History of Medieval and Modern Political Philosophy

The aim of the course is to provide students, through the study of relevant authors and more problematic issues, with a general understanding of the history of medieval and modern political thought, focusing in particular on the contribution that the political philosophy of the Middle Ages made to the development of the ideas, argumentative forms and languages with which Europe addressed the main political issues in the period between the late Middle Ages and the early Modern Age.

The course also aims to provide students with the cognitive tools that allow them to read critically and comment autonomously on a philosophical-political text.

Knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, students will be able

- to present the basic outlines and essentials of the history of medieval and modern political thought, placing them appropriately in the historical context and showing that they are familiar with the main traditions and most relevant problems of a decisive phase in the development of the history of political philosophy

- to identify the philosophical lexicon, literary genres and argumentative structures of medieval and modern political thought

- to know the basic methodological tools of research in the history of philosophy, with reference to political thought

- to understand the relationships connecting the history of Western medieval and modern political thought to political history, to society and to theological and religious traditions.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

At the end of the study path, the student

- can apply the knowledge acquired in the historical context of the authors and texts

- is able to apply the knowledge acquired in vocabulary, argumentation and text analysis to the analysis and interpretation of other texts

- can apply the basic knowledge and reading methods learned in class to other philosophical texts.