The course will focus on a theoretical investigation of the main ethical and political implications of all the arguments that will be addressed. The objective is to acquire technical language and enhancing reading, comprehension and commentating abilities of philosophical material. The student will acquire the knowledge useful to deal with fundamental conceptual conundrums.

In an article originally published in “La Stampa” in 1988 (year of the fourth centenary of the birth of the English philosoper) with the title Hobbes of peace, Norberto Bobbio wrote that “The vitality of Hobbesian political philosophy is now universally recognized. In his works there is an inexhaustible, and up to now not exhausted, material of highly topical reflections, suffice it to say that the fundamental problem to which he continually returned to in the years of maturity is the problem of war and peace. [...] For us too, peace has become one of the fundamental problems of our time, following the increased power of weapons that makes all humanity, and not just this or that nation, run the danger of unprecedented destruction ".

Starting from these in some ways prophetic statements of Bobbio, the course will focus on anthropology and politics as they are treated in Hobbes' Leviathan, a masterpiece of which Part I and II will be analyzed in particular with specific attention to conflictual mechanisms that regulate interhuman relations, to the Hobbesian conception of the "war of all against all" and of peace, in turn defined by the English philosopher as the "absence of war", without neglecting the reference to the delicate issue of conflict between states.

The course will address the following topics in the order indicated below:

1.   Introduction to the Author

2.  Leviathan, part I:

2.1: sens, immagination, speech

2.2: reason and science

2.3: honor and passions

2.4: religion

2.5: natural condition of mankind – the “war of every one against every one”

2.6: the natural laws and the search for peace

2.7: the theory of authorization

3. Leviathan, Part II

3.1: causes, generation and definition of a Commonwealth

3.2: the sovereigns for institution

 3.3: dominion paternal and despotical

  3.4: the liberty of subjects

  3.5: the civil laws and their relationship with natural laws

  3.6: things that tend to the dissolution of a Commonwealth

  3.7: the office of the Sovereign

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The graduates must be able to:

comprehend and illustrate elementary and intermediate philosophical material; deal with classical problems from history and theory of philosophy, ethics and politics; use bibliographical and informational instruments that are relevant to the subject; know the problems of the subject with critical 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

Activities are planned in collaboration with the permanent Seminar "Spinoza and modern philosophical thought".  

Teaching

Lectures and seminars.

Attendance

It is required a regular attendance to the course (equal to AT LEAST 2/3 of the lectures). If the student does not attend to the course, he must refer, for the course material, to the "NO attendance" section.

Course books

A. Philosophical texts:

Th. Hobbes, Il Leviatano, edited by A. Pacchi, Laterza, Rome-Bari 2021 (first ed. 1989), Part I and II.

It is also recommended to consult the Italian translation with the English text on the front and the Latin text in the note edited by R. Santi, Bompiani, Milano 2001, rist. 2022 and Th. Hobbes, Life of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury. The two Latin autobiographies, translated and edited by L. Tenneriello, Mimesis, Milan 2022.

The chapters of the specific Leviathan object of study and comment will be indicated in class.

B. Critical literature:

N. Bobbio, Thomas Hobbes, PBE Einaudi, Turin 2004 (19891), now also available in e-book. 

To the texts indicated above will be added the reading of an article chosen from those uploaded on the blended platform during the course of the lessons.

Further references will be provided during the course. 

Assessment

It is required a regular attendance to the course (equal to AT LEAST 2/3 of the lectures). If the student does not attend to the course, he must refer, for the course material, to the "NO attendance" section.

The evaluation criteria for the examination will be the following:

-  Relevance and effectiveness of the responses with reference to the contents of the course’s program;

-  Complexity of the responses;

-  Adequacy of the technical language of the discipline.

The final evaluation will be expressed in thirtieths according to the following scale: 30 and praise = excellent; 30 = very good / excellent; 27-29 = good; 24-26 = discrete; 21-23 = sufficient; 18-21 = just enough. The exam is not passed when the essential knowledge is not acquired, the understanding and re-elaboration of the learned contents is poor and the disciplinary lexicon is not proper. 

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

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Attendance

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

Course books

Please refer to the points (A) and (B) above and to the specific point (C).

For the Leviathan, in addition to the Curator's Introduction, will be indispensable the study of the Introduction by Hobbes himself and chaps I, II, IV, V, VI, IX, XI, XII, XIII-XVI of Part I and XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXVI, XXIX, XXX, XXXI of Part II.

Non-attending students will add to points (A) and (B) of the exam program indicated above for those attending the reading of (C):

- A. Pacchi, Introduzione a Hobbes, Laterza, Bari 1986 (first ed. 1971)

 or:

- R. Tuck, Thomas Hobbes, Il Mulino, Bologna 2001 (also available in English edition: Id., Hobbes: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002)

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.

The evaluation criteria for the examination will be the following:

-  Relevance and effectiveness of the responses with reference to the contents of the course’s program;

-  Complexity of the responses;

-  Adequacy of the technical language of the discipline.

The final evaluation will be expressed in thirtieths according to the following scale: 30 and praise = excellent; 30 = very good / excellent; 27-29 = good; 24-26 = discrete; 21-23 = sufficient; 18-21 = just enough. The exam is not passed when the essential knowledge is not acquired, the understanding and re-elaboration of the learned contents is poor and the disciplinary lexicon is not proper. 

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.