Ethics and Citizenship Course (UNICZ | 12 lectures)

Concolino D.

domenico.concolino@unicz.it

Course Overview

The course aims to present some fundamental principles of philosophical ethics by focusing on the ancient and post-modern thoughts.

Starting from this double view, the student will be provided with a brief ethical vocabulary (happiness, virtue, justice, purpose, duty, goodness, beauty, value, etc) in its reference to the entire range of existence of man, plants, and animals in a secularized society. Focusing on some ‘places’ where the philosophical reflection developed in the direction of virtue ethics and responsibility ethics, we will thus analyse some reading registers of the current southern context of citizenship.

Once having analysed some ideas and read selected references, the student will be invited to give their specific personal contribution about the ethical quality of interpersonal relationships (Ethics of friendship), the relationship with the environment (Ethics of nature, Anthropocene) the impact of the digital world on human and professional life (Algoretics and Ethics of the word).

Course Objectives and expected Learning Outcomes

Learn to reason ethically. At the end of the course, the student will be able to integrate the ethical dimension in the practice of thinking, in building their character and orientating their professional life.

Teaching Method

Frontal lecture which however requires the active participation of the students by reading and explaining selected pages of philosophical ethics.

Recommended reading list:

The student can agree with the teacher to read at least one book among those recommended or propose another subject to the teacher’s authorization.

• C. S. Lewis, I quattro amori. Affetto, Amicizia, Eros, Carità, Jaka Book  2006
• M. Veggetti, L’etica degli antichi, Laterza, Bari 2010, (pagg. 241-282).  
• Aristotele, Etica Nicomachea, libro VII e VIII (tutte le versioni).
• M. Benasayag, Funzionare o esistere?, Vita e Pensiero, 2019, (pagine scelte).
• J. Pieper, Abuso di parola, abuso di potere, Vita e Pensiero 2020.
• E. L. Vallauri, La lingua disonesta. Contenuti espliciti e strategie di persuasione, il Mulino 2019. 
• L. Becchetti, Il denaro fa la felicità?, Laterza 2014.
• F. De Luise – G. Farinetti, Storia della felicità. Gli antichi e i moderni, Einaudi, Torino 2001, (pagine scelte).
• Marc Augé, Prendere tempo. Un’utopia dell’educazione, Castelvecchi 2016.
• L. Floridi, Etica dell’intelligenza artificiale, Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2022
• D. De Masi, La felicità negata, Einaudi 2022.  
• L. Zoja, Giustizia e bellezza, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2007 (pagine scelte)
• Z. Bauman, L’arte della vita, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2008 (pagine scelte)
• H. Hall, Il metodo Aristotele. Come la saggezza degli antichi può cambiare la vita, Einaudi, 2019.
• P. Breton, Elogio della parola.Il potere della parola contro la parola del potere, Eleuthera, 2004.
• Sofocle, Antigone, (tutte le versioni).
• R. Bodei, Limite, Mulino 2016.
• E. Borgna, Le parole che ci salvano, Giulio Einaudi editore 2017.
• E. Borgna, Tenerezza, Giulio Einaudi editore, 2022.
• L.Maffei, Elogio della lentezza, il Mulino 2014.
• D. Demetrio, Ingratitudine. La memoria breve della riconoscenza, RaffaelloCortinaEditore 2016.
• D. Susanetti, La felicità degli antichi, Feltrinelli 2018.
• H. Jonas,(1990) Etica della responsabilità, in«Micromega», 2, 217-231.
• H. Jonas (2003), Essere e dover essere. Come possiamo fondare indipendentemente dalla fede il nostro dovere nei confronti delle generazioni future e della terra?, in «Micromega», 5, 39-54.  

The student and the lecturer will select together another text or published paper to be proposed during the final examination. 

The student can register for the course via the link available on the website www.concolino.it/Università. They will be able to receive the various texts and participate in the ‘ethics and citizenship’ forum.