The course aims at providing the necessary skills in order to grasp a philosophical text from the modern and contemporary ages. To this purpose, the course provides students with the necessary tools in order to:

- elaborate an appropriate historical-social contextualization of a modern philosophical text;

- identify the prior philosophical streams setting up the framework of a given philosophical work and be confident with the text’s features that make them identifiable (by focusing in particular on the traits of lexical permanence, on the recursion of argumentative methods, on shared philosophical objectives).

- pick out the original features that characterize a single work of modern philosophy within its philosophical tradition;

- be able to grasp the stratified character of a philosophical text and to subsequently, possibly identify its weaknesses;

- identify the weak points of a philosophical text also concerning logical fallacies (e.g. incoherence between assumptions and consequences; begging the question; semantic vagueness);

- identify the possible weaknesses of a philosophical work that are due to the simultaneous presence of divergent and incoherent philosophical traditions within the text (that may also stand beyond the explicit author’s purposes).

Giacomo Leopardi is not only the most relevant Italian thinker between Vico and Antonio Labriola, but he is also one of the most important European philosophers of his time. For a long time he has been considered as a "pure" poet, a poet of "spleen" and "despair". However, today the philosophical nature of his work is widely recognised, thanks to contributions as distinct as those of Luporini, Timpanaro, Negri, Cacciapuoti, Severino, etc.

Leopardi developed his philosophy in two distinct and specific spaces: in the private laboratory of the "Zibaldone di pensieri", and in the public intervention of the "Operette morali" and "Canti". If in the Zibaldone his philosophy is expressed with complete freedom, protected by the private character of the text, in the Operette and in the Canti, with different expressive modalities, it is proposed and presented to the public. In particular, in the Operette morali it is translated into a proposal for ethical-political, but also aesthetic and religious reform of contemporary society.

To this end, in the Operette Leopardi forges "figures of thought", i.e. images in which the main concepts of his philosophy are condensed and, in a certain sense, "theatricalised". In the "Operette", therefore, poetry, philosophy and political intervention appear as inextricably merged.

The course will be devoted to a reading of the Operette and an in-depth study of 18th century sensationist aesthetics and its Renaissance premises.

1. A young poet-philosopher in the age of Restoration

2. The “Operette morali”: origin and structure

3. “Satirical Dialogues in the manner of Luciano"

4. Poetry and philosophy, i.e. the assumption of ambivalence

5. The 1827 edition

6. Genealogy of the truth and truth of illusions: the “Storia del genere umano”

7. Luciano's gaze (from “Dialogo d’Ercole e di Atlante” to “Dialogo di un Folletto e di uno Gnomo”)

8. Forms and causes of the unhappiness of mankind (from “Dialogo di Malambruno e di Farfarello” to “Dialogo della Natura e di un Islandese”)

9. Forms of resistance (from “Il Parini, ovvero della gloria” to “Elogio degli Uccelli”)

10. “Cantico del gallo silvestre” and “Dialogo di Timandro e di Eleandro”: from vanitas to pietas.

11. The 1834 edition: “Dialogo di un venditore di almanacchi e di un passeggere” (1832) and “Dialogo di Tristano e di un amico” (1832)

12. The 1835 edition: “Frammento apocrifo di Stratone di Lampsaco” (1825) “Il Copernico. Dialogo” (1827), “Dialogo di Plotino e di Porfirio” (1827).

Knowledge and understanding

- Acknowledgment of the importance of the political-social context for the elaboration of philosophical theories of the contemporary age;

- Ability to detect the peculiar features among alternative forms of philosophical argumentation within a shared philosophical, political and cultural tradition.    

 Applying knowledge and understanding

- The student will be able to master the essential theoretical and lexical tools in order to gain the ability to autonomously read and interpret a philosophical work of the contemporary age;

- The student will be able to appreciate the important role of a correct socio-historical contextualisation for an adequate understanding of the texts of the contemporary age.      

 Making judgements

- The student will develop an appropriate critical ability in order to identify the eventual discrepancies between single philosophical texts and their philosophical tradition;

- The student will develop an autonomous capacity in order to properly evaluate the contradictions and the weak reasoning of a philosophical argumentation.   

 Communication skills

- The student will be provided with the necessary skills in order to present to an audience, even not a specialized one, the core issues of a contemporary philosophical text, by focusing in particular on the historical context, on the lexical and argumentative peculiarities within a given philosophical tradition, on the contradictions, weakness and shortcomings from a logical-argumentative point of view.

 Learning skills

- At the end of the course the student will be provided with the necessary tools for an autonomous study of a philosophical text of the contemporary age;

- The student will understand the meaning and importance of the philosophical lexicon, and of extra-philosophical materials, that are essential in order to gain a deep insight of the political-cultural context of a text. This knowledge will allow the student to autonomously approach to the appropriate bibliographical researches.

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

The course will combine lectures with innovative teaching and learning methods. In a first part of the course the teacher will deliver a series of lectures. In a second part, students will be divided into groups and while one group will present a study topic, two other groups will take turns as discussants.

Innovative teaching methods

Teaching methods

The course includes:

    * lectures
    * group work and written work
    * oral presentations
    * participatory lectures in which the work presented will be discussed.

Course books

General section:

M. Mori, Storia della filosofia moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007, capp. 14, 15 e 18.

Monografic course:

G. Leopardi, Operette morali, in the Rizzoli edition edited by Laura Melosi or in the Feltrinelli edition edited by Antonio Prete (other editions are not permitted).

E. Russo, Ridere del mondo. La lezione di Leopardi, Bologna, il Mulino, 2017.

In addition, one text chosen among the following:

E. Andreoni Fontecedro, Natura di voler matrigna. Saggio sul Leopardi e su natura noverca, Roma ,Kepos, 1993

B. Biral, La posizione storica di Giacomo Leopardi, Torino, Einaudi, 1974

M. Biscuso-F. Gallo, Leopardi antitaliano, con scritti di Girolamo De Liguori e Paolo Zignani, Roma, manifestolibri, 1999

R. Bodei, Leopardi e la filosofia, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2022

A. Bonadeo, Leopardi e la religione della vita, Roma, Aracne, 2008

F. Cacciapuoti, Dentro lo Zibaldone. Il tempo circolare della scrittura di Leopardi, Roma, Donzelli, 2010

F. D’Intino, L’immagine della voce. Leopardi, Platone e il libro morale, Venezia, Marsilio, 2009

N. Fabio, L’«entusiasmo della ragione». Studio sulle «Operette morali», Firenze, Le Lettere, 1995

C. Luporini, Leopardi progressivo, nuova edizione accresciuta, Roma, Editori Riuniti University Press, 2018

C. Luporini, Decifrare Leopardi, Napoli, Macchiaroli, 1998

A. Negri, Lenta ginestra. Saggio sull'ontologia di Giacomo Leopardi, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2019

G. Polizzi, Leopardi e «le ragioni della verità». Scienze e filosofia della natura negli scritti leopardiani, Roma, Carocci, 2003

A. Prete, Il pensiero poetante. Saggio su Leopardi, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1984

F. Russo, Leopardi politico o della felicità impossibile, Roma, Bulzoni, 1999

S. Timpanaro, Classicismo e illuminismo nell’Ottocento italiano, seconda edizione accresciuta, Firenze, Le Lettere, 2011

A. Vigorelli, La "pazienza" di Giacomo Leopardi. Agire e patire nel sistema dello Zibaldone, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2019

Assessment

The examination consists of an oral exam. Students are required to read and comment on single passages of the texts. Students are expected to be able to grasp the main theoretical features of the examined passages and to be able to contextualize them within the text, eventually with reference to the secondary literature.

Particular attention is given to oral exposure’s capacity through the proper terminology.

Students are expected to be able to develop a critical approach to the theories they studied. In the evaluation, particular attention will be given to the student’s ability to autonomously reformulate the materials they dealt with and to their ability to make comparisons between the authors they studied.

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

Not attending students will have to study the texts listed under "Course books". To replace the lesson hours (36), not attending students will have to write a short text (between 10,000 and 20,000 characters) based on the study of Mori's book, Storia della filosofia moderna, on one of the following topics:

1) The Encyclopédie: arts et métiers, and a new worldview

2) Religious tolerance and political government: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu

3) Italian Enlightenment: characteristics and protagonists

4) Philosophy and religion in German Enlightenment: Lessing, Hamann, Jacobi

5) Poetry and philosophy in Hölderlin and Novalis

6) The conception of history and civilisation: Herder, Goethe, Schiller and Humboldt.

The text should be sent to the teacher well in advance of the exam date.

Attendance

Not attending students are required to contact the teacher well in advance of the exam date.

Course books

General section:

M. Mori, Storia della filosofia moderna, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2007, ch. 14, 15 and 18.

Monografic course:

G. Leopardi, Operette morali, in the Rizzoli edition edited by Laura Melosi or in the Feltrinelli edition edited by Antonio Prete (other editions are not permitted).

G. Leopardi, Tutto è nulla. Antologia dello Zibaldone di pensieri, a cura di M .A. Rigoni, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1997.

E. Russo, Ridere del mondo. La lezione di Leopardi, Bologna, il Mulino, 2017.

One text among the following:

E. Andreoni Fontecedro, Natura di voler matrigna. Saggio sul Leopardi e su natura noverca, Roma ,Kepos, 1993

B. Biral, La posizione storica di Giacomo Leopardi, Torino, Einaudi, 1974

M. Biscuso-F. Gallo, Leopardi antitaliano, con scritti di Girolamo De Liguori e Paolo Zignani, Roma, manifestolibri, 1999

R. Bodei, Leopardi e la filosofia, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2022

A. Bonadeo, Leopardi e la religione della vita, Roma, Aracne, 2008

F. Cacciapuoti, Dentro lo Zibaldone. Il tempo circolare della scrittura di Leopardi, Roma, Donzelli, 2010

F. D’Intino, L’immagine della voce. Leopardi, Platone e il libro morale, Venezia, Marsilio, 2009

N. Fabio, L’«entusiasmo della ragione». Studio sulle «Operette morali», Firenze, Le Lettere, 1995

C. Luporini, Leopardi progressivo, nuova edizione accresciuta, Roma, Editori Riuniti University Press, 2018

C. Luporini, Decifrare Leopardi, Napoli, Macchiaroli, 1998

A. Negri, Lenta ginestra. Saggio sull'ontologia di Giacomo Leopardi, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2019

G. Polizzi, Leopardi e «le ragioni della verità». Scienze e filosofia della natura negli scritti leopardiani, Roma, Carocci, 2003

A. Prete, Il pensiero poetante. Saggio su Leopardi, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1984

F. Russo, Leopardi politico o della felicità impossibile, Roma, Bulzoni, 1999

S. Timpanaro, Classicismo e illuminismo nell’Ottocento italiano, seconda edizione accresciuta, Firenze, Le Lettere, 2011

A. Vigorelli, La "pazienza" di Giacomo Leopardi. Agire e patire nel sistema dello Zibaldone, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2019

Assessment

Oral examination (70% of the vote), and a written paper (30% of the vote).

The examination consists of an oral exam. Students are required to read and comment on single passages of the texts. Students are expected to be able to grasp the main theoretical features of the examined passages and to be able to contextualize them within the text, eventually with reference to the secondary literature.

Particular attention is given to oral exposure’s capacity through the proper terminology.

Students are expected to be able to develop a critical approach to the theories they studied. In the evaluation, particular attention will be given to the student’s ability to autonomously reformulate the materials they dealt with and to their ability to make comparisons between the authors they studied.

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.

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