Students will have the opportunity to reflect on the concept of utopia in the history of political philosophy, from Thomas More to the Enlightenment. The notion of utopia represents a rational response to a world marked by corruption and social injustice. Through direct engagement with translated texts by some of the key interpreters of this political concept, the course will provide interpretive tools to foster a critical mindset, enabling students to navigate and engage in a historical-philosophical reconstruction aimed at the cultural formation of the individual and society, while respecting memory, freedom and peace.

The course aims to trace, from different perspectives, the development of the concept of utopia, which has preoccupied some of the most prominent figures in the history of political philosophy, from Thomas More (1478-1535) to the French Revolution. Beginning with Plato's Republic, Utopia (1516) presents a journey through the history of humanity: from Europe, where Christian life has been lost in corruption, to the New World, where a natural kingdom is discovered that precedes historical life, and finally to the East, the cradle of civilisation, where a rational and happy society is realised. This perfect society, conceived through religion and communal life, revolves around politics (police). As a system, utopia erases the disorder of history and creates a coherent social order that ensures the continuity of political organisation, where civil religion guarantees its ideal constancy without the need to return to founding principles, based on a kind of timelessness. But can utopia, which stands in static opposition to reality, be politically useful in times of global change? According to a typical Enlightenment idea, truth lies in the future, whereas the past is full of errors and superstitions.

In utopian literature, Louis-Sébastien Mercier's L'An 2440, rêve s'il en fut jamais (1771) is the first work to set utopia in the distant future rather than in another space: from More to Francis Bacon, the model of utopian society had always been set in a distant but contemporary space, often an island, to emphasise the idea of the society's unspoilt isolation. For Mercier, utopia becomes "uchronia": from a non-place, it moves beyond time. His ideal city is not located on a distant, unreachable horizon; rather, the city at the centre of Mercier's work is the same Paris, but seen centuries into the future, in a distant time full of progress. This shift represents a displacement from spatial to temporal projection, a time beyond time. The motivation for such an abstraction is the idea of progress—the great ideology of the Enlightenment—the true protagonist of Mercier’s work. The French thinker projects a model of a just and rational society into the future, convinced that the historical process will necessarily bring it into being in the time between the 18th century and the year 2440.

Disillusioned, history teaches that a perfect state has never existed in the world and never will, and that the role of political philosophy is therefore to sketch an ideal state that serves both as a model and a critique of the real one. For similar reasons, Plato's monumental work outlining the perfect state, which would serve as a model for centuries, represents a form of closed society which, being already perfect, would have no need to engage with others. In contrast, only an open society is aware of its imperfections and is therefore motivated to engage in dialogue, which allows it to continually improve.

In the order of the two weekly lessons, the course will follow this indicative timeline:

• Introduction to the concept of utopia and its thematic development throughout the history of political philosophy
• Presentation of the key texts in the history of utopia that will be examined
• Before More: from prophecy to utopia
• The prophecy of Savonarola and the spiritual control of politics
• Machiavelli and politics without Christianity
• More's Utopia as a defense of European civilization
• Utopia in history: Luther
• Erasmus and the utopia of peace
• Utopia in the New World: Montaigne
• Europe, land of utopias: Rabelais
• Utopia and heresy in the late Renaissance
• Utopia and Reason of State
• The millenarianism of Campanella's La città del sole
• Bacon’s New Atlantis
• The 17th century: the ideal society of the present
• Spinoza and the renunciation of theocracy
• Locke and the state without imperfections
• The 18th century and the future of utopia: Mercier’s L’An 2440
• The utopian effect of the Revolution
• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

None.

• Knowledge and the ability to comprehend:
  • By the end of the course, the student should be able to distinguish between the main conceptual underpinnings of the various forms of utopia presented, and to identify the key figures who have contributed to the philosophical and political debate in modern history.
  Application of knowledge and the ability to understand:
  • By the end of the course, the student should be able to navigate the broader framework of the history of political philosophy, demonstrating an ability to contextualise different authors and their works, in particular by applying the knowledge acquired to contemporary issues.
• Autonomy of judgments:
  • By the end of the course, the student should have developed independent judgement in evaluating often conflicting utopian proposals, while respecting the legitimate coexistence of different opinions, always determined by specific historical and temporal contexts.
• Communicative skills:
  • At the end of the course, the student should be able to present clearly and coherently the conceptual anatomy of the works studied and their respective authors, with sound argumentative and expository skills.
• Learning skills:
  • By the end of the course, the student should be able to engage in further reading within the framework of the history of political philosophy – particularly in relation to the concept of utopia - using the knowledge acquired to enrich their 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

Throughout the course, an effort will be made to combine traditional lectures with various teaching approaches, such as debates and the flipped classroom. At the end of the course, students may also agree with the instructor on writing a personal paper. Participation in the different proposed activities may 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

Letteratura primaria:

• Thomas More, Utopia, a cura di Luigi Firpo, Guida, Napoli 2000, 304 pp.  [ISBN 8871883861].
• Louis-Sébastien Mercier, L'anno 2440, traduzione, saggio introduttivo e note di Laura Tundo, Dedalo, Bari 1993, 313 pp. [8822061519].

Letteratura critica:

• Girolamo Imbruglia, Utopia: una storia politica da Savonarola a Babeuf, Carocci, Roma 2023, 202 pp. [ISBN 9788829004270].

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

Primary Literature:

• Thomas More, Utopia, a cura di Luigi Firpo, Guida, Napoli 2000, 304 pp.  [ISBN 8871883861].
• Louis-Sébastien Mercier, L'anno 2440, traduzione, saggio introduttivo e note di Laura Tundo, Dedalo, Bari 1993, 313 pp. [8822061519].

Secondary Literature:

• Girolamo Imbruglia, Utopia: una storia politica da Savonarola a Babeuf, Carocci, Roma 2023, 202 pp. [ISBN 9788829004270].

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:

• Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), Flatland: romanzo a più dimensioni, traduzione di Enrico Postiglione, Bompiani, Milano 2024, 169 pp. [ISBN 9788830108103].

• Thomas Paine (1737-1809), I diritti dell'uomo, a cura di Giuseppe Grande, traduzione di Maria Grazia Bellone, Beppe Grande, Torino 2009, 160 pp. [ISBN 9788886637178].

• Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639), La città del sole, a cura di Luigi Firpo, Germana Ernst e Laura Salvetti Firpo, postfazione di Norberto Bobbio, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2020, 133 pp. [ISBN 9788842053309].

• Francis Bacon (1561-1626), La nuova Atlantide, a cura di Paolo Rossi, SE, Milano 2020, 110 pp. [ISBN 9788867237203].

• Anton Francesco Doni (1513-1574), I mondi e gli inferni, a cura di Patrizia Pellizzari, introduzione di Marziano Guglielminetti, Einaudi, Milano 1994, 449 pp. [ISBN 8806121693].

• Francesco Patrizi (1529-1597), La città felice, introduzione di Sandra Plastina, in appendice a La Città del Sole di Tommaso Campanella, Marietti, Bologna 2020, 112 pp. [ISBN 9788821110313].

• Agostino, La città di Dio, a cura di Domenico Marafioti, Mondadori, Milano 2022, 1585 pp. [ISBN 9788804746980].

• Platone, La Repubblica, traduzione di Franco Sartori, introduzione di Mario Vegetti, note di Bruno Centrone, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006, 820 pp. [ISBN 8842057371].