History of Renaissance Philosophy Ma
A.Y. 2022/2023
Learning objectives
The course aims to allow students to acquire the methodological and critical tools characterising philosophical studies in the history of Renaissance philosophy, in their different articulations, together with a sound general knowledge of the historical evolution of early modern philosophical thought. To comply with the typically interdisciplinary character of philosophical research, the course also enables students to acquire adequate historical, linguistic and philological training through the study of Renaissance philosophical texts.
The course will allow students to develop an in-depth knowledge of the various phases of the philosophical tradition of the Renaissance and the intersections between metaphysical, logical, theological, and moral perspectives.
The course will allow students to develop an in-depth knowledge of the various phases of the philosophical tradition of the Renaissance and the intersections between metaphysical, logical, theological, and moral perspectives.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students:
1. will master a systematic and in-depth knowledge of the history of Renaissance philosophy, acquired through the reading of some classics of the early modern period and the study of secondary literature;
2. will have a philologically sound knowledge of the sources of Renaissance texts;
3. will understand the historical and theoretical meaning of Renaissance texts and the transformations of traditions, concepts and argumentative forms over time;
4. will understand the various interpretations of texts analysed in different chronological, cultural and linguistic contexts in the early modern tradition;
5. will have proficient knowledge of the bibliographic resources and methodological tools characterising the historical-philosophical research, with special reference to the Renaissance period.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students:
1. will be able to apply knowledges acquired in framing historically Renaissance authors and texts;
2. will be able to soundly and adequately make use of the Renaissance philosophical lexicon, with philological awareness;
3. will be able to apply acquired knowledges about the historical development of the argumentative forms and traditions of Renaissance thought to the analysis of new textual and theoretical problems;
4. will be able to master and apply the methodological resources and bibliographic tools of historical-philosophical research in the Renaissance context and will be able to produce original research, discussing the results obtained and presenting them to others.
At the end of the course, students:
1. will master a systematic and in-depth knowledge of the history of Renaissance philosophy, acquired through the reading of some classics of the early modern period and the study of secondary literature;
2. will have a philologically sound knowledge of the sources of Renaissance texts;
3. will understand the historical and theoretical meaning of Renaissance texts and the transformations of traditions, concepts and argumentative forms over time;
4. will understand the various interpretations of texts analysed in different chronological, cultural and linguistic contexts in the early modern tradition;
5. will have proficient knowledge of the bibliographic resources and methodological tools characterising the historical-philosophical research, with special reference to the Renaissance period.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students:
1. will be able to apply knowledges acquired in framing historically Renaissance authors and texts;
2. will be able to soundly and adequately make use of the Renaissance philosophical lexicon, with philological awareness;
3. will be able to apply acquired knowledges about the historical development of the argumentative forms and traditions of Renaissance thought to the analysis of new textual and theoretical problems;
4. will be able to master and apply the methodological resources and bibliographic tools of historical-philosophical research in the Renaissance context and will be able to produce original research, discussing the results obtained and presenting them to others.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Renaissance and especially humanist authors are often overlooked in general outlines of the history of philosophy. This is due to several reasons, among which is the widespread conviction that there is simply no humanist philosophy, since the innovative aspects of humanist thought belong to the fields of rhetoric and philology. The overall aim of this course is to prove the groundlessness and self-referentiality of this narrative by examining the works of one of the paramount Quattrocento humanists.
Lorenzo Valla is mostly known as the author of a pioneering linguistic and philological critique of the Donation of Constantine—a medieval forgery that justified the pope's temporal power. Valla's critique of the Donation, however, is only part of an overarching philosophical and cultural project at the heart of which lies an effort to reform the Latin language so that it could transparently convey truth by maintaining a bijective relation between words and things. Such a reformed language was conceived by Valla as an antithesis to medieval Latin, whose abstractness had allowed the emergence of scholasticism, which Valla rejected as an empty and verbose philosophy. All of Valla's major philosophical works are linked to this revolutionary project: his dialogue on free will, conceived as a critique of Boethius; his re-foundation of dialectics, against Aristotle and scholasticism; his work on the true good, identified in the pursuit of a Christian-Epicurean pleasure; but also his polemic on historical truth and his intent to emend Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Gospels.
While analyzing the major thematic clusters in Valla's thought, the course will also examine their reverberation among Renaissance authors close to Valla (Bruni, Bracciolini, Agricola, etc.) and their development in the history of philosophy of the following centuries, starting with sixteenth-century authors such as Erasmus and Ramus, and ending with seventeenth-century classics such as Leibniz, Gassendi and Spinoza. In doing so, the course sets out to demonstrate: a) that Valla's philosophy was the expression of a widespread Renaissance, humanist stance; b) that such a humanist philosophy not only existed but was to profoundly influence, and in some cases generate, philosophical positions that we mostly place in the 'canon' of early modern philosophy.
Course website: https://gmorisfrlm.ariel.ctu.unimi.it/v5/Home/
LESSONS WILL BE RECORDED FOR THE DURATION OF THE WHOLE COURSE. Recordings will be made available on the couse website.
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: 2 lessons for non attending students will be recorded and uploaded online. Further information available on Ariel.
Attending students sitting the exam for 6 ects will have to attend or study the recordings of the first 40 hours (i.e., 20 lesson) of the course. In order to obtain 9 ects, they will have to attend the whole course.
Lorenzo Valla is mostly known as the author of a pioneering linguistic and philological critique of the Donation of Constantine—a medieval forgery that justified the pope's temporal power. Valla's critique of the Donation, however, is only part of an overarching philosophical and cultural project at the heart of which lies an effort to reform the Latin language so that it could transparently convey truth by maintaining a bijective relation between words and things. Such a reformed language was conceived by Valla as an antithesis to medieval Latin, whose abstractness had allowed the emergence of scholasticism, which Valla rejected as an empty and verbose philosophy. All of Valla's major philosophical works are linked to this revolutionary project: his dialogue on free will, conceived as a critique of Boethius; his re-foundation of dialectics, against Aristotle and scholasticism; his work on the true good, identified in the pursuit of a Christian-Epicurean pleasure; but also his polemic on historical truth and his intent to emend Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Gospels.
While analyzing the major thematic clusters in Valla's thought, the course will also examine their reverberation among Renaissance authors close to Valla (Bruni, Bracciolini, Agricola, etc.) and their development in the history of philosophy of the following centuries, starting with sixteenth-century authors such as Erasmus and Ramus, and ending with seventeenth-century classics such as Leibniz, Gassendi and Spinoza. In doing so, the course sets out to demonstrate: a) that Valla's philosophy was the expression of a widespread Renaissance, humanist stance; b) that such a humanist philosophy not only existed but was to profoundly influence, and in some cases generate, philosophical positions that we mostly place in the 'canon' of early modern philosophy.
Course website: https://gmorisfrlm.ariel.ctu.unimi.it/v5/Home/
LESSONS WILL BE RECORDED FOR THE DURATION OF THE WHOLE COURSE. Recordings will be made available on the couse website.
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES FOR NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: 2 lessons for non attending students will be recorded and uploaded online. Further information available on Ariel.
Attending students sitting the exam for 6 ects will have to attend or study the recordings of the first 40 hours (i.e., 20 lesson) of the course. In order to obtain 9 ects, they will have to attend the whole course.
Prerequisites for admission
No prior knowledge is required.
Teaching methods
Lectures
Debate and discussion
In-class analysis of philosophical texts
Student presentations
Debate and discussion
In-class analysis of philosophical texts
Student presentations
Teaching Resources
The readings preceded by ** will be made available online and uploaded to Ariel.
ASSIGNED READINGS FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 6/9 ECTU:
- **L. Valla, Correspondence, ed. Cook (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013), Epp. 0B, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 11, 13, 17, 29A [tot. 34 pp.].
- L. Valla, "Del vero e del faso bene," in Scritti filosofici e religiosi, a cura di Radetti (qualsiasi edizione) [tot. 246 pp.].
- **L. Valla, "Dialogue on Free Will," in The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. Cassirer et al. (Chicago: The U of Chicago P, 1948), pp. 155-82.
- **L. Valla, "In praise of Saint Thomas Aquinas," in Renaissance Philosophy: New Translations, ed. Kennedy (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1973) [tot. 10 pp.].
- **L. Valla, "Prefazioni alle Elegantiae," in Prosatori latini del Quattrocento, a cura di Garin (Milano-Napoli: Ricciardi, 1952), [tot. 19 pp.].
- L. Valla, Dialectical Disputations. Vol I: book 1, ed. Nauta-Copenhaver (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2012) [tot. 156 pp.].
- **L. Cesarini Martinelli, "Note sulla polemica Poggio-Valla e sulla fortuna delle Elegantiae," Interpres 3 (1980), pp. 29-79.
- **R. Fubini, Umanesimo e secolarizzazione da Petrarca a Valla (Roma: Bulzoni, 1990), pp. 339-394.
- **G. Mori, "Lorenzo Valla's Philosophical Grammar: Its Conception and Its Reception," Humanistica 15, no. 1/2 (2022), pp. 149-65.
- **L. Nauta, In Defense of Common Sense (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2009), pp. 13-73.
- **L. Nauta, "The Price of Reduction," in Ethik - Wissenschaft Oder Lebenskunst?, ed. Ebbersmeyer-Kessler (Berlin: Lit, 2007), pp. 173-95.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 9 ECTU:
- **L. Valla, Correspondence, ed. Cook (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013), Epp. 22, 24 [tot. 4 pp.].
- L. Valla, On the Donation of Constantine, ed. Bowersock (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008) [tot. 93 pp.]. Or any other edition of Valla's Oratio, including that in Scritti filosofici e religiosi, ed. Radetti.
- L. Valla, "The Profession of the Religious," in The Profession of the Religious and selections from The Falsely-Believed and Forged Donation of Constantine, ed. Pugliese (Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance studies, 1994).
- **C. Celenza, "Lorenzo Valla's Radical Philology," JMEMS 42, 2 (2012), pp. 365-94.
- **G. Mori, "Truth, Verisimilitude and Criticism in Lorenzo Valla: Dialectics and Historiography," Quaestio 20 (2020), pp. 417-38.
- **F. Delle Donne, "Da Valla a Facio: Dalla prassi alla teorizzazione retorica della scrittura storica," Reti medievali 19, 1 (2018), pp. 1-27.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 6/9 ECTU:
- G. Cappelli, L'umanesimo italiano da Petrarca a Valla (Roma: Carocci, 2018), pp. 31-105, 163-215, 277-304, 337-380.
- **S.I. Camporeale, "Poggio Bracciolini contro Lorenzo Valla: Le 'Orationes in L. Vallam,'" in Poggio Bracciolini, 1380-1980 (Firenze: Sansoni, 1982), pp. 137-61.
- S.I. Camporeale, Lorenzo Valla: Umanesimo, riforma e controriforma (Roma: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2002), pp. 121-265.
- **L. Cesarini Martinelli, Lucia. "Le postille di Lorenzo Valla all'"Institutio oratoria" di Quintiliano." In Lorenzo Valla e l'Umanesimo italiano, ed. Besomi-Regoliosi (Padova: Antenore, 1986), pp. 21-50.
- **D. Marsh, "Grammar, Method, and Polemic in Lorenzo Valla's 'Elegantiae,'" Rinascimento 19 (1979), pp. 91-116.
- **L. Nauta, "Latin as a Common Language: The Coherence of Lorenzo Valla's Humanist Program." Renaissance Quarterly 71, no. 1 (2018), pp. 1-32.
- L. Nauta, In Defense of Common Sense: Lorenzo Valla's Humanist Critique of Scholastic Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), pp. 74-129.
- **L. Panizza, "Lorenzo Valla's 'De Vero Falsoque Bono', Lactantius and Oratorical Scepticism," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 41 (1978): 76-107.
- **M. Regoliosi, "Lorenzo Valla's De libero arbitrio," in Paths in Free Will, ed. L. Geri et al (Roma: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2020), pp. 63-90.
- **C. Vasoli, "Filologia, critica e logica in Lorenzo Valla", in La dialettica e la retorica dell'Umanesimo (Napoli: La città del sole, 2007 [or earlier editions with different page numbers]), pp. 67-133.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 9 ECTU:
- S.I. Camporeale, Lorenzo Valla: Umanesimo e teologia (Firenze: Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, 1972), pp. 276-403.
- **S.I. Camporeale, "Lorenzo Valla's Oratio on the Pseudo-Donation of Constantine: Dissent and Innovation in Early Renaissance Humanism." Journal of the History of Ideas 57, no. 1 (1996), pp. 9-26.
- **G. Ferraù, "Fondazione della nuova storiografia a Napoli", in Il tessitore di Antequera (Roma: ISIME, 2001), pp. 1-42.
- **R. Fubini, "Humanism and Truth: Valla Writes Against the Donation of Constantine." Journal of the History of Ideas 57, no. 1 (1996), pp. 79-86.
- **G. Radetti, "La Religione Di Lorenzo Valla," In Medioevo e Rinascimento: Studi in Onore Di Bruno Nardi (Firenze: Sansoni, 1955), vol. 2, pp. 595-620.
ASSIGNED READINGS FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 6/9 ECTU:
- **L. Valla, Correspondence, ed. Cook (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013), Epp. 0B, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 11, 13, 17, 29A [tot. 34 pp.].
- L. Valla, "Del vero e del faso bene," in Scritti filosofici e religiosi, a cura di Radetti (qualsiasi edizione) [tot. 246 pp.].
- **L. Valla, "Dialogue on Free Will," in The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, ed. Cassirer et al. (Chicago: The U of Chicago P, 1948), pp. 155-82.
- **L. Valla, "In praise of Saint Thomas Aquinas," in Renaissance Philosophy: New Translations, ed. Kennedy (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1973) [tot. 10 pp.].
- **L. Valla, "Prefazioni alle Elegantiae," in Prosatori latini del Quattrocento, a cura di Garin (Milano-Napoli: Ricciardi, 1952), [tot. 19 pp.].
- L. Valla, Dialectical Disputations. Vol I: book 1, ed. Nauta-Copenhaver (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2012) [tot. 156 pp.].
- **L. Cesarini Martinelli, "Note sulla polemica Poggio-Valla e sulla fortuna delle Elegantiae," Interpres 3 (1980), pp. 29-79.
- **R. Fubini, Umanesimo e secolarizzazione da Petrarca a Valla (Roma: Bulzoni, 1990), pp. 339-394.
- **G. Mori, "Lorenzo Valla's Philosophical Grammar: Its Conception and Its Reception," Humanistica 15, no. 1/2 (2022), pp. 149-65.
- **L. Nauta, In Defense of Common Sense (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2009), pp. 13-73.
- **L. Nauta, "The Price of Reduction," in Ethik - Wissenschaft Oder Lebenskunst?, ed. Ebbersmeyer-Kessler (Berlin: Lit, 2007), pp. 173-95.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR ATTENDING AND NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 9 ECTU:
- **L. Valla, Correspondence, ed. Cook (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2013), Epp. 22, 24 [tot. 4 pp.].
- L. Valla, On the Donation of Constantine, ed. Bowersock (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008) [tot. 93 pp.]. Or any other edition of Valla's Oratio, including that in Scritti filosofici e religiosi, ed. Radetti.
- L. Valla, "The Profession of the Religious," in The Profession of the Religious and selections from The Falsely-Believed and Forged Donation of Constantine, ed. Pugliese (Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance studies, 1994).
- **C. Celenza, "Lorenzo Valla's Radical Philology," JMEMS 42, 2 (2012), pp. 365-94.
- **G. Mori, "Truth, Verisimilitude and Criticism in Lorenzo Valla: Dialectics and Historiography," Quaestio 20 (2020), pp. 417-38.
- **F. Delle Donne, "Da Valla a Facio: Dalla prassi alla teorizzazione retorica della scrittura storica," Reti medievali 19, 1 (2018), pp. 1-27.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 6/9 ECTU:
- G. Cappelli, L'umanesimo italiano da Petrarca a Valla (Roma: Carocci, 2018), pp. 31-105, 163-215, 277-304, 337-380.
- **S.I. Camporeale, "Poggio Bracciolini contro Lorenzo Valla: Le 'Orationes in L. Vallam,'" in Poggio Bracciolini, 1380-1980 (Firenze: Sansoni, 1982), pp. 137-61.
- S.I. Camporeale, Lorenzo Valla: Umanesimo, riforma e controriforma (Roma: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2002), pp. 121-265.
- **L. Cesarini Martinelli, Lucia. "Le postille di Lorenzo Valla all'"Institutio oratoria" di Quintiliano." In Lorenzo Valla e l'Umanesimo italiano, ed. Besomi-Regoliosi (Padova: Antenore, 1986), pp. 21-50.
- **D. Marsh, "Grammar, Method, and Polemic in Lorenzo Valla's 'Elegantiae,'" Rinascimento 19 (1979), pp. 91-116.
- **L. Nauta, "Latin as a Common Language: The Coherence of Lorenzo Valla's Humanist Program." Renaissance Quarterly 71, no. 1 (2018), pp. 1-32.
- L. Nauta, In Defense of Common Sense: Lorenzo Valla's Humanist Critique of Scholastic Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), pp. 74-129.
- **L. Panizza, "Lorenzo Valla's 'De Vero Falsoque Bono', Lactantius and Oratorical Scepticism," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 41 (1978): 76-107.
- **M. Regoliosi, "Lorenzo Valla's De libero arbitrio," in Paths in Free Will, ed. L. Geri et al (Roma: Ed. di Storia e Letteratura, 2020), pp. 63-90.
- **C. Vasoli, "Filologia, critica e logica in Lorenzo Valla", in La dialettica e la retorica dell'Umanesimo (Napoli: La città del sole, 2007 [or earlier editions with different page numbers]), pp. 67-133.
ADDITIONAL READINGS FOR NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS, 9 ECTU:
- S.I. Camporeale, Lorenzo Valla: Umanesimo e teologia (Firenze: Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, 1972), pp. 276-403.
- **S.I. Camporeale, "Lorenzo Valla's Oratio on the Pseudo-Donation of Constantine: Dissent and Innovation in Early Renaissance Humanism." Journal of the History of Ideas 57, no. 1 (1996), pp. 9-26.
- **G. Ferraù, "Fondazione della nuova storiografia a Napoli", in Il tessitore di Antequera (Roma: ISIME, 2001), pp. 1-42.
- **R. Fubini, "Humanism and Truth: Valla Writes Against the Donation of Constantine." Journal of the History of Ideas 57, no. 1 (1996), pp. 79-86.
- **G. Radetti, "La Religione Di Lorenzo Valla," In Medioevo e Rinascimento: Studi in Onore Di Bruno Nardi (Firenze: Sansoni, 1955), vol. 2, pp. 595-620.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Oral exam.
ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Attending students will be examined on the assigned readings and the topics treated in class.
During the course, students will be offered the possibility to give a class presentation on one or more texts related to the topic of the course. Presentations will contribute to 50% of the overall evaluation score.
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Non-attending students will be examined on the assigned readings.
ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Attending students will be examined on the assigned readings and the topics treated in class.
During the course, students will be offered the possibility to give a class presentation on one or more texts related to the topic of the course. Presentations will contribute to 50% of the overall evaluation score.
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
Non-attending students will be examined on the assigned readings.
Professor(s)
Reception:
Wednesday, h. 14,00-17,00 (on skype/teams). Students can schedule an online meeting by email
Skype / Teams