Machiavelli's Unchristian Charity

Orwin, Clifford

doi:10.2307/1954535

Cited by 47 publications

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“…243-55;Croce 1945, 250-56;Figgis 1960, 94-121) nor embraces half-heartedly or com-pletely a political morality in tension with an unrejected Christian morality (as suggested by Berlin 1980), nor proposes an "economy of violence" (as suggested by Wolin I960,chap. 7; see also Orwin 1978Orwin , 1225. His ultimate objection to Agathocles would appear to be to what he calls "his savage cruelty and inhumanity," his failure to employ necessarily violent means toward ultimately humane ends (p. 35).…”

Section: Virtue and Fortune Crime And Opportunitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Patricide and the Plot ofThe Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy

Scott

Sullivan

1994

Am Polit Sci Rev

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An understanding of Machiavelli's assessment of Cesare Borgia in The Prince is essential for interpreting his view of politics, but the ambiguity of that assessment has led to vastly different conclusions about Machiavelli's political teaching and Cesare's significance. We approach Machiavelli's ultimate intentions through a consideration of his more immediate concern for Italy. Machiavelli's great interest in Cesare and his criticism of this potential hero stem from the historical context of an Italy divided due to the Church. Cesare possessed—yet squandered—an opportunity to rid Italy of the evils plaguing it by killing his father, Pope Alexander, and by eliminating the College of Cardinals. Machiavelli's suggested denouement to the plot of The Prince is an assault on the ecclesiastical power. He invites his reader to contemplate the vulnerability of the Church and to act where Cesare and others shrank. Machiavelli ultimately counsels us to break our reliance on God or fortune and thus create the conditions for a reinvigorated civil life.

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Section: Virtue and Fortune Crime And Opportunitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Patricide and the Plot ofThe Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy

Scott

Sullivan

1994

Am Polit Sci Rev

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“…The second half of The Prince (chaps. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] is introduced by a chapter entided "Of Those Things for Which Men and Especially Princes Are Praised or Blamed" (chap. 15).…”

Section: The Morality Of Private Advantagementioning

confidence: 99%

Machiavelli's Realism

Mindle¹

1985

Rev Pol

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Declaring his departure from the modes and orders of his predecessors— especially the creators of imaginary republics and principalities (men like Plato, Aristotle and Augustine) — Machiavelli undertakes to show “whoever understands” a new and more promising road to political salvation and personal well-being. So compelling is Machiavelli's rhetoric that we seem to have forgotten just how “realistic” or “moderate” Machiavelli's predecessors we're, and how “unrealistic” or “immoderate” Machiavelli's own teaching is. This essay attempts to bring to light the extremism which underlies Machiavelli's realism and raises doubts about his ability to provide his readers the security he promises.

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“…9,3; Discourses 1.5). It was on such bases that Machiavelli excused and unleashed worldly acquisitiveness, and in so doing he may have prepared the way for a liberal politics of ''collective aggrandizement'' (Orwin 1978(Orwin , 1227. But to construct on such grounds a political order that is safe and secure for individuals, which from a Montesquieuian perspective is to say free, there remained much to be done.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…See, for instance: Machiavelli, Discourses I.1.3, 4; I.6.3, 4; I.18.4; 1.20 [Title]; I.29.1-3; I.30.1; I.34.1; I.52.3; II.1 [Title], 1, 3; II.2.1; II.4.1, 2; II.6.1; II.17.1, 3; II.19.1, 2; II.22.1; II.27.2; II.30.1, 5; II.31.2; II.32.1-2; II.33.1; III.10.3; III.12.1; III.35.2; III.40.1; III.42.1; III.45.1. 29 On the relevant chapters of The Prince, I have benefited especially fromOrwin (1978).…”

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Montesquieu’s (Anti-)Machiavellianism: Ordinary Acquisitiveness inThe Spirit of Laws

Hendrickson¹

2013

The Journal of Politics

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This article dwells on what ways Montesquieu's transformative thought can be understood as an adaptation of Machiavelli's philosophy of aggrandizement. It turns especially on the question of ordinary acquisitiveness, which Montesquieu is glad to find flourishing in a world cured of Machiavellianism. But he is no simple Anti-Machiavel. Joining Machiavelli in excusing worldly acquisitiveness and facing its obstacles, Montesquieu departs from his predecessor on behalf of the ordinary individual whose wish to improve his lot in life the philosophe favors and whose security is among his first concerns. Beginning from Machiavelli's beginnings, Montesquieu moves from the grand acquirer to the ordinary and here takes Machiavellianism to a liberal conclusion. This is Montesquieu's (anti-)Machiavellianism. 1 As Carrese (2005, 122-23) notes, the view of Machiavelli as a ''pillar of the classical republican tradition'' informs the predominant understanding of the relationship. The republican reading of Montesquieu is hardly uniform; on this, see the excellent sampling of the literature in Rahe (2009, 280-81n40). 2 Citations of The Spirit of Laws (SL) refer to book and chapter, separated by a period. For all works but Mes Pensées and Le Spicele`ge, for which I have used Montesquieu (1991), I have used Montesquieu (1949). Translations are mine. 3 See Rahe (2011), who speaks of ''Montesquieu's Anti-Machiavellian Machiavellianism'' and considers Montesquieu's critique of Machiavelli in its relation to the earlier ''anti-Machiavellian Machiavellianism'' of Thomas Hobbes and Pierre Nicole, I focus on Montesquieu's pointed remarks on the Florentine. 4 On the impact of Montesquieu's tour on his thinking, see Spector (1998), who emphasizes the negative impressions of the moral effects of commerce recorded in his notebooks (e.g., Pensées, nos. 552, 592; Notes sur l'Angleterre; and Voyage de Gratz à La Haye); contrast Rahe (2009, 311n14), who finds such impressions overturned in SL. See also Haskins Gonthier (2010, 43-73) for a discussion focusing especially on England. 8 Mansfield (1979, 130), suggests that Machiavellian moderation might mean keeping extremism out of sight. 9 Carrese (2005) aptly refers to Montesquieu's ''moderated Machiavellianism,'' which he finds in the latter's separation of powers. Mansfield (1989, 213-46) similarly considers Montesquieu's constitutional moderating of Machiavellianism.

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Machiavelli's Unchristian Charity

Cited by 47 publications

References 12 publications

Patricide and the Plot ofThe Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy

Patricide and the Plot ofThe Prince: Cesare Borgia and Machiavelli's Italy

Machiavelli's Realism

Montesquieu’s (Anti-)Machiavellianism: Ordinary Acquisitiveness inThe Spirit of Laws

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