News
NOTICE: Student office hours are suspended until Wednesday, 1 October 2025, with the exception of students who will defend their thesis in September.
Notice: If you wish to write to request thesis supervision, please READ carefully the “Thesis” section below before proceeding, especially the instructions for the first contact email.
Office hours
Wednesdays from 18:00 to 20:00 in room 124 (first floor of Villa Mirafiori), always by prior appointment via email. In your email, please specify the reason for requesting an appointment.
Theses:
- Given the high number of requests, please ask for thesis supervision at least eight months in advance (L/BA) or ten–twelve months in advance (LM/MA) with respect to the session in which you intend to graduate. Theses must be written in Italian. In your first contact email, indicate the intended graduation session and clearly specify the topic or author you would like to work on. Due to the volume of requests, I will not always be able to accept new ones.
- It is the student’s responsibility to check all requirements and deadlines relating to the graduation application (do not forget the assignment “to demonstrate knowledge of at least one foreign language”; master’s candidates must scroll all the way down the page to find the information concerning them).
- The thesis must be written in accordance with Sapienza style guidelines, using the “traditional system” for bibliographic references. Remember to number the pages and, in the title-page template supplied by the University, to change “Relatore” to “Relatrice”; if applicable, the same applies to the wording “Laureando”.
- The thesis presented at the defense and/or deposited with the registrar’s office must not contain anything that has not been sent to the instructor in due time and approved.
Exam sessions:
Exams will be held in room 124 starting at 9:00, unless otherwise indicated by the instructor. Exams are oral and in person.
Notice regarding extraordinary exam sessions: as per University guidelines, these are reserved for specific categories, membership of which must be self-certified by the student: students beyond the standard time to degree, part-time students, those who have completed all attendance requirements, working students, students with disabilities or with a diagnosis of specific learning disorders (SLD), student mothers and student fathers with children under three years of age, those with athlete status, students enrolled simultaneously in two degree programmes, pregnant students, family caregivers and young caregivers upon presentation to the instructor of appropriate documentation proving caregiver status (e.g., the Regione Lazio Caregiver card or other suitable document issued by other Regions), students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), after registering with the Disabilities and SLD service, which will liaise with instructors. Graduands of the II (November) and IV (April–May) graduation sessions 2025–26. If you do not belong to these categories, please do not write to ask for exceptions. I reserve the right not to reply to emails that disregard this notice.
- September 2025 session: 09/09/2025; 23/09/2025.
- Extraordinary November session: 11/11/2025. Membership in the above categories must be self-certified in writing. Obviously, in this session you cannot sit the exam for the 12-CFU undergraduate (first-year) course held in the same year and period, but only for courses from previous years.
- Winter session (dates may change): 14/01/2026; 04/02/2026; 18/02/2026.
- Extraordinary May session: TBA. Membership in the above categories must be self-certified in writing. Obviously, in this session you cannot sit the exam for the 6-CFU master’s course held in the same year and period, but only for courses from previous years.
- Summer session 2026: TBA.
Opening and closing dates for exam registration on Infostud: registration is done as usual on Infostud; you will be able to register from the opening date until the closing date for each session. You will be examined in order of registration. PLEASE NOTE: it will not be possible to add new registrations after the closing date for each session, not even upon request.
EXAM DATE | REGISTRATION OPENS | REGISTRATION CLOSES
09/09/2025 | 25/08/2025 | 02/09/2025
23/09/2025 | 10/09/2025 | 15/09/2025
11/11/2025 | 28/10/2025 | 04/11/2025
14/01/2026 | 26/12/2025 | 06/01/2026
04/02/2026 | 15/01/2026 | 27/01/2026
18/02/2026 | 05/02/2026 | 10/02/2026
THE COURSE IS HELD IN ITALIAN
The Political Philosophy course for first-year undergraduate students will begin on 1 October 2025 and will be held at Villa Mirafiori in Room I (located in the villa’s garden, on the Via Nomentana side, below the small hill). It will follow the schedule below, with the academic quarter-hour:
- Monday 16:00–18:00
- Tuesday 18:00–20:00
- Wednesday 16:00–18:00
- Friday 16:00–18:00
Information and course materials will be shared throughout the semester on the Classroom page with code i33fziws. Enrollment in the Classroom page, to be done with your institutional account, is required to follow the course (including for non-attending students). In case of problems enrolling in Classroom (and for any other questions or needs), you may email me.
- Go to classroom.google.com.
- On the Courses page, click Add → Join class.
- Enter the code and click Join.
Course outline:
The course offers the reading and commentary of the chapters in which, in the Leviathan, Hobbes presents his contractarian model and his conception of the absolute state. Through an examination of Hobbes’s arguments, we will highlight the principles underlying his political vision and the implications of his theory for understanding the relationship between the individual and authority. Hobbes’s political theory will then be compared with the democratic paradigm that Rousseau develops in the Social Contract, an work in which he seeks to find a form of association within which “each, while uniting with all, nevertheless obeys only himself.” Finally, the course will focus on Immanuel Kant’s Perpetual Peace, in which the philosopher, within his cosmopolitan proposal, takes up and at the same time transforms some key elements of the political philosophy of both Hobbes and Rousseau. Through the study of these three perspectives, the course aims to offer a critical overview of the evolution of modern political thought and of the different answers given to the question of the organization of power and individual freedom.
Format: Lectures combined with discussion of the topics addressed. Attendance is strongly recommended.
Prerequisites: As a first-year undergraduate course, there are no specific prerequisites beyond the general background acquired in secondary school.
Assessment: The assessment consists of an oral exam. The following will be evaluated (also during the course): Knowledge and understanding of the texts covered in the course, from their general aspects to details; in particular, students’ ability to engage with a philosophical text and to analyze specific aspects critically (1–15 points). Expressive abilities and command of disciplinary vocabulary (1–10 points). Knowledge of the historical context (with respect to the authors studied and to the history of philosophy in general) (1–5 points).
Texts:
- Thomas Hobbes, Leviatano, Laterza (any year), chaps.: Introduction, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXVI, XXX.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Il contratto sociale, Laterza, Rome–Bari (or another edition), Books I and II.
- Immanuel Kant, Per la pace perpetua, in Id., Scritti di storia, politica e diritto, edited by F. Gonnelli, Laterza, Rome–Bari 1995 (and subsequent eds.) — or another edition.
- Stefano Petrucciani, Modelli di filosofia politica, Einaudi, Turin 2003, pp. 1–25, 33–220.
MA COURSE (LM) — SUMMER SEMESTER A.Y. 2025–2026 (March–May 2025)
THE COURSE IS HELD IN ITALIAN
The course proposes the study of four fundamental chapters of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment: “The Concept of Enlightenment,” “Odysseus, or Myth and Enlightenment,” “The Culture Industry,” and “Elements of Anti-Semitism.” Published in 1947, the work represents one of the most critical and complex reflections on modernity. It investigates the failure of Enlightenment to keep its promises of emancipation, but also the possibility of a radical self-critique by Enlightenment reason itself, aimed at recovering its original and deeper aims of freedom and self-determination. To support the reading, the course includes Stefano Petrucciani’s texts Introduzione a Adorno and La Scuola di Francoforte, which will help contextualize the work and the philosophical tradition to which it belongs.
Texts:
- M. Horkheimer, Th. W. Adorno, La dialettica dell’illuminismo, Einaudi (any year), limited to the chapters “Concetto di illuminismo,” “Odisseo, o mito e illuminismo,” “L’industria culturale,” and “Elementi dell’antisemitismo.”
- S. Petrucciani, Introduzione a Adorno, Laterza, Rome–Bari (any year).
- S. Petrucciani, La Scuola di Francoforte, Carocci, Rome 2023.
Receiving hours
Il mercoledì dalle 18:00 alle 20:00 in stanza 124 (primo piano di Villa Mirafiori), sempre previo appuntamento via e-mail. Nell'e-mail si prega di specificare il motivo per il quale si intende richiedere ricevimento. ATTENZIONE: I ricevimenti studenti sono sospesi fino a mercoledì 1° ottobre 2025, fatta eccezione per gli studenti che discuteranno la tesi di laurea a settembre.
Curriculum
Eleonora Piromalli è laureata in Filosofia e Studi Teorico-Critici presso l'Università di Roma La Sapienza e presso la stessa università ha svolto il dottorato di ricerca in Filosofia, con tesi in Filosofia politica dal titolo "La teoria del riconoscimento di Axel Honneth. Dalle sue origini a Das Recht der Freiheit", discussa nel giugno 2012. È attualmente professoressa associata presso il Dipartimento di Filosofia de La Sapienza di Roma, dove insegna Filosofia politica. È stata titolare di quattro assegni di ricerca annuali dal 2013 al 2019.
I suoi interessi di ricerca si concentrano sulla teoria critica della società, in particolare sulla Scuola di Francoforte, sulla democrazia deliberativa e partecipativa, le teorie del riconoscimento, il concetto di alienazione sociale. Su quest'ultimo ha recentemente pubblicato un volume per Carocci (Roma 2023) dal titolo "L'alienazione sociale oggi. Una prospettiva teorico-critica".
Altre recenti pubblicazioni, oltre a numerosi articoli in riviste e volumi nazionali e internazionali (tra cui "Philosophy and Social Criticism", "La società degli individui", "Journal of Deliberative Democracy", "European Journal of Social Theory"), sono la monografia "Una democrazia inclusiva: il modello di Iris Marion Young" (Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2017) e "Michael Mann: le fonti del potere sociale" (Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2016).
È membro del Collegio di Dottorato in Filosofia del Dipartimento di Filosofia de La Sapienza di Roma. Fa parte del comitato scientifico delle riviste "La Società degli Individui", "The Lab’s Quarterly" e "Philosophy and Public Issues", oltre che del comitato redazionale de "La Cultura". Ha ricoperto per anni l'incarico di tesoriera nella Società Italiana di Filosofia Politica, di cui è membro.
Al momento è Principal Investigator del progetto PRIN PNRR "Democratizing Energy, Energizing Democracy", e Responsabile di unità di ricerca nel progetto PRIN 2022 "Democracy, Sustainability and Wellbeing in Times of Emergency. Reframing Political Concepts and Institutions". È inoltre PI del progetto medio di Ateneo 2023 "Social Alienation in the 21st Century: Between Work, Politics, and Public Administration".
Ha partecipato come relatrice invitata a numerose conferenze, convegni e seminari nazionali e internazionali, e ha organizzato o contribuito a organizzare diverse conferenze nazionali e internazionali a partire dal 2010. E' abilitata in prima fascia per il settore 14/A1 (Filosofia politica).