00393 - Moral Philosophy

Learning outcomes

Students are expected to acquire knowledge of the main issues of moral philosophy and their relationship with metaphysics and politics.

Course contents

Course title: The good of government (three arguments from ancient and modern times)

The module aims at investigating three crucial forms of the relation between morals and power in the view of the corresponding epochal discontinuities.

Timetable: I semester, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 17-19. Aula Berti, Via Ludovico Berti 2/7.

Lessons are scheduled to start on Monday 8 October.

 

8/9 classes will be dedicated to Plato, Augustine, and Hobbes, respectively. The first class will feature a general introduction to the module and the last one will be dedicated to conclusive remarks. Students will work on topics suggested by the lecturer and discuss their work publicly (3/4 classes).

Readings/Bibliography

I.

 R. Caporali, Uguaglianza, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012.

 

II. Two of the following groups:

1.

- Platone, Gorgia (any edition; si consiglia la versione a cura di F. Adorno, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2007).

- A. Fussi, Retorica e potere. Una lettura del Gorgia di Platone, ETS, Pisa 2006.

 

2.

- Agostino di Ippona, Le confessioni (any edition).

- Agostino di Ippona, La città di Dio, libri I, II, IV, V, XIV, XIX.

- É. Gilson, Introduzione allo studio di Sant'Agostino, Milano, Marietti ed., s.d.

 

3.

– Th. Hobbes, Elementi di legge naturale e politica, a cura di A. Pacchi, Sansoni, Firenze 2004.

– N. Bobbio, Thomas Hobbes, Einaudi, Torino 2004/2.

 

N.B: Course-attending students are free to agree upon different requested readings with the teacher.

Teaching methods

The course will consist of frontal lessons; sources will be commented and discussed and the history of moral philosophy synthetically reconstructed. Teacher-led discussions will be encouraged.

Assessment methods

1.Written test on Riccardo Caporali, Uguaglianza. Only those who pass the written test are allowed to take the oral exam. Evalutation criteria are listed and explained in the lecturer’s website.

2) Final viva voce. Course-attending students can discuss alternative readings with the teacher. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their knowledge of assigned texts and their ability to critically discuss authors' works and historical issues. Students are required to bring with them the texts they have used to prepare the exam.

Teaching tools

Required readings (see bibliography), slides.

Office hours

See the website of Riccardo Caporali