MORAL THEORIES AND APPLIED ETHICS

The course of Moral Theories and Applied Ethics is divided into two distinct but interrelated moments: 1) the study of the history of moral philosophy, from its origins to the present day; 2) an examination of the so-called applied ethics, i.e. those disciplines that arise from the application of moral theories and principles in particular areas of human existence, especially those related to life (bios) and the living world in general.

The course in its entirety aims to deepen the student's understanding of the moral aspect of philosophical reflection of all times, making him aware of the importance of the origins of such reflection, which are the roots and foundations of any contemporary reflection. In addition to historical-theoretical knowledge, the student will acquire a clear and firm awareness of the most problematic and crucial phenomena of our times, on which moral philosophy finds practical application today, in particular ethics of care, responsability and practical philosophies as such P4C and Philosophy for community.

The first part of the course will be traditionally held through lectures that will cover the history of moral philosophy, from its beginnings (VI-V century BC) to the so-called practical philosophies (Philosophy for Children, Socratic Dialogue, Counseling, Café Philo).

In the second part of the course, conducted in seminar mode, students will have the opportunity to actively participate in the deepening of applied ethics, through the presentation of individual or group work, power points or other. To this end, some recently published essays are indicated, on which the student will deepen the section of applied ethics with personal interventions (power points, oral reports, group work), elaborated with the aid of these texts, from which he will have to choose and buy only one.

The student who approaches this discipline, so current but at the same time so linked to the history of the entire philosophical thought, from its beginnings in Greek antiquity, must have a knowledge, even if not perfectly complete, of philosophical thought in its historical evolution. This fundamental requirement may have been acquired even only during the school curriculum, if the student did not come from a three-year degree in which philosophical disciplines were included. Our three-year degrees guarantee the acquisition of the required requirement, since they offer teachings in the History of Philosophy.

Vita morale ................................................................... 9
1. La vita umana come vita morale ...................................... 9
2. Domande di oggi ............................................................. 15
3. Domande di sempre ........................................................ 21

Filosofia morale ............................................................ 30
1. Esperienza e riflessione ..................................................... 30
2. Superior: l’eccellenza del bene .......................................... 38
3. Interior: l’enigma della persona ........................................ 44
4. Exterior: la trama delle relazioni ....................................... 4
Il pensiero antico: il bene, la felicità, le virtù ................. 55
1. Il cammino verso la storia ................................................ 55
2. “Conosci te stesso” ........................................................... 58
3. Platone: l’altezza del bene ................................................ 66
3.1. In bilico tra due mondi ......................................................... 66
3.2. Il Bene oltre l’essere ............................................................... 71
3.3. L’anima, le virtù, l’amore ....................................................... 74
4. Aristotele: la praticabilità del bene ................................... 79
4.1. I “molti sensi” dell’essere ....................................................... 79
4.2. Ciò a cui tutto tende ............................................................. 82
4.3. Virtù e felicità ....................................................................... 86
5. Le scuole ellenistiche ........................................................ 91
5.1. Cittadini del mondo ............................................................. 91
5.2. L’etica come farmaco ............................................................. 93
5.3. La natura e il Logos ................................................................ 95
5.4. Nostalgia del ritorno ............................................................. 98

Il pensiero medievale: la creazione, il peccato, la salvezza 101
1. Atene, Roma, Gerusalemme ............................................ 101
2. Agostino: ordo amoris ....................................................... 108
2.1. La conversione dell’intelligenza ............................................. 108
2.2. Interiorità e persona .............................................................. 112
2.3. La libertà ferita e il mistero della grazia .................................. 115
3. Tra il monastero e l’università .......................................... 121
3.1. Verso il Medioevo .................................................................. 121
3.2. Morale della rettitudine ......................................................... 123
3.3. Morale dell’intenzione ........................................................... 125
3.4. Nuove culture, nuove sfide .................................................... 127
4. Tommaso: l’architettura della partecipazione .................... 130
4.1. La creazione .......................................................................... 130
4.2. La creatura umana ................................................................. 135
4.3. Il bene che accomuna ............................................................ 138
5. La “via moderna” della libertà .......................................... 144

Il pensiero moderno: la ragione, la storia, il soggetto ..... 151
1. I dilemmi del Rinascimento ............................................. 151
1.1. Tra antico e moderno ............................................................ 151
1.2. Realismo politico e umanesimo cristiano ............................... 153
1.3. Riforma protestante e riforma cattolica ................................. 156
1.4. Scienza e saggezza .................................................................. 158
2. La via della ragione: da Descartes a Spinoza ..................... 162
2.1. L’anima e le passioni .............................................................. 162
2.2. Grandezza e miseria della ragione .......................................... 165
2.3. La conoscenza come liberazione ............................................ 168
3. La via dell’esperienza: da Locke a Hume .......................... 173
3.1. Sensazione e riflessione .......................................................... 173
3.2. La natura umana tra ragione e passioni .................................. 176
3.3. Deismo e senso morale .......................................................... 179
3.4. Il fascino ambiguo del progresso ............................................ 181
4. Kant: la via trascendentale ............................................... 184
4.1. La sintesi a priori ................................................................... 184
4.2. Il dovere e la libertà ............................................................... 187
4.3. Autonomia e ulteriorità ......................................................... 192
5. La libertà tra finito e infinito ........................................... 196
5.1. La dilatazione infinita della libertà ......................................... 196
5.2. Lo spirito come ethos oggettivo .............................................. 199
5.3. L’idealismo sconfessato .......................................................... 202
5.4. La libertà e il paradosso ......................................................... 206
5.5. Nichilismo estremo e volontà di potenza ............................... 209
6. La misura naturale del bene ............................................. 214
6.1. Forme dell’utilitarismo .......................................................... 214
6.2. Da Bentham a Stuart Mill ..................................................... 216
6.3. La morale come sapere positivo ............................................. 219

Il pensiero contemporaneo:
il senso, la vita, la responsabilità .................................... 222
1. Crisi dei fondamenti ........................................................ 222
2. L’ineffabilità del bene ....................................................... 226
2.1. L’etica al di fuori del linguaggio ............................................. 226
2.2. Wittgenstein: l’etica oltre il linguaggio .................................. 228
2.3. L’etica dentro il linguaggio .................................................... 231
3. La libertà tra i valori e il nulla .......................................... 235
3.1. I valori nella storia ................................................................. 235
3.2. I valori oltre i fatti: da Husserl a Scheler ................................ 238
3.3. Esistenza e libertà .................................................................. 242
4. Lo spirituale e il comunitario ........................................... 248
4.1. Lo slancio dello spirito e la morale aperta .............................. 248
4.2. Il primato della persona: Mounier e Maritain ........................ 252
4.3. Oltre il personalismo ............................................................. 256
5. L’imperativo della responsabilità ...................................... 259
5.1. Fedeltà a Dio e alla terra ........................................................ 259
5.2. Levinas: alterità e infinito ...................................................... 261
5.3. Jonas: uomo e natura ............................................................. 265
6. La giustizia tra uguaglianza e libertà ................................. 269
6.1. Teoria critica della società ...................................................... 269
6.2. Apel e Habermas:
apertura comunicativa ed etica del discorso ................................... 272
6.3. Rawls: il giusto oltre il buono ................................................ 278

Antichi dilemmi ........................................................... 285
1. I confini del bene e del male ............................................ 285
2. Essere o dover essere ........................................................ 288
3. Autonomia o eteronomia ................................................. 290
4. Libertà o determinismo ................................................... 293
5. Universale e particolare .................................................... 297
6. L’utile e il gratuito ............................................................ 300
7. Insieme o da soli .............................................................. 304
8. Personale e impersonale ................................................... 308

Nuove sfide .................................................................. 313
1. Etica generale e applicata ................................................. 313
2. Natura, ambiente, vita animale ........................................ 315
3. Bioetica e neuroetica ........................................................ 322
4. Tecnoscienza e postumano ............................................... 327
5. Informazione e comunicazione ........................................ 332
6. Economia, affari, lavoro ................................................... 337
7. Multiculturalismo, laicità, bene comune .......................... 342
8. L’uomo, la donna, la persona ........................................... 348

The in-depth part will focus on applied ethics: bioethics, environmental ethics, animal ethics, ethics of care, ethics of responsibility, immigration ethics, communication and internet ethics, gender ethics, ethics and business, philosophical practices (one topic, taken from the Fabris, to be chosen by the student)

1. Luigi Alici, Filoofia morale, Morcelliana (collana Scholé), Brescia 2021 (other editions are admitted)

2. Adriano Fabris, Etiche applicate. Una guida, Carocci, Roma 2018 (selected parts, indicated by teacher during the course).