Seyssel, Machiavelli, and Polybius vi: the Mystery of the Missing Translation

1956 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Hexter
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
A Minor

Somewhere between 1510 and 1520, Niccolò Machiavelli composed the Discorsi sopra la Prima Deca di Tito Livio. The second chapter of that work contains what for Machiavelli is a rather elaborate theoretical disquisition. It deals with such arcane matters as the origin of civil polities, the beginnings of law, the forms of political rule, and the succession that those forms naturally follow in their historical sequence. Never before and never again did Machiavelli concern himself in so concentrated a way with the higher and more ghostly issues of political theory. Never before and never again was Machiavelli literally so un-Machiavellian. In Chapter 2 of Book I of the Discorsi he was literally un-Machiavellian in the simple sense that he cribbed most of that chapter without acknowledgement from another writer. In so doing he initiated a minor literary mystery—the Mystery of the Missing Translation or the Puzzle of Polybius vi.

Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quentin Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Political Theorist ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Political Works

Machiavelli: A Very Short Introduction considers the life and impact of the Florentine Renaissance humanist, diplomat, historian, and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil so that good may come of it, and his name has been a byword ever since for duplicity and immorality. This VSI considers whether his sinister reputation is deserved, focusing on his three major political works, The Prince, the Discourses, and The Florentine Histories. This new edition discusses how Machiavelli developed his neo-classical political theory through engaging in continual dialogue with the ancient Roman moralists and historians, especially Cicero and Livy.

Isaiah Berlin

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Moral Pluralism ◽  
Isaiah Berlin ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli

This chapter examines Isaiah Berlin's political theory, with a particular focus on his argument for a kind of liberalism suited to a pluralist culture such as our own. It also asks why Berlin did not confront more directly the difficulty that all commentators have addressed: that pluralism is not particularly the natural ally of liberalism. After some biographical background, the chapter moves to Berlin as a historian of ideas, a student of distinctively Russian social and political themes, and a defender of a distinctively pluralist, anti-utopian liberalism. The division is artificial in the extreme, and the issues raised in each area of discussion are inextricably intertwined. The not particularly liberal Niccolo Machiavelli is invoked in aid of a liberal moral pluralism, as is the much more liberal Russian Alexander Herzen.

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.

scholarly journals PEMIKIRAN POLITIK NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI: STUDI KASUS DINASTI UMAYYAH

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfin Falah Fahrezy ◽  
Rizal Al Hamid
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Umayyad Dynasty ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Stability

The Umayyad dynasty was an Islamic caliphate regime after the khulafa urrasydin which managed to maintain its power for 90 years before being overthrown by the Abbasids. This dynasty is famous for its political stability from the beginning of his reign to a systematized public administration and military. Nevertheless, this dynasty raised pros and cons in terms of morality which were considered to deviate from Islamic teachings at least during the political revolution and post-Caliph Mu'awiyah. The author tries to examine the practice of such government using the political theory of Niccolo Machiavelli in which there are also thoughts about the ethics of power. This study tries to answer several questions, namely what is the ideal government practice in the book "Il Principe" by Niccolo Machiavelli? and whether the practice of Umayyad dynasty government can be said to be ideal in terms of administration and ethics of power in Machiavelli's perspective? This research is a qualitative research with primary sources in the form of historical literature about the Umayyad Dynasty and the books by Machiavelli mainly on "Il Principe". This study shows that in making political policies, for the sake of government stability, moral values do not need to be considered except in a pragmatic context. The stability of the state is also influenced by the ability and luck of the leader in managing the government. This study shows that the practice of the Umayyad dynasty has a correlation with the main goal of Machiavelli's political theory, namely state stability.

Outsiders of Hagnopolis: unbelief, fear, and religion in Thomas More's Utopia

Moreana ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (Number 207) (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Ismael del Olmo
Keyword(s):  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Civic Life ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli ◽  
Divine Retribution ◽  
Eternal Punishment

This paper deals with unbelief and its relationship with fear and religion in Thomas More's Utopia. It stresses the fact that Epicurean and radical Aristotelian theses challenged Christian notions about immortality, Providence, and divine Judgement. The examples of Niccolò Machiavelli and Pietro Pomponazzi, contemporaries of More, are set to show a heterodox connection between these theses and the notion of fear of eternal punishment. More's account of the Utopian religion, on the contrary, distinguishes between human fear and religious fear. This distinction enables him to highlight the threat to spiritual and civic life posed by those who deny the soul and divine retribution.

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI: 1527-1927

1927 ◽  
Vol 8 (87) ◽  
pp. 335-346
Author(s):  
Henry Bugeja
Keyword(s):  
Niccolo Machiavelli ◽  
Niccolò Machiavelli
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