Acquiring knowledge of a modern classic of human thought and reinterpreting it through contemporary interpretations, with particular emphasis to the practical-ethical imports of the arguments debated.

According to Gilles Deleuze - whose ‘nomad' thought marks a fundamental step in the theoretical reflection of the twentieth century - Spinoza's work on conatus and the power of affections developed an ethics, rather than a moral. Strive to comprehend humans for what they are and not for what we would like them to be, Spinoza refuses, in fact, to think about the right action in terms of rules or universal laws, dividing the order of rationality from the power of desire and affections. Instead of thinking about human conduct in terms of obligation and abstract rationality, the "virtuous atheist" (how Bayle calls it) examines it through a reflection about "desire", of which he struggles to comprehend the internal logic and the necessary causes, leveraging on the immanent and productive character of Substance.

Through the reading of the "Ethics" and of some letters exchanged between Spinoza and Blyenberg - which provide useful reflection prompts on the notions of "good" and "evil", "sin" and "merit" - the course tries to individuate and problematize the theoretical cores that are fundamental to the deleuzian reading of Spinoza.

Knowledge and understanding:

The graduates must be able to: comprehend and illustrate elementary and intermediate philosophical material; deal with classical problems from history of philosophy and logic; use bibliographical and informational instruments that are relevant to the subject; know the problems of the subject.

Applying knowledge and understanding:

The graduates must be able to professionally debate and use the knowledge in adequate situations, such as teaching and doing research.

Making judgements:

The graduates must be able to demonstrate judging autonomy when valuating data and when applying theoretical elements in real situations. In order to achieve this, appropriate attendance to seminars is required. When assessing students' preparation, the ability to reinterpret personally the material given will be held in high regard.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Ph.D Monia Andreani will organize seminars on ethics and bioethics, which will provide useful in-depth analysis of the arguments developed during the course. It is also expected an active collaboration with both the permanent seminar "Spinoza e il pensiero filosofico moderno" and the course in History of Philosophy (professor Cristina Santinelli).

Teaching

Lectures and seminars.

Attendance

It is required a regular attendance to the course. If the student does not attend to the course, he must refer, for the course material, to the "NO attendance" section.

Course books

A.

B. Spinoza, Etica, tr. it. a cura di E. Giancotti, PGRECO Edizioni, Milano 2010,  expecially Parts III, IV, V.

Id., Epistole 18-24 ed Epistola 27 in   B. Spinoza, Epistolario, a cura di A. Droetto, Einaudi, Torino 1974 sgg., pp. 103-154 e 157-158.

All the above can be found also in Spinoza, Opere, a cura e con un saggio introduttivo di F. Mignini, traduzioni  e note di F. MIgnini e O. Proietti, Mondadori ("I Meridiani", Classici dello Spirito), Milano 2007 sgg.

B.

Deleuze, Spinoza. Filosofia pratica, tr, it. di M. Senaldi,  Guerini e Associati,  Milano 1991.

Id. Che cosa può un corpo, Lezioni su Spinoza, Prefazione e cura di A. Pardi, Ombre corte, Verona 2007.

Further references will be provided during the course.

Assessment

Oral exam on all the material at point (A) and (B). Optional essay which has to be agreed upon with the lecturer in advance.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

It is required that the student makes contact with the lecturer AT LEAST four months in advance.

Attendance

Course books

All the material reported at point (A) and (B) in the section "course books" plus AT LEAST one book to be chosen from the following (C):

R. Ronchi, Gilles Deleuze, Feltrinelli, Milano 2015

E. Scribano, Guida alla lettura dell'Etica di Spinoza, Roma-Bari 2008

L.Vinciguerra, Spinoza,  Carocci Editore, Roma 2015

Assessment

Oral exam on all the material at point (A), (B) and (C). Optional essay which has to be agreed upon with the lecturer in advance.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.