The main aim of this class is to provide students with a broad view of the historical underpinnings and evolution of classical and modern political thought. This overview will also aim at improving some methodological skills, such as the ability to read historical texts, the ability to pick out conceptual connections, similarities and differences in the arguments dealt with, the awareness of the contextual resonances of political texts. Moreover, the course will also provide basic skills in the management of secondary scholarship and in the discussion, presentation and assessment of the theoretical premises of the main political theories of the modern age. The basic skills to be assessed are the following ones: 1.ability to read historical texts in their context, and in contrast with other texts; 2.ability to grasp the connections between premises and arguments, and to find them in the texts; 3.ability to put forward and defend one's own interpretations of a given text during guided discussions; 4.ability to emphasize similarities and differences between historical approaches and contemporary views and issues.

1. Knowledge and understanding The student is able to understand the main concepts and issues in the fields of History of political though. 2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding By using the concepts developed during classes, the student is able to actively participate and contribute to the choice of social policies in progress, by understanding the historical roots of current issues and theories. These skills, will be monitored through intermediate tests and the final exam. Moreover, the presence of multimedia contents available on the Moodle platform (videos, slides, exercises, forums, working groups, etc.) will give the possibility to create a permanent interaction between students and instructors, thereby giving the opportunity to check ongoing competences in real time. 3. Critical thinking The student acquires methodological tools useful to develop analyses resting on collection, processing and interpretation of data relating to historical phenomena, texts and notions. The ability to make independent and critical judgements is stimulated in lessons, workshops and seminars and it is checked In the final exam. 4. Communication skills The student develops the ability to communicate her/his specific knowledge and to present the results of he/his study and research activities. Communication skills are tested in exams and during guided discussions. 5. Learning abilities The student develops his/her ability to study at a higher level, which allows him/her to analyze problems, their complexity and specific dynamics. The development of this capacity is stimulated by individual reading and understanding of scientific texts and articles.

This course will provide a view of the evolution of political theories from the ancients to the moderns, with a particular focus on texts by Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Bentham. The lectures will emphasize the argumentative structure of the texts considered.

Required texts: A. Sources -- S.M. Cahn (ed.), Political Philosophy. The Essential Texts, OUP; -- Plato, The Republic -- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics -- Aristotle, Politics; -- Machiavelli, The Prince -- Hobbes, The Leviathan -- Locke, Second Treatise of Government -- Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature -- Bentham, A Fragment on Government B. Secondary scholarship: -- A. Ryan, On Politics. A History of Political Thought from Herodotus to the Present, Penguin, 2013, chaps. 2, 3, 11, 12, 13, 19 -- J. Annas, An Introduction to Plato's Republic, OUP, 1981, chaps. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 -- R. Kraut, Aristotle. Political Philosophy, OUP, 2002 -- G. Newey, Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Hobbes and Leviathan, 2008, chaps. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 -- P.J. Kelly, Locke's Second Treatise of Government. A Reader's Guide, Continuum, 2007, chaps. 1, 2, 3 -- R. Hardin, David Hume. Moral and Political Theorist, OUP, 2007, chaps. -- G. Pellegrino, “Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832), in The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, ed. Michael T. Gibbons, London: Wiley, 2015 The books can be bought on good international bookshops or on www.amazon.com, or borrowed from libraries. The encyclopedia entry on Bentham will be uploaded in the e-learning LUISS website. Classical source can be taken from free texts on Liberty Fund. Any printed edition is accepted. A selection of texts is in the anthology edited by Kahn.

- traditional lectures - individual works - assignments - mini-polls text analysis Each module will begin with a video, case or text on which discussion will be conducted. Then, the instructor will provide clarifications, overviews of the theories and will provide some historical contextualization. The final step of any module will be a guided discussion of another text, in which single students will perform analytical dissection of some pages. This will be done also on scholarship, and some training for paper preparation will be given

1. Ongoing tests: during online classes, students will be tested, on the eLearning platform, through tests on excerpts (multiple choice questions and open-ended questions). These tests, graded in thirtieths (2 points each multiple choice question, 10 each open-ended question), will be worth 50% of the final score; 2. Final exam: to pass the final exam (worth 50% of the final score, for students in a) below), students have two possibilities. a) Students who successfully took the ongoing tests (i.e. they passed them) should submit a paper a week before the exam date to Prof Pellegrino via email. Papers must not exceed the maximum length of 4,000 words. Papers should be formed in Times New Romans 12pt, double-spaced, 3cm margins each side, page numbers on the bottom of each page. Footnotes and references should follow the “Chicago Manual of Style” (https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/). The paper must: 1. select a passage, or a couple of passages; 2. select an article or a chapter from secondary scholarship, concerning the passages in 1. 3. use the article or the chapter in 2. to shed light on the passages in 1. The paper must deal only with the authors considered during classes. Detailed directions about the paper, and a sample paper, will be given during classes. b) Students who didn’t take the ongoing tests for health or other issues, or failed them, must do a multiple choice questions test, in the eLearning page, the day of each call, concerning A. Ryan’s book (60 questions, 1 hour and a half time, on Ryan's chapters listed above).

Minimum final mark: 28/30

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