Reflection on politics has accompanied the entire history of philosophy but has inevitably changed its form in different eras, adapting itself to the successive regimes of human coexistence and the conflicts that have innervated them. From the Greek to the Roman world, from the Middle Ages to the early modern age, the questioning of the foundations of political life has related the investigation of the polis, or of the empire, or of the respublica christiana, to that of the conditions of possibility of the ethics and human nature itself. The collapse of the medieval world and the laborious construction of national states in the modern age then gave rise to those dynamics which, passing through entire eras of wars and revolutions, are at the basis of the birth of modern democracies. This is precisely the main educational objective of the course: starting from a reconstruction of the positions of the most important political philosophers and the fundamental nodes of the philosophical-political debate, the intention is to reflect on the nature of democracy and its phenomenology.

The road that led to the affirmation of modern democracy was long and tormented. It is the result of overcoming three great discriminations - that of class, that of gender, that of race or ethnicity - and it developed in the confrontation and constant conflict between the liberal tradition and the radical and then socialist tradition. Imperfect and incomplete, modern democracy entered a crisis when the leap from an almost exclusively national dimension to a supranational horizon had not yet been made, despite the lessons linked to the catastrophes of the two world wars. What is happening today in the European Union (a stage in a centuries-old process of continental convergence) and in the balance of power between geopolitical areas in a world in the midst of contradictory globalization (as confirmed by the war in Ukraine) offers considerable food for thought in this sense . In particular, the emergence of neoconservative movements and the exacerbation of the "clash of civilizations" and the confrontation between different models of statehood, mostly presented as the alternative between liberal democracies and authoritarian states, present themselves as urgent problems to be addressed .

The student will have to follow the common thread that links the reflection of philosophers on politics in different eras, to then focus on the complexity of the historical processes that characterized the political-social conflict within nations and the international conflict in the 19th and 20th centuries, in order to understand the context of the affirmation and decline of modern democracy and the political orientation axes of the contemporary cultural debate.

The course therefore has the following learning objectives:
- help students understand the authors and fundamental concepts of the history of political philosophy with particular attention to the contemporary debate (modern/antimodern/postmodern; emancipation/de-emancipation; progress; freedom; equality; totality/immediacy...);
- help them understand the complexity of the historical movement that led to modern democracy and its origin in the conflict between social classes;
- help them understand the oppositions right/left, particularism/universalism, and the way in which they condition the formation of modern democracy and its crisis;
- help them orient themselves in the contemporary political-cultural context starting from the theoretical elements learned (the successive inevitable mutations of each philosophical-political nucleus over time) and their application to today's communication contexts (TV, newspapers, social networks).

1. Kant, Hegel, Fichte, romanticism and nineteenth-century conservatism
2. Marx and historical materialism
3. Nietzsche, Positivism and colonial expansion
4. The Age of European Civil War: Lenin, Schmitt, Spengler, Gramsci, Communism, Fascism, Nazism, Wilsonianism
5. The post-war period: the welfare state, decolonization and anti-imperialism
6. Globalization
7.1. Democracy and modern democracy
7.2. Social classes and political-social conflict
7.3. The stages of modern democracy and its crisis
8. The forms of democracy: dictatorial democracies and democratic dictatorships

None.

In relation to the discipline and its specificities, the student must show:

Knowledge and understanding:
- Knowledge of the main authors and of the fundamental themes of the History of political philosophy presented in class in the general part and studied in the manual;
- Understanding of the differences between the different historical periods and of the mutations of the forms of the political-social conflict in the passage from one to the other.
- Understanding of the genesis and building blocks of modern democracy and the right/left and up/down axes;

Applied knowledge and understanding:
- Ability to orient oneself in the contemporary political debate and to understand the elements that today can strengthen or further weaken modern democracy.

Making judgments:
- Ability to take an independent position with respect to the main historical-political issues of contemporary debate and conflicts (e.g.: centralization and spectacularization of power; migrations; "conflicts of civilization", etc., etc.).

Communication skills:
Ability to communicate what has been learned in the appropriate forms for a university-level study; ability to transmit and communicate the fundamental aspects and principles of democratic politics (freedom/equality link and recognition/exclusion pair in the first place) also in basic educational work.

Ability to learn
- On the basis of the knowledge acquired through the course, the student must be able to autonomously build in-depth courses and to understand which readings and experiences can help him in this sense.

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

Support seminar (10 hours).

In the second half of the semester, a formative (self)evaluation test will be carried out online, useful for the students in order to become aware of the level of understanding of the programs carried out and evaluate the degree of their preparation and the effectiveness of the method of studying the subject.

Teaching

Frontal lessons and seminar.

Attendance

At the beginning of the course a verification of the initial preparation of the students inherent to the main historical-philosophical problems will be carried out (VPSFP). On this basis, students will attend an intensive seminar to strengthen their skills.

Course books

- Carlo Galli (a cura di): Manuale di storia del pensiero politico, il Mulino, Bologna. Di questo libro andranno studiate le seguenti parti per complessive 150 pagine circa:
Fichte e Hegel 313-330; Controrivoluzionari 331-365; Marxismo 367-380; Tocqueville Mill SPencer 382-396; Nietzsche 433-438; marxismo, elitismo, nazionalismo nel Novecento 446-500; Dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale 567-608

- Emiliano Alessandroni: Dittature democratiche e democrazie dittatoriali, Carocci, Roma 2021. Di questo libro andranno studiate le parti su: tutto tranne i capitoli 5 e 8; 147 pagine.

- Stefano G. Azzarà: Democrazia cercasi, disponibile in pdf sulla piattaforma Moodle, pp. 45-75, 96-104, 118-157.

Total pages to be studied: about 370. For any other texts to read and/or study, always refer to the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Assessment

Oral examination. The exam aims to ascertain the student's ability to understand the educational objectives of the course and the knowledge actually acquired (if approximate, imprecise, precise or systematic) in relation to the concepts exposed in the general part on the history of political philosophy and in the monograph on modern democracy and the relationship between liberal democracy and other political forms; the test also intends to ascertain the ability to present such knowledge and to reflect autonomously and critically on it in a pertinent and reasoned manner and with a specific language: it will therefore be an oral exam.

Students who have registered their disability certification or DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can ask to use concept maps (for keywords) during the exam. To this end, it is necessary to send the maps two weeks before the exam session to the teacher of the course, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the University guidelines and will be able to request modifications.

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

Non-attending students will have to support the same program as attending students, helping in particular with the materials available on the Moodle platform and coordinating with the teacher and his assistants.

Attendance

None.

Course books

- Carlo Galli (a cura di): Manuale di storia del pensiero politico, il Mulino, Bologna. Di questo libro andranno studiate le seguenti parti per complessive 150 pagine circa:
Fichte e Hegel 313-330; Controrivoluzionari 331-365; Marxismo 367-380; Tocqueville Mill SPencer 382-396; Nietzsche 433-438; marxismo, elitismo, nazionalismo nel Novecento 446-500; Dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale 567-608

- Emiliano Alessandroni: Dittature democratiche e democrazie dittatoriali, Carocci, Roma 2021. Di questo libro andranno studiate le parti su: tutto tranne i capitoli 5 e 8; 147 pagine.

- Stefano G. Azzarà: Democrazia cercasi, disponibile in pdf sulla piattaforma Moodle, pp. 45-75, 96-104, 118-157.

Total pages to be studied: about 370. For any other texts to read and/or study, always refer to the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Assessment

As for attending students.

Oral examination. The exam aims to ascertain the student's ability to understand the educational objectives of the course and the knowledge actually acquired (if approximate, imprecise, precise or systematic) in relation to the concepts exposed in the general part on the history of political philosophy and in the monograph on modern democracy and the relationship between liberal democracy and other political forms; the test also intends to ascertain the ability to present such knowledge and to reflect autonomously and critically on it in a pertinent and reasoned manner and with a specific language: it will therefore be an oral exam.
For non-attending students, the test will refer exclusively to the texts in the program and not to the lessons. Obtaining the lecture notes is however useful for understanding the programme.

Students who have registered their disability certification or DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can ask to use concept maps (for keywords) during the exam. To this end, it is necessary to send the maps two weeks before the exam session to the teacher of the course, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the University guidelines and will be able to request modifications.

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.

None.