This chapter explores the ideas behind Niccolò Machiavelli’s two major political works, Discourses on Livy and The Prince. It starts by explaining how Machiavelli’s reception and biography highlight a correlation between his activities as Secretary of the Florentine chancery and his later theoretical work. Machiavelli’s philosophical thought primarily focused on power and the state; whereaa, his theory of history introduced the concepts of virtù (virtue) and fortuna (fortune). The chapter also outlines Machiavelli’s understanding of republican freedom in line with the significance of the conflict between the few and the many. Finally, it raises issues of violence, conquest, and empire correlating to Machiavelli’s theories.
Chapter
25. Niccolò Machiavelli
Yves Winter
Book
Edited by Manjeet Ramgotra and Simon Choat
Rethinking Political Thinkers is composed of six Parts. Part I looks at the boundaries of the political. This Part considers the view of philosophers, such as Plato, Socrates, Sojourner, Aristotle, bell hooks, and Kautilya. Part II discusses social contract theory and criticisms of the theory. The text then turns to liberal modernity and colonial domination in Part III. Part IV covers freedom and revolution and Part V looks at inclusion and equality. Part VI considers violence, power, and resistance. The text then moves on to cover the liberal self and Black consciousness. Part VIII is about sex and sexuality, with a chapter on Michel Foucault among others. The final chapter examines the environment, considering it in both the human and non-human contexts.
