IT 1751 Lecture 8: AP:IT 1751 - Lecture 8 - Niccolò Machiavelli and Modern Political Thought
7 Nov 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
November 6th, 2018
Italian Culture - Lecture 8
Niccolò Machiavelli and Modern Political Thought
The Prince
by
Niccolò Machiavelli
- Renders politics as science (political science)
- Contributes towards the shift to realism
- the idea of direct investigation of reality
- Machiavelli was displayed as being evil, but to fully understand The Prince
we must
put this notion aside
-Reason of the state
means conquering and maintaining the state is more important
than the prince
- the actions of the prince are only in relation to maintaining the state
- Fortuna vs Virtue is important in the analysis of The Prince
- A treatise
is a systematic examination of a subject and its principles
- Machiavelli uses a political treatise to understand what makes the ideal prince
- New principalities of how to conquer a state and maintain it are the heart of The
Prince
- Contributes to the desire for perfection in Renaissance Culture
- Profound theoretical book about power, governments, investigation into human
physique, the relationship between human desires and power
- A book that is practical and also theoretical
- Provides a method of investigation that is extremely innovative and opens up the
world to modern politics
- Anticipates how Italy would become a country in 1861
Why did Machiavelli write The Prince?
- Because he knew Italy was in a state of fragmentation
- During the Renaissance Italy gained true power because of polycentric ideals
- Italy lost its economic and political influence because the world’s attention on the
Mediterranean was lost
- Italy becomes a country in 1861 and Machiavelli wrote 300 years earlier
- He understands the rise of the nation states (England, France, Spain, etc.) is Italy’s
weakness
- while the nation states exploit the world Italy is fragmented and further
weakened because Italy is not becoming a nation state
- To write a treatise dedicated to the Medici for someone to form a new nation state
- To theorize about politics
- “Therefore, may Your Illustrious House take up this task with the spirit and the hope
with which just enterprises are begun, so that under your banner this country may
be ennobled, and under your auspices those words of Petrarch may come true:
Virtue will seize arms against frenzy, and the battle will be brief: For ancient valour
is not yet dead in Italian hearts.” (pg. 90)
Document Summary
Contributes towards the shift to realism the idea of direct investigation of reality. Machiavelli was displayed as being evil, but to fully understand the prince we must. Reason of the state means conquering and maintaining the state is more important put this notion aside than the prince the actions of the prince are only in relation to maintaining the state. Fortuna vs virtue is important in the analysis of the prince. A treatise is a systematic examination of a subject and its principles. Machiavelli uses a political treatise to understand what makes the ideal prince. New principalities of how to conquer a state and maintain it are the heart of the. Contributes to the desire for perfection in renaissance culture. Profound theoretical book about power, governments, investigation into human. Prince physique, the relationship between human desires and power. A book that is practical and also theoretical.
