Reading Machiavelli - Scandalous Books, Suspect Engagements, Virtue of Populist Politics

About the author

John P. McCormick

Summary

A new reading of Machiavelli’s major works that demonstrates how he has been previously misread

To what extent was Niccolò Machiavelli a “Machiavellian”? Was he an amoral adviser of tyranny or a stalwart partisan of liberty? A neutral technician of power politics or a devout Italian patriot? A reviver of pagan virtue or initiator of modern nihilism? Reading Machiavelli answers these questions through original interpretations of Machiavelli’s three major political works—The Prince, Discourses, and Florentine Histories—and demonstrates that a radically democratic populism seeded the Florentine’s scandalous writings. John McCormick challenges the misguided understandings of Machiavelli set forth by prominent thinkers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and representatives of the Straussian and Cambridge schools, and he emphasizes the fundamental, often unacknowledged elements of a vibrant Machiavellian politics. Advancing fresh readings of Machiavelli’s work, this book presents a new outlook on how politics should be conceptualized and practiced.

Product details

• Authors: John P McCormick, John P. Mccormick, McCormick John P.
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.12.2020
• EAN: 9780691211541
• ISBN: 978-0-691-21154-1
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 218 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: antiquity to present day; PHILOSOPHY / Political, PHILOSOPHY / History & Surveys / Renaissance, Social & political philosophy, social and political philosophy, Philosophical traditions and schools of thought, Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600