Philosophy of religion developed within Modern-Age thought between the 17th and the 18th centuries, as a reaction to the religious wars in Europe. It acquired the status of academic teaching in the Age of Enlightenment and German Idealism. Nevertheless, its object (a reflection on religion that moves from speculative assumptions) was already studied by Greek philosophy, which developed a rational criticism (based on logos) and applied it to mythical discourse since the Age of Pre-Socratic philosophers.
Students will learn to define, through a phenomenological and transcendental method, the peculiar nature and structure of the religious experience, independent and different from other domains of the spirit (ethic, aesthetic, metaphysic domain). Students will learn to explain how the independent status of religion is the result of a long, analytical work, and the result of a speculative process which started at the beginning of Modern Age; the outcome of this process is philosophy of religion becoming a unique field of knowledge.
Developing critical thinking towards the religious experience, moving from speculative assumptions, and showing its universal, ecumenic nature.
Lessons will be held in presence. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended.
Poetry, Religion, Nihilism: The Religious in the Horizon of Modernity
The course aims to explore the fate of the religious within the Modernity, examining certain figures of 20th-century literature in relation to the interplay between poetry, religion, and nihilism. In the second part, it illuminates the foundational core of the philosophy of religion through Nicolò Cusano's work, specifically his De pace fidei, which inaugurates the modern religious perspective. This journey traces back from our nihilistic era to the origins of religious modernity.
Bibliography for students who are taking the 6-CFU course:
R. Celada Ballanti, Poetiche all’ombra del nichilismo. Montale, Mann, Borges, Morcelliana, Brescia 2023.
B. Welte, La luce del nulla. Sulla possibilità di una nuova esperienza religiosa, Queriniana, Brescia 1990.
A. Caracciolo, Nulla religioso e imperativo dell’eterno. Studi di etica e di poetica, il melangolo, Genova 2010.
Bibliography for students who are taking the 9-CFU course:
N. Cusano, La pace della fede, Postfazione di R. Celada Ballanti, Lorenzo de’ Medici Press, Firenze 2023.
Ricevimento: Student reception is held by appointment (DAFIST, Philosophy Section via Balbi 4, 2nd floor)
ROBERTO CELADA BALLANTI (President)
NICOLO' GERMANO
FRANCESCO CAMERA (Substitute)
GERARDO CUNICO (Substitute)
September 26, 2023
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Oral exam
The exam will take place in oral form, through a dialogue aimed at verify the contents discussed during the course. The expositive ability and the critical reasoning of the student will also be ascertained.
Attendance is reccomended
