Ateneo - UPO

Political power between law and power: from Enlightenment to Foucault.

1. Mandatory texts: Lecture handouts with an anthology of excerpts from the works of Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Sieyes, Tocqueville, Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, and Foucault (handouts will be uploaded to DIR). 2. One of the following texts of your choice: J.-J. Rousseau, Emilio, o dell'educazione, libri I e V, a cura di Roberto Gatti, Brescia, Morcelliana, 2019; Mary Wollstonecraft, Rivendicazione dei diritti della donna, a cura di Carlotta Cossutta, Milano, Mondadori, 2025; Max Weber, La scienza come professione. La politica come professione, a cura di Pietro Rossi, Torino, Einaudi, 2004; Carl Schmitt, Le categorie del 'politico', a cura di Gianfranco Miglio e Pierangelo Schiera, Bologna, il Mulino, 2013 Hannah Arendt, Responsabilità e giudizio, Torino, Einaudi, 2010; Michel Foucault, La volontà di sapere, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2019.
Students who do not attend classes may consult one of the following textbooks: Carlo Galli (a cura di), Manuale di storia del pensiero politico, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011; Raffaella Gherardi, La politica e gli Stati. Problemi e figure del pensiero occidentale. Terza edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2022.

The course aims, at a basic level, to provide students with: 1. (knowledge and understanding): a basic knowledge of some of the major authors in the history of political thought, particularly with regard to the relationship between power and law (Montesquieu, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Tocqueville, Weber, Schmitt, Arendt, and Foucault); 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 sovereignty, knowledge-power relations, political enmity, discrimination and violence; gender inequalities); 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 2026-27. Please register for the course via the DIR platform which will be available by January 2027. 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.

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 focuses on the relationship between law and power in some modern and contemporary political thinkers. The course will cover the following topics: 1. introduction to the course and the methods of the history of political thought (texts and contexts); 2. introduction to modern political thought, with the main reference to Montesquieu, Rousseau and Wollestonecraft; 3. revolutions and constitutions from United Staes to France: the rights of woman and the abolition of slavery; 4 Tocqueville's Democracy in America; 5. 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; 6. Carl Schmitt: the critique of liberal thought, the concept of the political, the concept of sovereignty, the concept of dictatordship; 7. Hannah Arendt: totalitarianism and the banality of evil; critique of sovereignty; politics as acting in common; individual responsibility and judgment; 8. Michel Foucault: critique of the legal paradigm of sovereignty; microphysics of power, disciplinary power, biopower, and governamentality; knowledge, power, sexuality and the construction of the subject. Please note that the course syllabus may be subject to minor changes depending on the participants' prior knowledge and specific interests.

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.