Philosophy

Individuals, passions and freedom in Spinoza’s Ethics In Spinoza’s ontology, the relation between bodies is as central as it is problematic to determine what a body is. By analysing the nature of individuals in the Ethics, the course will investigate the epistemic conditions based on which we can speak of the constitution and existence of individuals. In doing so, we will be confronted with a conceptual dilemma that runs through the entire history of Western thought: does the individual really exist? Starting from this conundrum, the course will analyse Spinoza’s political ontology in order to address his rigorous and methodical indications on how to prevent the sad passions, the ultimate cause of tyranny and slavery. The course will explore this vital link between metaphysics and political philosophy, in which the barriers between philosophical fields give way to a theory without precedent, unknown or possible successors. We will look at how the notions of substance, attribute, mode, mind and body are charged with a political valence that leads to a meticulous theory of affects: knowledge of the interaction between the individual parts of the universe and its totality, and of the affects produced by this interaction, is the most vital form of political activity, because it is the only way for human beings to know where they are and, on that basis, what they can do.

The course requires a basic knowledge of the philosophical disciplines or cognate ones, which can be acquired during high school education. A basic mastery of the philosophical lexicon would be of aid.

Baruch Spinoza, Etica dimostrata con metodo geometrico, Editori Riuniti, Roma 2019. Yitzhak Y. Melamed, La metafisica di Spinoza: sostanza e pensiero, Mimesis, Milano 2020 (i soli capitoli 2 e 4). Filippo Mignini, Soggetto e individuo in Spinoza, in AA.VV, Uno/Molti modi della filosofia, Il Ponte Vecchio, Cesena 2007, pp 27-42. Emanuela Scribano, Guida alla lettura dell’Etica di Spinoza, Laterza, Roma 2008.

attendance is recommended

To pass the exam, which consists in a standard interview, students will have to demonstrate: 1) to know the contents of all of the texts listed in the syllabus; 2) to be able to describe their contents in a clear way, by utilizing the specialized lexicon employed in them, and by locating those very texts in their appropriate historical-philosophical context; 3) to be able to identify the relevant problems, to analyse the fundamental junctures and to discuss them critically; 4) to be able to develop autonomously an argument relative to the texts listed in the syllabus. Meeting requirements 1 and 2 is a necessary condition to pass the exam. Marks beyond 27 will be attributed to those whose interview will meet all four requirements.

see section “Testi adottati”

Standard classes. Contextualisation and discussion of the texts listed in the syllabus