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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "PH/HS 223"
COURSE NAME: "Historical and Philosophical Aspects of the Italian Renaissance (Visiting students should use course code HS/PH 223 when registering online)"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall Semester 2012
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Provvidera Tiziana
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 16:30-17:45
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course offers an introduction to the major figures and themes of philosophy in the Renaissance. It entails the examination of some fundamental philosophical and historical issues by reading primary texts and discussing them in class, in relation to the contexts and the debates of their age.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
Topics include Plato’s and Aristotle’s ethics and politics, new ideas and ideals of the individual in the Renaissance, Platonism and Aristotelianism, cosmological models, Copernicus’s heliocentric theory, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Giordano Bruno, Baldassare Castiglione, Niccolò Machiavelli.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate:

mastering of some significant aspects of ‘Italian Renaissance’ culture, namely civic life, education, social organization, ethics and politics;

understanding of both ancient Greek and Latin texts and the most famous philosophical writings of the Renaissance;

enhancement of their writing and critical skills.
TEXTBOOK:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberCommentsFormatLocal BookstoreOnline Purchase
Renaissance PhilosophyB.P. Copenhaver - C.B. SchmittOxford University Press0-19-289-184-7B775.C67    
Course pack 2012T. Provvidera n.a.     
Philosophers of the RenaissanceR. Blum (ed.)CUA Press978-0-8132-1726-0      
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberComments
Renaissance Thought and Its SourcesP.O. KristellerColumbia University Press0231045123B775.K73 

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
Book TitleAuthorPublisherISBN numberLibrary Call NumberComments
Early Modern EuropeMerry E. Wiesner-HanksCambridge University Press0521005213D102.W54 
The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance PhilosophyJ. Hankins (ed.)Cambridge University Press9780521846486B775 .C244 
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
2 Written paper  
class presentation  

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:

Assessment Guidelines for assigning main letter grades: A, B, C,D, and F.

A:  Work of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensiveknowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.

B:  This is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.

There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.

C:  This is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.

D:  This level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.

Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.

F: This work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.


-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
 Attendance is mandatory.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

General introduction: what was the Renaissance? The historiographical debate.
Course reader: Chronological table of the Renaissance; the historiographical debate: summary.

Classical Renaissance: the studia humanitatis; the debate between Humanism and Scholasticism.
Course reader: The studia humanitatis according to Cicero; The curriculum of medieval Universities/ The curriculum of humanistic institutions.
Vocabulary: Liberal arts; moral philosophy/natural philosophy; Scholasticism. 

New ideas and ideals of Man: Petrarch and the development of the personal-self.
Course reader: Petrarch, A disapproval of an unreasonable use of the discipline of dialectic; A self-portrait; On his own ignorance and that of many others; Familiares (selections) TEXTS ON LINE
Vocabolary: Dialectic.

Petrarch’s influences on Quattrocento: Civic Humanism.
Course reader: Cultural and intellectual life, 1350-1600: a timeline; J. Burkhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (selections); Vergerio, On Liberal Learning; Leonardo Bruni, Praises Petrarch’s Rekindling of Antiquity; Leonardo Bruni, Studiis et litteriis TEXTS ON LINE
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 1, Chap. 4, pp. 196-226; Kristeller: Part One, Part Five.

Backgrounds in classical thought: Plato (I) Plato’s theory of forms; Plato’s theory of the soul.
Course reader: Phaedrus (I), Phaedrus (II), Republic (I) TEXTS ON LINE; Plato’s theory of the soul and Plato’s theory of love (diagrams).

Backgrounds in classical thought: Plato (II) Ethics and politics in Plato; the allegory of the cave.
Course reader: Republic (II), VII letter TEXTS ON LINE; the allegory of the cave (illustration).

Backgrounds in classical thought: Aristotle (I): Aristotle’s criticism of Plato’s philosophy; Aristotle on politics.
Course reader: Politics (book I)  TEXTS ON LINE
Vocabulary: Potency and act.

Cosmological models: Plato versus Aristotle.
Course reader: Cosmological models in the ancient world; The creation of the world according to Plato; Plato’s dualistic vision of the world (selections from Timaeus); Aristotle on the Earth; Aristotle on the finitude of the world; Aristotle on the eternity of the world; (selections from On the Heavens)  
TEXTS ON LINE
Vocabulary
: Demiurge; Earth; Providence.

Thomas Aquinas and Latin Scholasticism.
Course reader: Aristotle and Ptolemy; Aristotelian- Ptolemaic cosmos; Chart; Some of the most common questions on medieval cosmology.
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 2; Kristeller: Part Two.

Aristotelianism in the Renaissance.
Vocabulary: Primum mobile; Superlunary and sublunary regions; Epycicle, Eccentric, Ecliptic.

Platonism and Hermeticism in the Renaissance.
Course reader: Platonic philosophy; Plato on the animate universe (selections from Timaeus); Neoplatonic cosmology; Plotinus; Dionysius the Areopagite; Ancient theology; Hermes Trismegistos; Corpus Hermeticum.
Vocabulary: World Soul; Hierarchy of being; Intelligences; Metempsychosis.
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 3, pp. 127-142; Kristeller: Part Three.

Platonism in the Renaissance: Pico della Mirandola.
Course reader: The Oration on the dignity of man (selections) TEXT ON LINE
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 3, pp. 127-142; Kristeller: Part Four.

CLASS PRESENTATION
MIDTERM EXAM

Platonism in the Renaissance: Marsilio Ficino (I).
Course reader: Marsilio Ficino; Ficino on the Earth as a living creature; Ficino describes the universe as an animate organism (selections from Theologia Platonica); Leonardo da Vinci describes the Earth as an organism.

Platonism in the Renaissance: Marsilio Ficino and the theory of Love. 
Course reader: Ficino on love as universal attraction (selection from On life); Letters (selections)
Vocabulary: Will.
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 3, pp. 163-183.

Platonism in the Renaissance: Nicolaus Copernicus and the heliocentric hypothesis.
Course reader: Nicolaus Copernicus; The Copernican cosmos; Copernicus’s Introduction to the De Revolutionibus; Copernicus on the natural motion of the elements; Copernicus on circular motion.

The interpretation of heliocentrism in the Renaissance.
Course reader: Andreas Osiander on the Copernican hypothesis; Renaissance interpretations of the Copernican hypothesis.

Platonism in the Renaissance: Giordano Bruno’s cosmology.
Course reader: Bruno at Oxford; Bruno’s cosmology (I); Bruno on the natural motion of the elements; Petrarch denies that the Earth is infinite; Piccolomini on the immobility of the Earth.

Platonism in the Renaissance: Giordano Bruno’s theory of love.
Course reader: The Heroic Frenzies; The myth of Acteon; The Expulsion of the triumphan Beast; Bruno on God and Nature; Bruno on the philosopher’s goal.

The Roman Inquisition: Bruno’s trial, condemnation and death.
Course reader: The philosophical interpretation of the Bible; Bruno’s cosmology (II); the Venetian Trial (1592-1593); The Roman Trial (1593-1600); Summary of Bruno’s trial; minutes concerning the final hearing of the Congregation of cardinals of the Holy Office in Rome.
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 5. 

The art of grace: Baldassare Castiglione (I)
Course reader: The book of the Courtier (selections)  TEXTS ON LINE

The art of grace: Baldassare Castiglione (II)
Course reader: The book of the Courtier (selections) TEXTS ON LINE

Political morality in the Italian Renaissance: historical background. Christian-ciceronian morality and the ancient constitution; the Advice-books. Challenges and alternatives to the traditional political morality: Niccolò Machiavelli (I).
Course reader: Map: North-Central Italy in Machiavelli’s Time; Diagram: Medici Family Tree; Machiavelli, Letter to Francesco Vettori

Niccolò Machiavelli (II).
Course reader: The Prince (selections)

Niccolò Machiavelli (III).
Course reader: The Discourses (selections)
Schmitt and Copenhaver: Chap. 4, pp. 269-284.

CLASS REVIEW
FINAL EXAMINATION