28019 - History of Medieval Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to lead to a thorough understanding of medieval philosophical, theological and cultural reflections. The aim of the teaching is to lead students to recognize the coexistence and constitutive plurality of the traditions of thought of the centuries conventionally defined as medieval. The course of study is then intertwined with that of places, sources, translations and ways of reading, preserving and transmitting knowledge. In a broader perspective, the aim is finally to trace the paths of an intellectual history, marked by the discontinuities of the concrete historical dimension, which also opens to concepts, problems and ideas of modern and contemporary ages. The study of the topics covered is aimed at fostering the attainment of skills useful for the philological analysis of texts and the critical evaluation of secondary literature in both historical relevance and theoretical relevance.

Course contents

Opus naturae est opus intelligentiae. Albert the Great on the natural sciences from celestial bodies to non-human animals.

Un uomo così divino in tutte le scienze che lo si potrebbe ben chiamare meraviglia e miracolo del nostro tempo

(Ulrich of Strasburg, De summo bono)

The Dominican theologian Albert the Great owes his "greatness" to the systematic work of reading and analyzing Aristotelian philosophy and Arabic science. There is no natural phenomenon that he did not deeply explore. What are the principles of celestial movements? Is there a relationship between stars and animal generation? And again: what are the biological elements that make humans "parvi mundi" superior to non-human animals? These are just some of the questions Albert puts his hand to, trying to take into account both experimental data and metaphysical hypotheses that seem to suggest the existence of a common order to different natural phenomena.

This course aims at providing some cosmological and biological issues addressed by Albertus with the purpose of examining their sources, understanding the method of investigation, and evaluating the different possible solutions.


Course summary

Of the 15 lectures (of two hours each):

• 3 lectures will be devoted to a general introduction to Albert the Great's thought, taking as a point of reference the texts indicated in the first point of the bibliography.

• 6 lessons will be devoted to the reading and commentary of some quaestiones from Albert's Problemata determinata, included as a reference text in the second point of the bibliography.

• 6 lessons will be devoted to the study of some special cases of animals, adopting as a reference point the text indicated in the third point of the bibliography.
  

Readings/Bibliography

1. Albert the Great. Introduction

• J.A. Weisheipl, La vita e le opere di Alberto Magno, in: J.A. Weisheipl (a cura di), Alberto Magno e le scienze, Edizioni Studio Domenicano, Bologna 1994 (Lumen, 11), pp. 17-54 (Il testo sarà messo a disposizione dal docente).
  

• L. Sturlese, Il razionalismo filosofico e scientifico di Alberto il Grande, in: L. Sturlese, Storia della filosofia tedesca nel Medioevo. Il secolo XIII, Olschki, Firenze 1996, pp. 69-125. (Il testo sarà messo a disposizione dal docente).

2. Angelic creatures, celestial movements and natural processes

• Alberto Magno, Problemi risolti, a cura di A. Colli, A. Rodolfi, ETS, Pisa 2020 (Philosophica, 247).
  
  

3. Humans as parvi mundi and non-humans animals

• S. Perfetti, Nature imperfette. Umano, subumano e animale nel pensiero di Alberto Magno, ETS, Pisa 2021 (Philosophica, 226).

Distinction between attending and non-attending students is not considered. The latter, however, are invited to contact the lecturer to arrange any additions to the syllabus.

Teaching methods

The course includes a series of introductory lectures and subsequent guided reading of the texts under examination.

Some of the texts listed in the bibliography, as well as any slides, will be made available on Virtual, along with the lecture recording.

Assessment methods

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

18-20 - 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

Some texts of bibliography and eventual slides shown during the course will be available on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Andrea Colli