87419 - History Of Political Thought (M-Z)

Academic Year 2019/2020

Learning outcomes

The course aims to give theoretical tools for the study of history of Western modern and contemporary political thought, to highlight the milestone political concepts and its traditions, to analyze the relationship between the development of political theory and the building of political institutions and social processes.

Course contents

The course analyses the most important modern and contemporary Western political doctrines through the lenses of the concept of war. Focusing on this political concept, it investigates some of the key and interlinked political concepts that were developed, starting from the modern age, also with the aim of containing or neutralizing the possibility of conflict, such as: State, political power, political subject, pact/covenant, sovereignty, citizenship, representation, rights, civil society, democracy, government, constitution, political party. Together with the analysis and discussion of the texts written by some of the most important Western political thinkers – from Machiavelli to Erasmo, Grotius and Hobbes, from Locke to Rousseau, Kant, Hegel and Marx, from Weber to Schmitt, Kelsen, Arendt and Foucault –regarding the political concept of war, a special attention is devoted to the concept of freedom/liberty and to the investigation of its conceptual origin and evolution in the history of modern and contemporary political thought. In this light, freedom/liberty is thus seen in its continuous dialectical, and more or less conflictual, relationship with the risk of war and political disorder.

Readings/Bibliography

STUDENTS ATTENDING THE COURSE

C. Galli (a cura di), Il pensiero politico moderno, a cura di C. Galli, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017

R. Gherardi (a cura di), La politica e gli Stati, Roma, Carocci; 

C. Galli (a cura di), Guerra, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2015

R. Gherardi (a cura di), Relazioni fra gli Stati: pace e guerra, Bologna, Clueb, 2002

M. L. Lanzillo (a cura di), Libertà, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2014

 

One of the following texts for the facultative oral exam:

N. Matteucci, Organizzazione del potere e libertà, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2016.

M. Chiaruzzi, Politica di potenza nell'età del Leviatano, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008

P. Portinaro, Stato, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1999

M. Wight, Le tre tradizioni, Bologna, Il Ponte, 2016


 


STUDENTS NOT ATTENDING THE COURSE

The readings to be prepared by students who choose not to attend the course are partially different from those to be prepared by the attending ones. For this reason non-attending students are kindly requested to meet the instructor during office hours. 

Teaching methods

The course consists of 25 2-hour lectures, based also on the reading and conceptual analysis of the classical texts of Western political thought and aimed at providing students with the appropriate language and main conceptual tools of the history of modern and contemporary political thought. Attending students must subscribe the list called michele.chiaruzzi.sd during the first week and not later. Attendance is expected and verified.

Assessment methods

ATTENDING STUDENTS

Attending students will undergo three written exams throughout the course aimed at assessing, for each of the three main sections of the course, their acquisition of the expected knowledge and abilities. Each exam is a 45-minute text that consists of 5 or 6 open questions. 

Attending students must subscribe the list called michele.chiaruzzi.sd during the first week and not later. Attendance is expected and verified.

Attending students who miss or fail one of the written exams will undergo a makeup oral exam after the end of the class only if their average grade is sufficient.

Attending students who have not obtained a sufficient average grade will undergo a written exam on the entire syllabus after the end of the class.

The oral exam is aimed at assessing the student’s level of knowledge of some of the most important topics addressed by the course, as well as her/his ability to critically analyses and verbally articulate them and her/his level of understanding of the texts.

The final evaluation will be the numerical average of the written and the (possible) oral exam scores.

The ability of the student to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed by the course, to critically assess them and to use an appropriate language will be evaluated with the highest grades. Gaps and deficiencies in one or more of those components will result in lower grades. The absence of a minimum level of knowledge of the contents of the course, combined with inadequate language and lack of critical abilities will result in a fail grading.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

Students who do not attend the course will undergo a written exam that consists of 15 open questions after the end of the class. The written text is aimed at assessing their acquisition of the expected knowledge and abilities.

If they pass the text they will undergo an oral exam on the dedicated syllabus provided by the instructor.

The oral exam is aimed at assessing the student’s level of knowledge of some of the most important topics addressed by the course, as well as her/his ability to critically analyse and verbally articulate them and her/his level of understanding of the texts.

The final evaluation will be the numerical average of the written and the oral exam scores.

The ability of the student to achieve a coherent and comprehensive understanding of the topics addressed by the course, to critically assess them and to use an appropriate language will be evaluated with the highest grades. Gaps and deficiencies in one or more of those components will result in lower grades. The absence of a minimum level of knowledge of the contents of the course, combined with inadequate language and lack of critical abilities will result in a fail grading.



Office hours

See the website of Michele Chiaruzzi

SDGs

Good health and well-being Quality education Peace, justice and strong institutions Partnerships for the goals

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.