Nicola Cusano, La filiazione di Dio, in Opere filosofiche, teologiche e matematiche, Torino, Bompiani, 2017, pages 576-615
- Leonardo: Trattato della Pittura,Roma, Unione Cooperativa Editrice,1890 (any later edition or reprint, including digital), Parte Prima
- Leonardo, Scritti scelti. Frammenti letterari e filosofici, a cura di L. Solmi, Firenze, Giunti, 2006
b) to read two of the following essays
-E. Panofsky, La prospettiva come forma simbolica, tr. it. di E. Filippini con uno scritto di M. Dalai Emiliani, Milano, Abscondita, 2007 (available in several editions)
- C. Flasch, Niccolò Cusano nel suo tempo, Pisa, ETS, 2004 (on-line)
- M. Kemp, Immagine e verità. Per una storia dei rapporti tra scienza e arte, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1999

c) Moreover, one of the following essays (students who do not attend classes are required to know three essays) 
- K. Flasch, Niccolò Cusano. Lezioni introduttive a un’analisi genetica del suo pensiero, Torino, Aragno, 2010 (pp. 1-197, 277-319; 429-495)
- G. Cuozzo, Raffigurare l’invisibile. Cusano e l’arte del tempo, Milano, Mimesis, 2012
- M. Kemp, Leonardo nella mente del genio, Torino, Einaudi, 2004
- C. Pedretti, L’anatomia di Leonardo da Vinci fra Mondino e Berengario, Firenze, Cartei e Becagli, 2005
- A. Angelini, Matematica e immaginazione nel Rinascimento, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2001

d)All students are required to know the history of philosophy of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to be acquired through the study of a  textbook

 

6 cfu Program
All students are expected
a) to know the following works:
- Nicola Cusano, La filiazione di Dio, in Opere filosofiche, teologiche e matematiche, Torino, Bompiani, 2017, pages 576-615
- Leonardo: Trattato della Pittura,Roma, Unione Cooperativa Editrice,1890 (any later edition or reprint, including digital), Parte Prima
b) to read two of the following essays
-E. Panofsky, La prospettiva come forma simbolica, tr. it. di E. Filippini con uno scritto di M. Dalai Emiliani, Milano, Abscondita, 2007 (available in several editions)
- M. Kemp, Immagine e verità. Per una storia dei rapporti tra scienza e arte, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1999

c) Moreover, one of the following essays (students who do not attend classes are required to know two essays)
- K. Flasch, Niccolò Cusano. Lezioni introduttive a un’analisi genetica del suo pensiero, Torino, Aragno, 2010 (pp. 1-197, 277-319; 429-495)
- G. Cuozzo, Raffigurare l’invisibile. Cusano e l’arte del tempo, Milano, Mimesis, 2012
- M. Kemp, Leonardo nella mente del genio, Torino, Einaudi, 2004
- C. Pedretti, L’anatomia di Leonardo da Vinci fra Mondino e Berengario, Firenze, Cartei e Becagli, 2005
- A. Angelini, Matematica e immaginazione nel Rinascimento, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2001

d)All students are required to know the history of philosophy of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to be acquired through the study of a textbook

Teaching methods

The most significant passages of Cusa and Leonardo works will be analyzed and discussed during the classes. Students are required to provide the texts before the course begins.
The summaries of the lectures will be periodically uploaded on AlmaDigital Library.
Students who attend classes are required to enroll, before the course begins, to the distribution list, ID: annarita.angelini.umanesimo, password: umanesimo.
We recommend the students to see regulary the teacher's web page on which will be uploaded any information and change useful to those who attending the classes.
Students who have attended classes can replace the above texts with specific topics. These topics have to be agreed with the teacher at the end of the course.

Assessment methods

Oral examination: Students are recommended to bring the texts when examining.The interview focuses mainly on analysis and critical interpretation of the sources.
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

The Heptaplus is an essential tool in order to actively participate in the classes. It is recommended to get hold of the text before classes.
The summaries of the lectures will be periodically (every three to six lectures) uploaded on AlmaDigital Library. To be allowed to the online consultation of classes slides, students have to enroll to the distribution list ID: annarita.angelini.umanesimo, password: umanesimo

Office hours

See the website of Annarita Angelini