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

Revolution and law.

In a brief but still methodologically valuable essay, John Dunn (1992) stated that «All the central terms that organize modern [...] action […] have a history of their own behind them» and that the definition of the «canon», that is, the «relatively determinate» set of «works which have attained the status of classic texts», tends to make explicit and communicate the significance of a series of «passages of history».

In the field of the philosophy of law, the problem of the relationship between law and revolution can be considered as a classic theme for at least a couple of centuries. As Norberto Bobbio (1993) wrote, «legally revolution means the illegitimate demolition of a pre-existing legal system, implemented from within, and at the same time the constitution of a new legal system». In this sense, questioning the relationship between revolution and law means calling into question the link between factuality and normativity, legitimacy and institution, natural rights and current law, constituent and constituted power.

In the light of these succinct premises, the course will focus on some texts developed «in the shadow of the French Revolution» (Philp 2014). The latter will be understood as the first revolutionary event which was not only «established post factum» as an irresistible movement, in the same way as the «natural revolutions» of celestial motions, but which was also intended as a «program of action» (Griewank 1979 ), capable of conveying a «pathos of novelty» connected with the «idea of freedom» (Arendt 1963), thus endowed with an «excess of meaning compared to the state of the previous [philosophical, legal and political] debate» (Costa 2000, II).

More specifically, after an initial historical and theoretical reconstruction of the context, the perspectives of different authors who were direct observers of the Revolution will be analyzed, such as those of the British Richard Price, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, or the French Olympe de Gouges, but references will be also made to the contemporary Italian scenario.

Readings/Bibliography

1. E. Burke, Riflessioni sulla Rivoluzione francese, in E. Burke, Scritti politici, a cura di A. Martelloni, UTET, Torino, 1963, pp. 149-362 OR W. Godwin, La giustizia politica, a cura di M. Cotone, Trimestre, Sambuceto, 1990 (o edizioni inglesi): Parti I, II, III, IV.

2. R. Price, La libertà civile. Scritti politici, a cura e traduzione di P. Chiarella, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2021: pp. 49-198 OR M. Wollstonecraft, I diritti degli uomini. Risposta alle Riflessioni sulla Rivoluzione francese di Edmund Burke, cura e traduzione di B. Casalini, PLUS, Pisa, 2003: pp. 1-84 (testo disponibile in open access).

3. O. de Gouges, La musa barbara. Scritti politici (1788-1793), a cura di F. Zanelli Quarantini, Medusa, Milano, 2009 OR M. Wollstonecraft, I diritti delle donne, a cura di F. Ruggieri, Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1977 (o altre edizioni) OR R. Califronia, Breve difesa dei diritti delle donne, Appendice in S. Tanci, Voci di donne a difesa dei diritti femminili: Aretafila Savini de’ Rossi (1729) e Rosa Califronia (1794), Era Nuova, Perugia, 2013, pp. 9-120.

Teaching methods

The course will be developed through 15 lessons, which will take place in person. It will not be possible to take part remotely but all the lessons will be recorded. Only (attending and non-attending) students enrolled in the course will be able to view the recordings of the lessons, which can be intended as learning support material.

It is necessary to register for the course by completing the procedure on Virtuale Unibo.

Classes will be held from 9 November 2022 to 13 December 2022, every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3.00 pm to 5.00 pm (Aula B, via Zamboni 34).

The dates for the exam sessions will be made available on Alma Esami.

Assessment methods

Both for attending and non-attending students, knowledge will be tested through an oral examination.

"Attending" are those students who regularly participate in face-to-face lessons.

"Non-attending" are those students who do not regularly participate in face-to-face lessons.

Attendance signatures will not be collected during the lessons. Displaying the recordings of the lessons is not relevant for the purpose of being considered as an attending student.

The exam program is the same for attending and non-attending students.

The assessment will take into account the following verification criteria:

1. knowledge and ability to understand specific issues;

2. ability to apply knowledge, through the examination of specific topics;

3. autonomy of judgment, or the ability to re-elaborate information independently and personally;

4. communication skills, starting from the ability to communicate ideas and problems with a proper language and a good articulation of thought;

5. learning skills, i.e. correct acquisition of tools and critical judgment skills on complex concerns.

Teaching tools

For the benefit of (attending and non-attending) students enrolled in the course, the recordings of the lessons, as well as any slides, will be uploaded to the platform Virtuale Unibo. Students with special learning needs or proven specific needs are asked to contact the teacher by email or at the end of the lessons.

Office hours

See the website of Serena Vantin