Ateneo - UPO

Political power between law and violence: from Machiavelli to Foucault.

For students taking the 6 cfu exam, it is mandatory to bring text 1. plus one of the choice texts indicated in group 2.

For students taking the 9 cfu exam, it is compulsory to bring text 1. plus one of the indicated texts of choice in group 2. plus one of the texts of choice in group 3.

For students taking the 3 cfu exam (Women and Political Thought), it is mandatory to study one of the texts of choice in group 3.

1. Mandatory text:
Lecture handouts with an anthology of excerpts from the works of Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Sieyes, Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, and Foucault (handouts will be uploaded to DIR).

2. One of the following texts of your choice:
Niccolò Machiavelli, Il principe, a cura di Giorgio Inglese, Torino, Einaudi
Hannah Arendt, Responsabilità e giudizio, Torino, Einaudi, 2010
Pierre Bourdieu, Impérialismes: Circulation internationale des idées et luttes pour l'universel, Paris, Les Éditions Raisons d’Agir, 2023
Michel Foucault, La volontà di sapere, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2019
Carl Schmitt, Le categorie del politico: saggi di teoria politica, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013 (pp. 1-208)
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes, Che cos'è il Terzo Stato?, a cura di Umberto Cerroni, Roma, Editori Riuniti, 2016
Max Weber, La scienza come professione. La politica come professione, Torino, Einaudi, 2004

3. One of the following texts of your choice:
Ginevra Conti Odorisio, Poullain de la Barre e la teoria dell'uguaglianza, con la traduzione integrale de L'uguaglianza dei due sessi (1690) di F. Poullain de la Barre, Milano, UNICOPLI, 1996
Louise Dupin, Des femmes, Paris, Payot, 2022
Chiara Bottici, Nessuna sottomissione. Il femminismo come critica dell'ordine sociale, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2023

For a basic knowledge of the authors, reference can be made either to the history of modern and contemporary philosophy textbooks already in students' possession or to one of the following textbooks:
Carlo Galli, Manuale di storia del pensiero politico, Bologna, il Mulino, 2011;
Raffaella Gherardi (a cura di), La politica e gli Stati: problemi e figure del pensiero occidentale, Roma, Carocci, 2022

The course aims, at a basic level, to provide students with:
1. (knowledge and understanding): a basic knowledge of the history of political thought and its different methodologies; a basic knowledge of the thought of some authors belonging to realist and critical traditions of political thought (Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Nietzsche, Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, and Foucault) and, for those taking the 9 cfu exam, an introduction to women's political thought;
2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): the ability to reconstruct the argumentative structure of the texts analyzed;
3. (autonomy of judgment): the ability to exercise sufficient autonomy of judgment;
4. (communication skills): the ability to present the knowledge acquired in a way and clear and correct;
5. (learning skills): a sufficient ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered.

At a more advanced level, the course aims to enable the acquisition of:
1. (knowledge and understanding): a thorough understanding of the political thought of the authors covered, with reference to the different interpretations of their thought and their relevance in contemporary philosophical debate;
2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): a good ability to accurately and thoroughly reconstruct the authors' arguments in the texts analyzed;
3. (autonomy of judgment): a good ability to critically analyze the theses of the authors treated and to be able to use them to understand some phenomena of contemporary politics (crisis of representation, knowledge-power relations, political enmity, discrimination and violence);
4. (communication skills): a good ability to present in a way and clear and correct knowledge acquired, showing full command of terminology and vocabulary;
5. (learning skills): a good ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered, demonstrating awareness of the issues involved in the interpretation of the classics and ability to carry out in-depth individual study.

Capabilities and basic knowledges acquired in high school.

Lessons, reading and comments of texts, and classroom discussions, with the support of research tools available online.

The course will take place in the second semester of 2023-24. Please register for the course via the DIR platform.

Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/servicesstudents-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The course includes the possibility of a written midterm examination based on short answers and commentary on the text. The midterm exam will not be graded but will allow for the development of study skills and refinement of writing skills.

At the end of the course, learning will be verified by an oral test lasting approximately 20 to 30 minutes structured as follows: 1. The presentation of a topic of your choice from those covered in the course, with follow-up questions relating to the topic presented; 2: A commentary question on a passage from the authors examined (e.g., Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, Book XI, chap. VI: "Liberty is the right to do all that the laws permit; and if one citizen could do what they forbid, there would be no more liberty, because all others would likewise have this power": explain the meaning of this statement); 3. A question related to the text of your choice.
The grade is given in thirtieths, and the assessment is made according to the following parameters:
1) knowledge and understanding of the main topics covered: 18 points out of 30 (sufficiency);
2) ability to set out clearly and correctly the knowledge acquired, and to organize the presentation of the question of choice: 6 points out of 30;
3) ability to make connections between the topics covered and to investigate them critically and with independent judgment: 6 points out of 30.

The course is structured in two parts. The first part (36 hours), is aimed at students who take the 6 cfu exam. The second part, (18 hours), is aimed at students who take the 9 cfu exam and who take the 3 cfu exam (Women and political thought)

The course focuses on the relationship between law and violence in some modern and contemporary political thinkers.

The first part of the course (36 hours) will cover the following topics: 1. introduction to the course and the methods of the history of political thought (contexts, author, and texts); 2. introduction to modern political thought, with the main reference to Machiavelli, Montesquieu, and Sieyes, as well as to American and French Revolutions, the declarations of rights and the question of women suffrage; 3) Max Weber: the methods of sociology, science as a profession, the three types of legitimate political power, politics as a profession and the modern state, the critique of bureaucratization; 4) Carl Schmitt: the critique of liberal thought, the concept of the political, the concept of sovereignty, the norm and the exception; 5) Hannah Arendt: totalitarianism and the banality of evil; critique of sovereignty; political power as acting in common; individual responsibility and judgment; 6) Michel Foucault: critique of the legal paradigm of sovereignty; microphysics of power, disciplinary power and biopower; knowledge, power, sexuality and the construction of the subject.

In the second part of the course (18 hours) we will focus on the critique of theories of power justifying the subjection of women, starting with two early-modern authors, Poullain de la Barre and Louise Dupin. We will then analyze some key authors in women's thought, beginning with the fundamental tension that runs through feminist thought, between the demand for equality and the claim of difference. Finally, we will discuss some issues concerning gender-based violence.

In order to attain knowledge and corresponding skills at the basic level, students should demonstrate:
1. (knowledge and understanding): to have acquired sufficient knowledge of the political thought of the authors covered and the historical and philosophical context of their works;
2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): to be able to recognize the main lines of argument and conceptual structure of the texts analyzed;
3. (autonomy of judgment): to be able to compare with each other the different theses of the authors treated and the different traditions of thought to which they belong;
4. (communication skills): to be able to present the knowledge acquired in a way and clear and correct;
5. (learning skills): to have acquired sufficient ability to analyze texts and connect the topics covered.

An advanced level requires that students:
1. (knowledge and understanding): have acquired a thorough knowledge of the authors considered, with reference to the different theories of political power and the concept of sovereignty;
2. (ability to apply knowledge understanding): are able to reconstruct the authors' arguments precisely and in-depth, with reference to the different levels of analysis and different interpretative methodologies, as well as their relevance to contemporary debates;
3. (autonomy of judgment): are able to critically compare the theories analyzed and rework them in a personal way;
4. (communication skills): are able to present clearly and correctly the knowledge acquired, showing full command of terminology and vocabulary;
5. (learning skills): have acquired a good ability to analyze texts and to connect the topics covered, demonstrating awareness of the problems related to the interpretation of texts and the ability to carry out individual in-depth studies.