Programme

The course presents and analyses the three fundamental modes of conflict: agon, polemos, stasis. That is, the conflict as "competition" (ethos at the same time moral, economic and sporting, which finds its clearest determination in ancient Greek thought); the conflict as "war" (Hobbes); the conflict as "civil war", within the community and the political body (Loraux, Agamben). The aim of the course is to define the peculiarity of these different modes of conflict.

Core Documentation

- T. Hobbes, Leviathan, Part 1. and Part 2.
- J.-P. Vernant, City-State Warfare, in J.-P. Vernant, Myth and Society in Ancient Greece, Zone Books, New York 1989.
- N. Loraux, The Divided City: On Memory and Forgetting in Ancient Athens, Zone Books, New York 2006.
- G. Agamben, Stasis: Civil War as a Political Paradigm, Stanford University Press, Redwood city 2015.

Type of delivery of the course

The didactics includes lectures, seminars, debates and exercises in the classroom. In the case of an extension of the health emergency by COVID-19 all the provisions that regulate the way in which the didactic activities and the students' evaluation will be carried out will be implemented. In particular, the following procedure will be applied: distance learning through the University platforms.

Attendance

Class attendance is optional, although recommended.

Type of evaluation

The assessment consists of an oral examination. In the case of an extension of the health emergency by COVID-19 all the provisions that regulate the way in which the didactic activities and the students' evaluation will be carried out will be implemented. In particular, the following procedures will apply: remote oral exams through the Microsoft Teams platform.