Students will have the opportunity to reflect on the process of historical-conceptual erosion that accompanied the idea of humanism in the post-World War II period. In the course of the twentieth century, the epithet human lost its connotation of education and scholarship, failing to retain its high pedagogical meaning, marking a lexical weakening, synonymous with semantic loss and reduced possibility of meaning. Through a direct comparison with the translations of texts by some of the most important interpreters of «the short twentieth century», the keys are offered to exercise a critical spirit capable of measuring and orienting itself on the terms of a historical-philosophical debate dedicated to the cultural formation of man and the development of the person, with a universal value in terms of memory, freedom and peace.

The aim of the course is to retrace, from different perspectives, a crucial section of the querelle de l’humanisme involving some of the main protagonists in the history of contemporary philosophy, first and foremost Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger. In Paris, in October 1945, Sartre delivered the famous lecture L’existentialisme est un humanisme, published without the author’s consent in 1946, followed by Heidegger’s reply On Humanism, published in 1947. The same years saw the birth of the institution that made humanism its banner, UNESCO, created in 1946 as a specialised agency of the United Nations. Following the Geneva conference Pour un nouvel humanisme (1949), in which Karl Jaspers took part, UNESCO organised a survey entitled L’humanisme, aujourd’hui, which was published in 1956 in two volumes of the journal «Comprendre» of the Société européenne de culture, with contributions by Antonio Banfi and Paul Ricoeur, among others. In his later years, one of the keynote speeches given by the Director-General of UNESCO was entitled A New Humanism for the 21st Century (2010). But the document that sums up the common inspiring principles of all the international bodies working in various capacities on behalf of humanity is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in 1948 at the initiative of the United Nations. In 1949, the «Espoir» series, edited by Albert Camus, published the posthumous Prélude à une déclaration des devoirs envers l’être humain, an essay written by Simone Weil in London in 1943, in which she collected ideas on how to manage the peace that would eventually be found only two years after her untimely death. Twenty years after the exemplary clash between Sartre and Heidegger, a lively anti-humanist and anti-historical polemic emerged on the European cultural scene, which can be seen in the terms of a famous 1966 interview with Michel Foucault: L’homme est-il mort? In 1968, Eugenio Garin offered an exemplary synthesis of this debate in an essay Quel ‘humanisme’? (Variations historiques) for the «Revue Internationale de Philosophie», restoring the terms of an ontological confrontation between the main philosophical currents involved, between existentialism and structuralism.

None.

• Knowledge and the ability to comprehend:
  • By the end of the course, students should be able to distinguish the conceptual cornerstones of the various schools of thought and identify the respective protagonists who have animated the philosophical debate of the 20th century, particularly in the post-World War II period and with regard to the controversial category of humanism.
• Application of knowledge and the ability to understand:
  • By the end of the course, the student should be able to reconstruct the historical-philosophical framework of “the short twentieth century”, demonstrating the ability to contextualise the various authors and their works, in particular by applying the knowledge acquired to extra-disciplinary occasions and circumstances.
• Autonomy of judgments:
  • By the end of the course, the student should have developed his or her own judgement in the evaluation of often conflicting philosophical positions, while respecting the legitimate coexistence of discordant opinions, always determined in space and time.
• Communicative skills:
  • By the end of the course, the student should be able to present, with clear argument and exposition, the conceptual anatomy of the works studied and to identify the philosophical currents to which they can be traced.
• Learning skills:
  • By the end of the course, the student should also be able to undertake new readings within the framework of contemporary philosophy - especially around the category of humanism - and to put the knowledge acquired into practice in order to enrich his or her cultural background.

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

Seminar activities will be planned and indicated in the course of the lectures.

A written formative assessment test will be held in itinere, which may give rise to explanations and discussions with the sole purpose of helping students to assess their level of preparation and the effectiveness of the study method adopted.

Teaching

Teaching will be structured in two weekly sessions of 2 hours each.

The sessions will be based on lectures (with the hope of participatory interaction) and several laboratory moments where students will have the opportunity to practise and measure themselves against the lecturer and other students.

Innovative teaching methods

During the course, an attempt will be made to combine lectures with the use of different teaching approaches such as debates and flipped classrooms. At the end of the course, students may also agree with the professor to write a personal paper. The different forms of participation in the proposed activities can contribute to the overall assessment.

Attendance

The course requires regular attendance of at least two-thirds of the lessons. Alternatively, please refer to the additional information for non-attending students.

Course books

For the textbook part, at least 3 authors of your choice from those suggested in the textbook (apart from Marx, Nietzsche and Husserl):

• Giuseppe Cambiano e Massimo Mori, Storia della filosofia contemporanea, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2020 [ISBN 978-88-593-0017-5].

For the monographic part:

• Jean-Paul Sartre (1945), L’esistenzialismo è un umanismo, traduzione di Giancarla Mursia Re, Mursia, Milano 2022, 147 pp. [ISBN 978-88-425-5740-1].
• Martin Heidegger (1946), Lettera sull’«Umanismo», a cura di Franco Volpi, Adelphi, Milano 2021, 110 pp. [ISBN 978-88-459-1142-2].
• Eugenio Garin (1968), Quale «Umanesimo»? (Divagazioni storiche), in «Giornale critico della filosofia italiana», vol. 25 (2005), pp. 16-26 [ISSN 2284-1474].

Assessment

For students who have attended at least two-thirds of the 40 hours of lectures, it is specified that the assessment of learning will take the form of an oral interview - participation in class activities and the possible submission of a paper may contribute to success.

The learning objectives will be verified by means of an oral examination of varying duration according to three main assessment criteria:

• the relevance of the answers to the questions;
• the completeness of the answers to the questions;
• the mastery of the technical language.

Each criterion will be assessed on a decimal scale – equal weighting will be given to each; the final mark will be expressed in thirtieths, with a possible declaration of distinction.

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

Individual study of the indicated texts and use (ad adiuvandum) of the material on the Moodle platform.

Attendance

Attendance is not compulsory.

In lieu of lecture hours (40), please contact the lecturer (prior to the scheduled lecture dates) to agree to study a different History of Contemporary Philosophy textbook than the one specified below.

Course books

For the textbook part, at least 3 authors of your choice from those suggested in the textbook (apart from Marx, Nietzsche and Husserl):

• Giuseppe Cambiano e Massimo Mori, Storia della filosofia contemporanea, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2020 [ISBN 978-88-593-0017-5].

For the monographic part:

• Jean-Paul Sartre (1945), L’esistenzialismo è un umanismo, traduzione di Giancarla Mursia Re, Mursia, Milano 2022, 147 pp. [ISBN 978-88-425-5740-1].
• Martin Heidegger (1946), Lettera sull’«Umanismo», a cura di Franco Volpi, Adelphi, Milano 2021, 110 pp. [ISBN 978-88-459-1142-2].
• Eugenio Garin (1968), Quale «Umanesimo»? (Divagazioni storiche), in «Giornale critico della filosofia italiana», vol. 25 (2005), pp. 16-26 [ISSN 2284-1474].

Assessment

For students who have not been able to attend at least two-thirds of the 40 hours of lectures, it is specified that the assessment of learning objectives will take place by means of an oral interview based on the main topics of the texts in the syllabus, including the specified textbook (or another textbook in the discipline).

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.

Among the recommended texts that will be taken into consideration are the following:

• John Dewey (1916), Democrazia e educazione: una introduzione alla filosofia dell’educazione, a cura di Giuseppe Spadafora, Corriere della Sera, Milano 2022, 490 pp.
• Jacques Maritain (1935), Umanesimo integrale, premessa di Dario Antiseri, Borla, Roma 2009, 335 pp. [ISBN 978-88-263-0122-8].
• Simone Weil (1943), Il radicamento: preludio a una dichiarazione dei doveri verso l’essere umano, a cura di Maura Del Serra, Le Lettere, Firenze 2021 [978-88-93662-06-2].
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1947 e 1955), Umanesimo e terrore e Le avventure della dialettica, introduzione di Andrea Bonomi, Sugar, Milano 1965, 462 pp.
• Pour un nouvel humanisme: textes des conférences et des entretiens organisés par les Rencontres Internationales de Genève 1949, Éditions la Baconnière, Neuchâtel 1949, 394 pp.
• Albert Camus (1951), L’uomo in rivolta, traduzione di Liliana Magrini, Bompiani, Milano 2018, 335 pp. [ISBN 978-88-452-5278-5].
• Eugenio Garin (1951-), Cronache di filosofia italiana, 1900-1960, Laterza, Roma 1997, 2 voll. [ISBN 88-420-5200-0 e 88-420-5201-9].
• L’humanisme, aujourd’hui, in «Comprendre», nn. 15 e 16, 1956, 2 voll.
• Enzo Paci (1963), Funzione delle scienze e significato dell’uomo, Corriere della Sera, Milano 2022, 468 pp.
• Michel Foucault (1966), Le parole e le cose: un’archeologia delle scienze umane, con un saggio di Georges Canguilhem, Rizzoli, Milano 2021, 436 pp. [978-88-17-08557-1].
• Carlo Bo, L’uomo di Foucault contro l’uomo di Sartre, in «lEuropeo», XXIII, n. 48, 30 novembre 1967, p. 112.
• Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer. Edizione integrale (1995-2015), Quodlibet, Macerata 2021, 1367 pp. [978-88-229-0518-5].
• Jan Rehmann (2004), I nietzscheani di sinistra. Deleuze, Foucault e il postmodernismo: una decostruzione, a cura di Stefano G. Azzarà, Odradek, Roma 2009, 235 pp. [ISBN 978-88-86973-98-4].
• Umanesimo. Storia, critica, attualità, a cura di Marco Russo, Le Lettere, Firenze 2015, 303 pp. [ISBN 978-88-6087-945-5].
• Edgar Morin (2015), Sette lezioni sul pensiero globale, a cura di Mauro Ceruti, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 2016, 114 pp. [ISBN 978-88-6030-866-5].