scholarly journals Was Alexander Hamilton a Machiavellian Statesman?

1995 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Walling
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Civic Virtue ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
The Political ◽  
New Order ◽  
Alexander Hamilton ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli

Many important scholars have seen significant similarities in the political thought of Alexander Hamilton and Niccolo Machiavelli, but the only two references to Machiavelli in Hamilton's papers suggest deep misgivings about the kinds of politics we now call Machiavellian. This essay attempts to clarify Hamilton's ambiguous relation to the sage Florentine by focussing on the problem of waging war effectively and remaining free at the same time in the thought of both statesmen. Although Hamilton understood at least as well as Machiavelli the necessity of dynamic virtù in princes and civic virtue in free citizens, he sought to establish a new order of the ages, a republican empire, which would supply an effectual moral alternative to the genuine Machiavellian regimes of his day.

The Political Realism of the Egyptian Elite: A Comparison between The Teaching For Merikare and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Il Principe

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Langer
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Moral Realism ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
History Of Political Thought ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Essential Properties ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Masses

A comparison between The Teaching for Merikare and Niccolò Machiavelli’s Il Principe produces some astonishing results. While Machiavelli’s treatise is generally thought to be representative of the dawn of modern Western political realism, its essential properties are already present in Merikare. This includes the firm belief in strong authority, the fallibility of man, the need to appease the masses, and, if necessary, the demand to repress any developing threat to the power of the elite. In terms of the history of political thought Merikare is placed between the works of the moral realism of Greek philosophers like Plato and the political realism of Thucydides and Machiavelli. With the latter being heavily influenced by ancient authors, questions regarding the genesis of Greek political thought can be asked. It may well be that Greek political thought was, at least indirectly, influenced by Egyptian political thought.

In Search of a Lost Archipelago

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurelian Craiutu
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Blaise Pascal ◽  
Michel De Montaigne ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Ethical Concept ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines different visions of moderation in the history of French political thought. It first considers the reluctance to theorize about moderation, in part because moderation has often been understood as a vague virtue. It then discusses moderation in the classical and Christian traditions, focusing on the works of Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, followed by an analysis of the writings of sixteenth-century political thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Claude de Seyssel, Louis Le Roy, Étienne Pasquier, Michel de Montaigne, Blaise Pascal, and French moralists such as La Bruyère and François de La Rochefoucauld. It also describes the transformation of moderation from a predominantly ethical concept into a prominent political virtue. Finally, it explores the views of authors such as David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on fanaticism in relation to moderation.

scholarly journals The Use ofKairosin Renaissance Political Philosophy*

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Paul
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
History Of Political Thought ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Greek Tradition ◽  
History Of

AbstractAlthough the Greek concept ofkairos (καιρός)has undergone a recent renewal of interest among scholars of Renaissance rhetoric, this revival has not yet been paralleled by its reception into the history of political thought. This article examines the meanings and uses of this important concept within the ancient Greek tradition, particularly in the works of Isocrates and Plutarch, in order to understand how it is employed by two of the most important political thinkers of the sixteenth century: Thomas Elyot and Niccolò Machiavelli. Through such an investigation this paper argues that an appreciation of the concept ofkairosand its use by Renaissance political writers provides a fuller understanding of the political philosophy of the period.

Caveat Emptor? Integrating the Schengen Acquis into the European Union Legal Order

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 87-123
Author(s):  
Steve Peers
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Black Market ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
New Order ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Caveat Emptor ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli

It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince It was born, with much rejoicing, at a party near a quiet Luxembourg village; it died, alone and unlamented, on a desk in a non-descript Brussels office. On May 1, 1999, the fourteen-year old Schengen legal order finally breathed its last; but nothing quite became its life as the ending of it. For it was immediately reincarnated, with much confusion, into a legal system born in Rome over forty years ago. Long a byword for obsessive secrecy, unaccountability and complexity, the Schengen legal system has with one stroke moved from the “black market” of European integration into the mainstream.

scholarly journals Niccolò Machiavelli: klasyczny realizm i republikanizm

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Tomasz Raburski
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Western Culture ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Founding Father ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli

Article presents life and ideas of Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli is placed in the context of his times. His influence on the development of modern political thought is examined. The examples of his wider impact on western culture are given. Machiavelli is described as a founding father of two strands of political philosophy: political realism and republicanism.

Northrop Frye and Niccolò Machiavelli

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
Robert D. Denham
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
The Political ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Northrop Frye

This essay seeks to answer the questions, how can we explain the numerous references in Frye’s notebooks and elsewhere to the political theory in Machiavelli’s The Prince? What in Machiavelli’s thought did Frye believe deserved our attention, and why? Toward this end the essay examines the Renaissance idea of the Machiavellian villain, the concept of virtù, and the idea of hypocrisy.

Włoscy utopiści epoki nowożytnej (Machiavelli, Botero, Campanella) w polskich badaniach naukowych XX i przełomu XX i XXI wieku

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (247) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bielański
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
History Of Political Thought ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Utopian Thought ◽  
Modern Era

The author of the article analyzes the place and importance of the works of Italian utopiansfrom the modern era (such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Tommaso Campanella and Giovanni Botero)in Polish research from the range of the history of political thought from the 20th and the turnof 20th and 21st centuries. The first works dedicated to the aforementioned political thinkersfrom the 16th and 17th centuries by Bolesław Limanowski and Aleksander Świętochowski andthe publications from the interwar period were the starting point of the research. They werepresented much broader – also because of the appearance of the translations of the utopiansfrom the modern era in the 1940s and 1950s. Much interest – before 1956 – was attracted tothe concepts by Campanella, included in his famous work, City of the Sun. In the later times theimportant place in the Polish research on the history of Italian political thought was taken bythe content and expression of Niccolò Machiavelli, especially those fragments of The Prince,which show signs of utopian thought. Much interest was also brought to the works of GiovanniBotero, the author who was the first to use the term “reason of state” and who also proposedthe utopia of “universal monarchy”. The final part is dedicated to the reflections on theItalian utopians of the modern era (but also influencing the modern utopias and dystopias –for example Orwell) by such Polish researchers as e.g. Jerzy Szacki, Janusz Tazbir, LeszekKołakowski, Bohdan Szlachta, Marcin Król, Monika Brzóstowicz-Klajn or Andrzej Dróżdż. Inthe context of the reflections on the possible negative influence of the work of utopians, it isworth to remind the significant observation by J. Baszkiewicz, who thought that “politicalreflection is not always conducted innocently. Political ideas can bring socially beneficialeffects, but they also can become a cause for destructive actions and severe havoc”.Key words: Italian utopians of the Renaissance, history of political thought, state of scientificresearch

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Quentin Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Political Morality ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli died nearly 500 years ago, but his name lives on as a byword for cunning, duplicity, and the exercise of bad faith in political affairs. So much notoriety has gathered around Machiavelli’s name that the charge of being a machiavellian still remains a serious accusation in political debate. What lies behind the sinister reputation Machiavelli has acquired? Is it really deserved? What views about politics and political morality does he put forward in his major works? In order to understand Machiavelli’s doctrines, we need to begin by recovering the problems he evidently saw himself confronting in The Prince, the Discourses, and his other works of political thought.

Renaissance Political Philosophy

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Hörnqvist
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
The Other ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
The Road ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Jean Bodin ◽  
Renaissance Period ◽  
Discourses On Livy

Since the idea of Rome and a united Christendom was the horizon within which Renaissance political thought developed, the alternatives to papal and imperial tutelage consisted in subverting the Roman-papal paradigm from within (Niccolò Machiavelli's solution) or rejecting Rome altogether (the road taken by French légistes such as Francis Hotman and Jean Bodin). This article focuses on the two most prominent, and arguably also most influential, political thinkers of the Renaissance period, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) and Thomas More (1478–1535). Although it is highly unlikely that either author knew of the existence of the other, let alone was familiar with his work, the fact that Machiavelli's Prince (1513) and Discourses on Livy (1514–1518) and More's Utopia (1516) were written only a few years apart invites comparison. While focusing on Machiavelli and More, we must not forget that there were many other Renaissance writers, humanists, philosophers, and others, who commented on politics and contributed to the overall development of political thought and political philosophy in the period.

Thomas Jefferson's Machiavellian Political Science

1995 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Rahe
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Thomas Jefferson ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
New Science ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
The Face ◽  
Discourses On Livy

On the face of it, there would seem to be little evidence suggesting that the political science of Thomas Jefferson owed much, if anything, to the speculation of Niccolò Machiavelli. The Virginian appears to have mentioned the Florentine by name but once, and he did so in a manner conveying his disdain for the author of The Prince. And yet, as I try to show in this article, Jefferson's commitment to limited government, his advocacy of a politics of distrust, his eager embrace of a species of populism, his ultimate understanding of the executive power, and the intention guiding the comprehensive legislative program that he devised for Virginia make sense only when understood in terms of the new science of republican politics articulated by Machiavelli in his Discourses on Livy.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document