The western tradition: moral and political values
A.A. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The course aims at introducing students to the moral and political values prominent in the history of Western philosophy. A selection of central topics from the debates on moral and political philosophy -such as liberty, autonomy, well-being, equality, fairness, justice, rights will be presented and analyzed, both from historical and contemporary perspectives.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding:
· The knowledge and understanding of the meaning and implications of some of the main moral and political notions in the Western philosophical tradition.
· An overview of the central philosophical approaches to the main moral and political discussions in the Western tradition.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
· The ability to assess the strength and weaknesses of different positions and arguments concerning philosophical thinking about the main moral and political topics in the Western tradition.
· The ability to use scholarly terminology relating to the field.
· The ability to communicate and argue in favour and against some values, identifying with one or another in a scholarly discussion.
· The ability to read, understand, summarize and communicate the content of chapters and articles concerning the moral and political values discussed.
· Ability to use the acquired knowledge and skills in written assignments.
· The knowledge and understanding of the meaning and implications of some of the main moral and political notions in the Western philosophical tradition.
· An overview of the central philosophical approaches to the main moral and political discussions in the Western tradition.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
· The ability to assess the strength and weaknesses of different positions and arguments concerning philosophical thinking about the main moral and political topics in the Western tradition.
· The ability to use scholarly terminology relating to the field.
· The ability to communicate and argue in favour and against some values, identifying with one or another in a scholarly discussion.
· The ability to read, understand, summarize and communicate the content of chapters and articles concerning the moral and political values discussed.
· Ability to use the acquired knowledge and skills in written assignments.
Periodo: Terzo trimestre
Modalità di valutazione: Esame
Giudizio di valutazione: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Corso singolo
Questo insegnamento non può essere seguito come corso singolo. Puoi trovare gli insegnamenti disponibili consultando il catalogo corsi singoli.
Course syllabus and organization
Edizione unica
Periodo
Terzo trimestre
Programma
The course takes as its subject what is often called the Western tradition. Its beginnings are standardly associated with the cultures of Greco-Roman antiquity, but the influence of Ancient Egypt or near-Eastern cultures can also not be denied. From then on, the Western tradition had incorporated numerous other elements including early Christianity, the Italian and other medieval renaissances, the Enlightenment, the Industrial revolution, the spread of liberal democracy and so on. During the course we will focus on the values that have dominated these historical epochs with particular attention to more recent developments. The course will thus be an exercise in the history of ideas and philosophy as well as contain contemporary analyses of the values under discussion. The course is modular in that the teacher can dedice which values will be covered in the actual edition of the course.
Prerequisiti
The course is taught in English (B2).
Metodi didattici
The course is a mix of lectures and seminar discussion. Each week four two-hour sessions will take place. Two of these sessions, in the first 8 weeks of the course, will be lectures: max one hour followed by a short break and a Q/A (open plenum discussion). The other two sessions will be devoted to the discussion of readings, one per session. One half of the lectures and seminar discussion will be historically focused; the other half will concentrate on contemporary analysis.
The week will begin with the historical part (lecture and seminar) and end with the contemporary part (lecture and seminar). For each week, there are assigned main readings that are compulsory and will form the topic of seminar discussion; and complementary readings that are not compulsory and can be used to deepen one's knowledge of the topic (and, for example, to base their final essay submission on). In the last two weeks of the course, students will give brief presentations in the seminars in course toward preparing their written essays and to receive feedback. Depending on student numbers and organization, these presentations might be integrated into regular teaching sessions. If this means that the last two weeks of the course won't be used for presentations, a further, fifth value will be added to the syllabus in consultation with students.
The week will begin with the historical part (lecture and seminar) and end with the contemporary part (lecture and seminar). For each week, there are assigned main readings that are compulsory and will form the topic of seminar discussion; and complementary readings that are not compulsory and can be used to deepen one's knowledge of the topic (and, for example, to base their final essay submission on). In the last two weeks of the course, students will give brief presentations in the seminars in course toward preparing their written essays and to receive feedback. Depending on student numbers and organization, these presentations might be integrated into regular teaching sessions. If this means that the last two weeks of the course won't be used for presentations, a further, fifth value will be added to the syllabus in consultation with students.
Materiale di riferimento
The course will focus on four values: freedom, justice, rights, and equality. The following are the compulsory readings:
· Anderson, E., 'What is the point of equality?', CPP Chapter 35
· Bentham, J. Anarchical Fallacies, in. Nonsense upon Stilts, ed. Jeremy Waldron, Routledge, 2019 (1987).
· Berlin, I. 'Two Concepts of Liberty', CPP, Chapter 26
· de Gouges, O. 'The Declaration of the Rights of Woman', URL: https://revolution.chnm.org/d/293/
· Dworkin, R. (1981), 'Is there a right to pornography?', Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 1 (2), 177-212. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/764457?origin=JSTOR-pdf
· H.L.A. Hart, 'Are There Any Natural Rights?' CPP Chapter 20
· Hume, D. 'Of Justice and Injustice', A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III, Part II, CMPT
· Kant, I. 'An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?' URL: https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/kant_whatisenlightenment.pdf
· Locke, J., Second Treatise of Government, Chapters I, II, V, VII, IX, CMPT
· MacCallum, G.C. (1967), 'Negative and positive freedom', The Philosophical Review, 76 (3), 312-34. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2183622
· Mill, J.S. On Liberty, Chapters I and II, CMPT
· Mill, J.S., Utilitarianism, Chapter 5: 'Of the Connexion between Justice and Utility', CMPT
· Rawls, J. 'A Theory of Justice', excerpts from A Theory of Justice, APP, Chapter 10
· Rousseau, J.J. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (excerpts), CMPT
· Williams, B. 'The Idea of Equality', in Problems of the Self, Chapter 14, Cambridge University Press, 2009
· Wood, A., 'The Marxian Critique of Justice', Philosophy and Public Affairs 1(3): 244-282, 1972. URL: https://doi.org/10.1086/660694
· Wollstonecraft, M. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (excerpts), URL: https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/wollstonecraft-a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman
Most of the material above can be found in the following anthologies:
· Classics of Moral and Political Theory, ed. Michael L. Morgan, 5th edition, Hackett Publishing Company, 2011 [CMPT]
· Arguing about Political Philosophy, eds. Matt Zwolinski, Mario I. Juarez-Garcia, 3rd edition, Routledge, 2025 (if it doesn't appear on time, we will use the second edition) [APP]
· Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, eds. Robert E. Goodin, Philip Pettit, 3rd edition, Wiley, 2019 [CPP]
Individual articles that are not in these volumes can mainly be reached via the DOI numbers and URL links provided.
If you have any problem accessing the course material, feel free to contact the professor.
· Anderson, E., 'What is the point of equality?', CPP Chapter 35
· Bentham, J. Anarchical Fallacies, in. Nonsense upon Stilts, ed. Jeremy Waldron, Routledge, 2019 (1987).
· Berlin, I. 'Two Concepts of Liberty', CPP, Chapter 26
· de Gouges, O. 'The Declaration of the Rights of Woman', URL: https://revolution.chnm.org/d/293/
· Dworkin, R. (1981), 'Is there a right to pornography?', Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 1 (2), 177-212. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/764457?origin=JSTOR-pdf
· H.L.A. Hart, 'Are There Any Natural Rights?' CPP Chapter 20
· Hume, D. 'Of Justice and Injustice', A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III, Part II, CMPT
· Kant, I. 'An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?' URL: https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/kant_whatisenlightenment.pdf
· Locke, J., Second Treatise of Government, Chapters I, II, V, VII, IX, CMPT
· MacCallum, G.C. (1967), 'Negative and positive freedom', The Philosophical Review, 76 (3), 312-34. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2183622
· Mill, J.S. On Liberty, Chapters I and II, CMPT
· Mill, J.S., Utilitarianism, Chapter 5: 'Of the Connexion between Justice and Utility', CMPT
· Rawls, J. 'A Theory of Justice', excerpts from A Theory of Justice, APP, Chapter 10
· Rousseau, J.J. Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (excerpts), CMPT
· Williams, B. 'The Idea of Equality', in Problems of the Self, Chapter 14, Cambridge University Press, 2009
· Wood, A., 'The Marxian Critique of Justice', Philosophy and Public Affairs 1(3): 244-282, 1972. URL: https://doi.org/10.1086/660694
· Wollstonecraft, M. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (excerpts), URL: https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/wollstonecraft-a-vindication-of-the-rights-of-woman
Most of the material above can be found in the following anthologies:
· Classics of Moral and Political Theory, ed. Michael L. Morgan, 5th edition, Hackett Publishing Company, 2011 [CMPT]
· Arguing about Political Philosophy, eds. Matt Zwolinski, Mario I. Juarez-Garcia, 3rd edition, Routledge, 2025 (if it doesn't appear on time, we will use the second edition) [APP]
· Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, eds. Robert E. Goodin, Philip Pettit, 3rd edition, Wiley, 2019 [CPP]
Individual articles that are not in these volumes can mainly be reached via the DOI numbers and URL links provided.
If you have any problem accessing the course material, feel free to contact the professor.
Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento e criteri di valutazione
Students attending at least 70% of the sessions will be assessed on the basis of:
· a short essay of 3000-5000 words. Students are required to submit a one-page outline for feedback prior to writing the essay.
· a presentation on a topic of their choice. This should be roughly the same topic as their eventual essay submission.
· Note that attending students must sign up for an oral exam date in order to receive a grade, but they will not actually come to the exam (in other words, the sign-up is purely a formality).
Non-attending students (i.e. students who have attended less than 70% of the sessions) will be assessed on the basis of:
· a short essay of 3000-5000 words. Students are required to submit a one-page outline for feedback prior to writing the essay.
· an oral examination in which their essay will be discussed with them.
Due Dates:
For the essay: one week before the date of the oral exam to which the student signs up.
For outlines: one month before the date of the oral exam to which the student signs up.
Students will get a bonus based on active participation.
· a short essay of 3000-5000 words. Students are required to submit a one-page outline for feedback prior to writing the essay.
· a presentation on a topic of their choice. This should be roughly the same topic as their eventual essay submission.
· Note that attending students must sign up for an oral exam date in order to receive a grade, but they will not actually come to the exam (in other words, the sign-up is purely a formality).
Non-attending students (i.e. students who have attended less than 70% of the sessions) will be assessed on the basis of:
· a short essay of 3000-5000 words. Students are required to submit a one-page outline for feedback prior to writing the essay.
· an oral examination in which their essay will be discussed with them.
Due Dates:
For the essay: one week before the date of the oral exam to which the student signs up.
For outlines: one month before the date of the oral exam to which the student signs up.
Students will get a bonus based on active participation.
Moduli o unità didattiche
Parte A e B
M-FIL/06 - STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA - CFU: 6
Lezioni: 40 ore
Parte C
M-FIL/06 - STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA - CFU: 3
Lezioni: 20 ore
Parte D
M-FIL/06 - STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA - CFU: 3
Lezioni: 20 ore
Professor(s)
Ricevimento:
Lunedì 9.15-12.15. Per favore, prendere appuntamento via mail una settimana prima.
Studio del docente e/o Piattaforma Teams.