OVERVIEW

Public ethics; procedural (who decides? How?) and substantive criteria (which principles, standards or rules should be relevant in deciding?) for the justification of public choices in democratic states.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Getting acquainted with the different approaches to the justification of the choices that affect public life and its domains: environmental policies, welfare policies, immigration policies, positive action and ways to fight discrimination, etc. Being able to analyze a) the different criteria which guide public policies; b) the possible procedures for making legitimate choices in democratic decision contexts (who shall decide, and how?). Both elements are essential to what in contemporary philosophical literature goes under the name of "public reason".

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is intended to provide students with

• an accurate knowledge of the contemporary academic debate on the topic of the course
• mastery of its main theoretical and normative issues
• develop an autonomous critical and informed point of view, and competent arguments, on the issues discussed in class.
• important social skills, such as the ability to respect others and their needs, the willingness to overcome prejudices, to express and understand different points of view, and the ability to manage one's own social interactions
• awareness of their preferred learning strategies, ability to organize and assess their personal knowledge according to what they have understood and learned.
• improved oral and written communication skills, ability to adapt their communication to the context, utilise various sources and tools, critical thinking, elaborate and evaluate information, argumentation skills.

PREREQUISITES

None

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, debate, problem-based learning, flipped classroom, case-based learning, role playing.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Democratic citizenship: rights and duties 

The course aims to analyze the relationship between the ethical principles that apply to the institutions of a democratic political community and those that apply to the individuals who compose it. We will address the following questions:

•    To what extent the ethical principles that govern institutions should be reflected in individual morality
•    What normative requirements should guide the activism of citizens in the face of structural injustices and democratic institutions in crisis or at risk of authoritarian drift.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Attending students
Specific indications on reference bibliography will be provided by the professor at the beginning of the lectures. 

Non-attending students
E. Beerbohm, In our Name: The Ethics of Democracy, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012.
G.A. Cohen, Per l'eguaglianza e la giustizia, Milano, L'Asino d'Oro, 2016.
J. Rawls, Liberalismo politico, Torino, Einaudi, 2012.
P. Pettit, Repubblicanesimo, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2000.
B.A. Schupmann, Democracy Despite Itself: Liberal Constitutionalism and Militant Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. 
I.M. Young, Responsibility for Justice, New York, Oxford University Press, 2013.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

VALERIA OTTONELLI (President)

FEDERICO ZUOLO

CORRADO FUMAGALLI (President Substitute)

ALBERTO GIORDANO (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

17 February 2026

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral and written exam.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Final written essay, for those who have attended the course. Alternatively, the student can choose an oral exam on two (for 6 credits) or three (for 9 credits) of the texts listed in the bibliography of the course.

The exam, both it its oral and written form, aims at ascertaining the student's critical awareness of the normative and theoretical issues examined during the course and an adequate knowledge of the main positions within the academic debate on the course's topic. The written essay must not consist in a mere summary of the existing literature, but must develop and defend by proper arguments a specific claim relating to a theme discussed during the course (on the model of academic essays of the relevant field).

FURTHER INFORMATION

For specific questions not already addressed in this form, please ask the teachers.