PHILOSOPHICAL ENGLISH

The course of Philosophical English deals with the much-debated relationship between languages and thought, with the specific purpose of examining the connection between English linguistic constituents, literary forms (essays, aphorisms, apophthegms) and philosophical issues. The course privileges a thorough linguistic analysis of the texts (syntactic and lexical), the comprehension of their speculative role and textual value as well as a precise cultural-philosophical contextualiation of the analysed works.

General knowledge, comprehension and linguistic analysis of major philosophical texts by Francis Bacon in their original English version.
Contextualiation of Baconian philosophy in the cultural background of late-XVI century England.
Ability to analyse the structures and lexicon of philosophical English.
Knowledge of specific literary styles and forms and their philosophical re-elaboration.
Critical ability to analyse the relation between textual forms and philosophical contents.

English level B2.
Knowledge of major ideas in Francis Bacon's system of knowledge and philosophy.

Main characteristics of philosophical English: syntax, lexicon, and linguistic registers.
Philosophy and writing: textual forms and philosophical issues.
Francis Bacon: theories of knowledge and communication.

Reading and analysis:
Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum
Francis Bacon, Essays

Primary bibliography

A shortlisted selection of essays, aphorisms, and apophthegms for class work will be provided during the course.

Reference editions are:
The Oxford Francis Bacon, IV: The advancement of learning, edited with introduction, notes and commentary by Michael Kiernan, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000.
The Oxford Francis Bacon, XI: The “Instauratio magna” Part II: “Novum organum” and Associated Texts, edited with introduction, notes, commentaries, and facing-page translations by Graham Rees with Maria Wakely, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2004.
The Oxford Francis Bacon, XV: The essayes or counsels, civill and morall, edited with introduction, notes and commentary by Michael Kiernan, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2000.
The Works of Francis Bacon, Volume 7: Literary and Professional works 2, edited by James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, and Douglas Denon Heath, Cambridge, CUP, 2011.

Suggested Italian translations:
Novum Organum, a cura di E. De Mas, “Biblioteca universale Laterza”, Roma-Bari, 1992.
Scritti politici giuridici e storici di Francesco Bacone, a cura di E. De Mas, 2 voll. Utet, Torino, 1971.

Secondary bibliography

Kate Aughterson, Redefining the Plain Style: Francis Bacon, Linguistic Extension, and Semantic Change in “The Advancement of Learning,” in Studies in Philology, Vol. 97, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 96-143.

Guido Giglioni, Capitolo 2 – Filosofia e scrittura, in Francesco Bacone, Roma, Carocci, 2011, pp. 33-57.

Paolo Rossi, Chapter V - Language and Communication, in Francis Bacon: From Magic to Science, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2013, pp. 152-185. [Italian original: Paolo Rossi, Capitolo V – Linguaggio e comunicazione, in Francesco Bacone. Dalla magia alla scienza, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2004, pp. 315-362.]

Samuel G. Wong, Some Baconian Metaphors and the Problems of Pure Prose, in Texas Studies in Literature and Language, Vol. 36, No. 3, Political Considerations (Fall, 1994), pp. 233-258.

For a general review of Bacon’s life and general philosophical theories:
C. Singer, Francis Bacon, Encyclopaedia Britannica, sub voce.
M. Fattori, Introduzione a Francis Bacon, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1997.

For the exam, students are required to:
1) introduce and contextualise the themes of the course from the theoretical and historical-philosophical point of view;
2) recognise linguistic patterns, literary components and philosophical reasoning in the texts;
3) translate and comment the texts.

Lectures.
Introduction, reading and analysis of the texts.

English

Students who do not attend lessons are required to discuss the coursework with the teacher.

oral