OVERVIEW

The aim of the course is to outline the philosophy of modern history in its genesis and development, intersecting the themes of theodicy and secularization.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Making students aware of the basic structures of the modern philosophies of history (linear conception and cyclical conception of time, idea of "fullness", Christian eschatology and idea of progress) through the study of specific monographs and especially through the reading of particularly significant classical texts.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is:

a) to introduce the basic cathegories of every modern philosophy of history by the introduction of  some historical monographies

b) to verify by a critical reading  the presence  of these cathegories in some modern philosophical or religious Ccassical works

c) to make the students able to an autonomus reflection on the monographies and  the classics in program.

TEACHING METHODS

The lessons will be held in person.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Philosophy of History and Enlightenment: Voltaire's "Candide" and Lessing's "Nathan the Wise"

The first part of the course aims, along with a general framing of the problem of the genesis of the philosophy of history based on the classic text by Karl Löwith, to explore the relationship between the emerging philosophy of history and the European Enlightenment. This relationship is paradigmatically reflected in the works of Voltaire and Lessing mentioned in the title, which, despite their literary nature, well document two radically different visions of the meaning of history, although coexisting in the Enlightenment era, and the respective ontologies that support them.

In the second part, the course will analyze a classic of 20th-century philosophy of history: Karl Jaspers' work "The Origin and Goal of History."

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bibliography for students who are taking the 6-CFU course:

1) K. Löwith, Significato e fine della storia, Edizioni di Comunità, Milano 1979.

2) 

Voltaire, Candido, o l’ottimismo, Feltrinelli, Milano 2013.

Or

G.E. Lessing, Nathan il Saggio, Garzanti, Milano 2015.

3) R. Celada Ballanti, Giobbe nel secolo dei Lumi. Voltaire e la crisi della teodicea, in Id., Religione, Storia, Libertà. Studi di filosofia della religione, Liguori, Napoli 2014, pp. 81-122.

Bibliography for students who are taking the 9-CFU course:

1) K. Löwith, Significato e fine della storia, Edizioni di Comunità, Milano 1979.

2) 

Voltaire, Candido, o l’ottimismo, Feltrinelli, Milano 2013.

Or

G.E. Lessing, Nathan il Saggio, Garzanti, Milano 2015.

3) R. Celada Ballanti, Giobbe nel secolo dei Lumi. Voltaire e la crisi della teodicea, in Id., Religione, Storia, Libertà. Studi di filosofia della religione, Liguori, Napoli 2014, pp. 81-122.

4) K. Jaspers, Origine e senso della storia, Edizioni di Comunità, Milano 1965.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

February 24, 2025.

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

During the oral intewiew the student must demostrate

1) a complete  knowledge  of  all the texst in the recommended reading/biliography

2) an adequate understanding of the same texts

3) the capability to  compare one-another the content of theese texts

4) the capability to elaborate some personal convinction  about the the content of the course

FURTHER INFORMATION

The attendance is recommented.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Elisabetta Colagrossi (elisabetta.colagrossi@unige.it), the Department's
disability liaison.