B000031 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL IDEAS

Italian

The main part of the course is dedicated to the history of modern political theories, reconstructed through the principal political philosophers, from Machiavelli to Marx. Besides the most important authors, the course illustrates the great themes of the modern political theory: sovereignty of the State, democracy, liberalism, socialism. Its last part is dedicated to the essential moments of the history of Italian political thought from the Risorgimento to the twentieth century.

The course deals with the long wave development of modern political thought. Ideas and political concept will be analysed as a main frame of the contemporary political situation.

Readings for final exam:

For students who attend lectures:

a) G. Bonaiuti, V. Collina, Storia delle dottrine politiche, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2010

b) Readings presented by teacher during lectures.

For students who do not attend lectures

a) G. Bonaiuti, V. Collina, Storia delle dottrine politiche, Firenze, Le Monnier, 2010

b) One of the following book:

1. F. Fukuyama, La fine della storia e l’ultimo uomo, Milano, Rizzoli;
2. P. P. Portinaro, Il labirinto delle istituzioni nella storia europea, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2006
3. P. Sloterdijk, Ira e tempo, Roma, Meltemi;
4. L. Scuccimarra, I confini del mondo. Storia del cosmopolitismo dall'Antichità al Settecento, Bologna, il Mulino 2006.
4. G. Bonaiuti, Corpo sovrano. Studi sul concetto di popolo, Roma, Meltemi.
5. M. Walzer, L’intellettuale militante. Critica sociale e impegno politico nel Novecento, Bologna, Il Mulino.
6. C. Galli, Spazi politici. L’età moderna e l’età globale, Bologna, Il Mulino; e C. Galli, La guerra globale, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2002

The course aims at enabling students to question the most important topics of modern and contemporary political thought in historical perspective, since the idea of sovereignty of the modern state to the birth of liberal, democratic and socialist tendencies in the XIXth century and to the development of aggressive conservatism, totalitarian regimes and democratic ideas in the XXth.

Lectures and seminars

For students who do not attend lectures can be usefull the book:
R. Esposito, G. Galli, C. Galli, R. Esposito, Enciclopedia del pensiero politico. Autori, concetti, dottrine, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2000

Final exam consists of two written works.
First one is a test on main notions of history of political thought;
second is a written work in which the student has to answer to four questions on the complete program.