With the nominalistic crisis of scholasticism, the space for an approach to the study of nature opened up during the fifteenth century, making it possible to replace Aristotelian "forms" with "forces", the univocity of terms with the homogeneity of reality and the distinction between logic and metaphysics with the idea that both should merge into natural philosophy.

In this space an operative (magical-astrological) and effective (physical-natural) conception of the natural perspective is wedged, for which visual species are vehicles of energies; a magic-astrological and hermetic version of Neoplatonism is affirmed; a metaphysics is defined that, taking up a stoic and atomistic approach, faces the study of nature as a dynamic interweaving of balanced forces and correspondences.

The course presents a research within these philosophical experiences, which announce in different ways the modern approach to the knowledge of natural and social reality.

1. Introduction to the course. Early Modern homogeneity and Ancient-Medieval univocity: from "forms" to "forces".

2. The indefinite universe of Niccolò Cusano

3. The magic and astrological medicine of Marsilio Ficino

4. Leonardo da Vinci's itinerary: from magic to "mixtures"

5. The attractive and repulsive forces at the basis of nature: Telesio

6. The power of prophecy from Machiavelli to Campanella

Students will have to be able to understand and explain philosophical texts of an intermediate nature, to face and solve classical problems of the history of philosophy, to use bibliographic and informative tools related to the field (History of Philosophy), to know the basic problems of their field of study. Furthermore, students will have to demonstrate autonomy of judgement in the evaluation of the data collected.

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

Teaching

Lectures and seminar.

Course books

Niccolò Cusano, La dotta ignoranza, Le congetture, in Id., Opere filosofiche, a cura di G. Federici Vescovini, Torino, Utet, 1972

Marsilio Ficino, Sulla vita, a cura di A. Tarabochia Canavero, Milano, Rusconi, 1995

Marsilio Ficino, Scritti sull’astrologia, a cura di O. Pompeo Faracovi, Milano, Rizzoli 1999

Leonardo da Vinci, Scritti, a cura di C. Vecce, Milano, Mursia, 1992

Niccolò Machiavelli, Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, a cura di G. Inglese, Milano, Rizzoli, 1984

Bernardino Telesio, La natura secondo i suoi principi. Testo latino a fronte, a cura di R. Bondì, Milano, Bompiani, 2009

Tommaso Campanella, Dalla Metaphysica. Profezia, divinazione, estasi, a cura di G. Ernst, Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino, 2007

Tommaso Campanella, Del senso delle cose e della magia, a cura di G. Ernst, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007

Un ulteriore elenco di fonti primarie sarà a messo disposizione degli studenti nel corso delle lezioni.

A ciò va aggiunto lo studio di due testi tra i seguenti:

A. Funkenstein, Teologia e immaginazione scientifica dal Medioevo al Seicento [1986], trad. it. Torino, Einaudi, 1996

E. Garin, Lo zodiaco della vita. La polemica sull’astrologia dal Trecento al Cinquecento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1996

E. Grant, Much Ado about Nothing: Theories of Space and Vacuum from the Middle Ages to the Scientific Revolution, Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1981

M. B. Hesse, Forze e campi. Il concetto di azione a distanza nella storia della fisica [1961], trad. it. Milano, Feltrinelli, 1974

M. Jammer, Storia del concetto di forza [1957], trad. it. Milano, Feltrinelli, 1979

A. Koyré, Dal mondo chiuso all’universo infinito [1957], trad. it., Milano, Feltrinelli 1970

P. Rossi, I filosofi e le macchine, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2009

P. Rossi, Il tempo dei maghi. Rinascimento e modernità, Milano. R. Cortina, 2006

C. Vasoli, I miti e gli astri, Napoli, Guida, 1977

D. P. Walker, Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella, London, The Warburg Institute, 1958

F. A. Yates, Giordano Bruno e la tradizione ermetica [1964], trad. it. Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1985

Assessment

Oral examination and written paper.

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.

Course books

One text among the following:

Il potere. Per la storia della filosofia politica moderna, a cura di G. Duso, Roma, Carocci, 2000

Ordine e mutazione. Figure, concetti e problemi del pensiero politico moderno, a cura di A. Pandolfi, Verona, Ombre corte, 2014.

Reference book:

N. Machiavelli, Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, a cura di G. Inglese, Milano, Rizzoli, 1984

Bibliography:

two texts among the following:

G. M. Barbuto, Machiavelli, Roma, Salerno editrice, 2013

G. Inglese, Per Machiavelli, Roma, Carocci, 2006

U. Dotti, Machiavelli rivoluzionario, Roma, Carocci, 2003.

Machiavelli: tempo e conflitto, a cura di R. Caporali, V. Morfino e S. Visentin, Milano, Mimesis, 2013

At the student's request, the course bibliography can also be provided - and the exam taken - in English, Spanish, French and German.