29424 - Seminars (1) (LM) (G.E)

Learning outcomes

The Philosophy Seminars have the specific objectives of seminar teaching: (1) training students in philosophical argumentation by discussion on themes and texts, also in the original language, presented in meetings with Italian and foreign scholars; (2) broading and deeping philosophical knowledge through participation in conferences held by specialists; (3) comparing different methodological approaches to philosophy.

Course contents

On war and peace.

The world today is riven by conflicts that seem to drag on without any possibility or capacity for finding a way out towards peace and stabilisation of the international order. The present seems to be a time of permanent war and impossible peace, in which almost archaic practices are mixed with new expressions of warlike impulses.
Faced with this situation, reflections on war, its origins, the cultures and forms of violence, and attempts by the law to curb the most devastating effects of warmongering are multiplying and overlapping, sometimes making it difficult to disentangle the different aspects of the issue on the basis of an adequate conceptualisation of the phenomenon of war.
The seminar therefore aims to focus on what seems to be repeating itself in today's wars from past experiences of war and how the reality of armed conflict is changing in the contemporary world. Data and insights into contemporary conflicts will be provided, readings and interpretations by authors from the history of political thought and analyses by contemporary scholars will be proposed, and reflections on the reality and representation of war in the contemporary world will be offered. The aim is to provide tools and knowledge about a total social phenomenon that has returned forcefully to the centre of collective experience.

Readings/Bibliography

 

Orientative historical-critical bibliography:

 

Alessandro Colombo, Guerra civile e ordine politico, Laterza; 

Alessandro Colombo, La guerra ineguale Pace e violenza nel tramonto della società internazionale, Il Mulino;

 Alessandro Colombo, Il suicidio della pace. Perché l'ordine internazionale liberale ha fallito (1989-2024), Cortina.

 Enzo Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco. La guerra civile europea (1914-1945), Il Mulino;

 Mark Duffield, Guerre postmoderne. L'aiuto umanitario come tecnica politica di controllo, Il Ponte editrice;

Luca Scuccimarra, Proteggere l'umanità. Sovranità e diritti umani dell'epoca globale, Il Mulino;

Ruperth Smith, L'arte della guerra nel mondo contemporaneo, Il Mulino;

Gianluca Sadun Bordoni, Guerra e natura umana Le radici del disordine mondiale, Il Mulino;

Amoreno Martellini, Fiori nei cannoni. Nonviolenza e antimilitarismo nell'Italia del Novecento, Donzelli;

Bruna Bianchi, L'avventura della pace. Pacifismo e Grande guerra, Unicopli;

Mary Kaldor, Le nuove guerre. La violenza organizzata nell’età globale, Carocci;

Luigi Bonanate, La guerra e il mondo. Filosofia, storia, politica, Carocci;

Andrea Carati, Giusto e impossibile. I dilemmi dell'intervento umanitario nella società internazionale, Il Mulino;

Gregoire Chamayou, Teoria del drone. Principi filosofici del diritto di uccidere, DeriveApprodi;

Thomas Hippler, Il governo del cielo. Storia globale dei bombardamenti aerei, Bollati Boringhieri;

Mario Fiorillo, Guerra e diritto, Laterza;

Chantal Meloni, Giustizia universale? Tra gli Stati e la Corte penale internazionale: bilancio di una promessa, Il Mulino

Other texts will be indicated during the meetings.

Teaching methods

The seminar includes general interventions by the lecturer in order to set and define the historical and conceptual frame of reference, then collective classroom reading and discussion of texts and documentary materials. The primary objectives are to develop critical and interpretive skills through work on texts, to acquire the aptitude for conceptual synthesis and the interweaving of different points of view contextualized in different eras.

Assessment methods

In order to obtain the qualification, students must write a short report agreed with the lecturer based on the topics covered in the seminar and the particular interests that emerged during the course. The report may be presented and discussed collectively during the seminar. If there are reasons that prevent such a presentation, the report may be presented at a later date and discussed with the teacher in monthly meetings after the end of the seminar.

To be considered attending, students must be present at at least two-thirds of the meetings.


Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: it is recommended that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) in good time: it will be their responsibility to propose any adjustments to the students concerned, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance for approval by the teacher, who will assess their appropriateness in relation to the educational objectives of the course.

Teaching tools

Texts, images and documentary sources. Possible interventions in the discussion by researchers and experts in the topic.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Baldissara