Social Ethics (2007/2008)

Learning outcomes

As a part of moral philosophy, social ethics’ reflection is concerned with the moral behaviour of individuals, as it developes within the social-historical context in which it is manifested. Its aim is to create a public space of opinion where the confrontation among the different private moral notions of individuals may eventually result in largely shared choices.

The Virtues and Vices of Communication.
The course aims to highlight the ethical implications, both implicit and explicit, of “communicative acting”, an essential feature of our post-modern condition, and notably of the ambiguous nature of the power of media communication, which on the one hand may promote the expression of all cultural differences, but on the other it may pave the way to mass omologation, and eventually destroy all knowledge.

Texts of the course:
M. Perniola, Contro la comunicazione, Einaudi, Torino 2004.
G. Sartori, Homo videns. Televisione e post-pensiero, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2005.
G. Vattimo, La società trasparente, Garzanti, Milano 2000.

The exam will consist in a written test with open-answer questions.