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Niccolo Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil that good may come of it, and his name has been a byword ever since for duplicity and immorality. Is his sinister reputation deserved? In answering this question Quentin Skinner focuses on three major works, The Prince, the Discourses, and The History of Florence, and distils from them an introduction to Machiavelli's doctrines of exemplary clarity. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
From praise for the 1965 edition: Allan Gilbert is unquestionably the most accurate and reliable translator of Machiavelli into English; the publication of this edition is an altogether happy occasion. Students of the history of political thought owe a particular debt of gratitude to Allan Gilbert.”—Dante Germino, The Journal of Politics “A most remarkable achievement.”—Felix Gilbert, Renaissance Quarterly
Professor Skinner presents a lucid analysis of Machiavelli's text as a response to the world of Florentine politics.
From a leading expert on the life and works of Niccolò Machiavelli, a superb overview of the pivotal Renaissance philosopher, writer, and historian. “Machiavellian” can signify duplicity and amorality in politics, but Machiavelli himself was far more complex than this cliché. A high-ranking Florentine government official and prolific writer of hugely influential political, military, and historical works, Machiavelli was also a vernacular poet, first-rank dramatist, and religious radical, rejecting not only the contemporary Catholic Church but Christianity itself. From champion of Florentine popular republicanism to political radical to conservative, Machiavelli explores the many facets of the man described as the father of modern political philosophy and political science.
This text aims to provide insight into the meaning and interpretation of Machiavelli and his works for management, marketing and political thought, and to highlight their relevance to the manager today.
The Prince embodies a series of vital issues, including power and morality, history and human nature, language and meaning, gender and government. It is these issues which the essays in this volume debate and explore from a variety of perspectives, from the original responses through to feminist and deconstructive approaches.
“We do not publish our own drafts, that is, our own mistakes, but we do sometimes publish other people’s,” Louis Althusser once observed of Marx’s early writings. Among his own posthumously released drafts, one, at least, is incontestably neither mistake nor out-take: the text of his lecture course on Machiavelli, originally delivered at the École Normale Supérieure in 1972, intermittently revised up to the mid-1980s, and carefully prepared for publication after his death in 1990. Though only appearing as an occasional reference in the Marxist philosopher’s oeuvre, Machiavelli was an unseen constant presence. For together with Spinoza and Marx, Machiavelli was a veritable Althusserian passion. Machiavelli and Us reveals why, and will be welcomed for the light it sheds on the richly complex thought of its author.
Papers from a conference held 6-7 December 2013 at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University to mark the five-hundredth anniversary of the publication of The Prince.
The intimate world of Niccolo Machiavelli comes to life in this first complete collection in English of the letters he wrote and received. Spanning his adult life from 1497 until his death in 1527, these letters to and from his friends and compatriots - some of whom, such as Francesco Guicciardini and Francesco Vettori, were among the most influential thinkers of the day - reveal his personality and present a panorama of life, people, and critical events in Renaissance Italy. The correspondence offers valuable insight into the origins of Machiavelli's ideas on history, politics, literature, and society and the social context from which his achievements arose. Often his correspondence served as a testing ground for ideas he developed more fully in his writing. While the letters taken together show Machiavelli both living within and transcending his own time, on a more intimate level they reveal the human element that helped to shape his thought. Machiavelli emerges as an individual with multifaceted capabilities and a multitude of roles, among them devoted humanist, political analyst, shrewd rhetorician, and practical joker.
The starting-point for this study of messer Bernardo, father of the statesman and humanist Niccolo Machiavelli, is the diary he wrote over a period of thirteen years (1474-1487). Drawing upon many further sources, including Bernardo's will, tax records and genealogies, the first in-depth investigation of the libro di ricordi reconstructs a panorama of everyday life during a fascinating period of the history of Florence. Topics explored include Machiavelli family history, household economy, wedding rites and Bernardo's interest in books and printing. This study is invaluable for an understanding of Niccolo's intellectual and family background. Four casestudies examine how messer Bernardo dealt with disputes and reveal the medieval roots of behaviour and mentality in Quattrocento Florence.