At the end of the course students will have aquired familiarity with both the main authors, concepts and doctrines of the history of political thought and with some of the methodological approaches typical of the discipline.
The student must demonstrate that he/she is using an appropriate vocabulary, of having acquired adequate conceptual categories and knowing how to apply them to content examined.
Finally, the course intends to stimulate students' ability to criticize and reflect on issues relating to the development of democratic thought and the critiques addressed to it in the modern and contemporary period.
Course Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of early modern to contemporary history
Teaching Methods
Lectures
Assessment Methods
Oral examination
Texts
1) Lectures and materials made available by the instructor on the dedicated Kiro webpage of the course 2) S. Mastellone, Storia della democrazia in Europa (Torino, UTET, 2004 new ed./or the ed. 2006 with intro of Bobbio) 3) Giuseppe Mazzini, Pensieri sulla democrazia in Europa (any edition)
Contents
The course explores the development of the idea of democracy in the history of Western political thought from Hobbes to Bobbio. It examines the different philosophical, constitutional and social dimensions of the concept of democracy putting them in the historical and intellectual contexts in which they developed between the Seventeenth and the Twentieth centuries. Through the analysis of selected texts and authors, students will familiarize with a constellation of ideas and concepts that have been related to democracy historically, such as those of natural rights , popular sovereignty, and representation, before the latter imposed itself as paradigmatic form of organization of the state at the global level.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Students who have obtained certification that they are in the conditions established by University regulations (https://portale.unipv.it/it/didattica/servizi-lo-studente/modalita-didattiche-inclusive) will be assured up to two hours per week of online reception and information on teaching materials that allow them to prepare for the exam autonomously.
The program is identical for attending and non-attending students
