HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

This course belongs to the group of activities on History of Philosophy for the Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy. The course aims at:
1) providing an overview of contexts, authors, works relevant for medieval philosophy (5th-15th century), especially in the Latin tradition;
2) understand the issues discussed by medieval authors, and analyse their texts;
3) know medieval philosophical concepts and terminology.

It is to be expected that, by attending these course, students will acquire the following expertise: know the main contexts, authors, and works of medieval Latin philosophy; know and understand some medieval issues and questions; understand and analyse medieval philosophical texts of different sorts and literary genre; acquire skills in communicating and arguing, with special reference to medieval philosophical terminology.

There is no mandatory prerequisite. I, however, encourage students to attend courses on ancient philosophy and Arabic philosophy.

This is an introduction to medieval philosophy (especially in Latin), and it will focus on: late ancient background, Augustine, Boethius, Eriugena, Anselm, Abelard and 12th-century schools, Heloise, Hildegard of Bingen, university masters, Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Scotus, Ockham, Christine de Pizan.
The issues investigated will concern especially: being, happiness, and language.

PRIMARY SOURCES (MEDIEVAL TEXTS IN ITALIAN TRANSLATION)
A selection of primary sources (in Italian translation) selected by the professor and discussed during the course. The texts will be provided by the instructor on the Moodle platform of the course.

REFERENCE HANDBOOK:
Luisa Valente, Filosofie e filosofi nel medioevo. Essere, felicità, linguaggio, with the collaboration of Massimiliano Lenzi, Le Monnier Università, 2023 (ISBN: 9788800746564)

For additional readings (suggested only):
- Cristina D'Ancona (ed.), Storia della filosofia nell'Islam medievale (ISBN: 978-8806170738)
- Giovanni Catapano, Filosofie medievali. Dalla tarda antichità all'umanesimo, Carocci (ISBN: 9788829023912).

The modality of verification is an oral exam to be taken at the end of the course. The subject of the exam will be to test knowledge of textbook concepts and the content of texts analyzed in class.

oral

Grades are marked over 30 points.

After a general historical overview, with an introduction to the authors, the lessons will also include a section dedicated to reading medieval texts and discussing their main interpretative issues. Lectures may be complemented by seminars with experts.