In the context of today's political philosophy, the basic learning goals of the course concern both the awareness of, and critical ability to relate to, the major aspects of contemporary philosophical debate and, more specifically, the ability to analyze the conceptual and historical roots of the current debates. The course favors the thematic and conceptual dimension of philosophical-political inquiry, while it profits from historiographical findings. The course is structured in such a way as to allow the achievement of the following specific learning goals:
- critical apprehension of the presuppositions, research methods, purposes and heuristic significance of political philosophy
- critical awareness in respect of the ties that connect political philosophy to disciplines that are primarily concerned with the political such as political science, political sociology and the history of political ideas as well as of the features that distinguish the former from the latter
- critical apprehension of the main issues and aspects of the development of the fundamental problems, ideas and concepts of Western philosophical-political thought
- critical and aware use of the lexicon of political philosophy
- critical apprehension of the presuppositions, research methods, purposes and heuristic significance of political philosophy
- critical awareness in respect of the ties that connect political philosophy to disciplines that are primarily concerned with the political such as political science, political sociology and the history of political ideas as well as of the features that distinguish the former from the latter
- critical apprehension of the main issues and aspects of the development of the fundamental problems, ideas and concepts of Western philosophical-political thought
- critical and aware use of the lexicon of political philosophy
scheda docente
materiale didattico
2) FOUCAULT, Michel, Nascita della biopolitica. Corso al Collège de France (1978-1979), a cura di M. Senellart, trad. it. di M. Bertani, V. Zini, Feltrinelli, Milano 2015 (ISBN 978-88-07-88654-6)
3) MAIOLO, Francesco, Foucault e la sovranità, Aracne Editrice, Roma 2012 (ISBN 978-88-548-5068-2)
Programma
In the course we will analyse in a reflective manner the relationship between political philosophy and political science on the one hand, and between political philosophy and the history of political thought on the other. This exercise serves the purpose of better situating political philosophy in the context of the political and social sciences in order to grasp its specific epistemological status, and the link with the sphere of historically and culturally given values. This responds to the need to critically reflect on the ways in which politics has been "rationalized" in the context of Western thought, and on the ways that have guided the various attempts at such rationalization. We will focus on the analysis of the questions concerning the nature of "matters of politics" and the determination of the "political good" both in the individual and in the collective sense through the various interpretative grids that constitute the essential reference points on the subject. A series of problems will be analyzed: political order between human nature and the human condition; the question of social justice; authority, power, freedom and obedience; public ethics, the common good, freedom of speech and democracy. The second part of the course is concerned with the critique of power and sovereignty in the thought of Michel Foucault (see the section Testi adottati e bibliografia di riferimento).Testi Adottati
1) PORTINARO, Pier Paolo, Il lessico del potere. L'arte di governo dall'antichità alla globalizzazione, Carocci, Roma 2021 (ISBN 978-88-290-0563--5)2) FOUCAULT, Michel, Nascita della biopolitica. Corso al Collège de France (1978-1979), a cura di M. Senellart, trad. it. di M. Bertani, V. Zini, Feltrinelli, Milano 2015 (ISBN 978-88-07-88654-6)
3) MAIOLO, Francesco, Foucault e la sovranità, Aracne Editrice, Roma 2012 (ISBN 978-88-548-5068-2)
Modalità Frequenza
Class-attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended due to the complexity of the subject-matter of examination.Modalità Valutazione
The evaluation is based upon the exactness with which the candidate provides explanation of concepts and political categories in turn used throughout current and past debates, and upon the logical consistency of the critical interpretations provided.