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Machiavelli's Politics
Machiavelli is popularly known as a teacher of tyrants, a key proponent of the unscrupulous “Machiavellian” politics laid down in his landmark political treatise The Prince . Others cite the Discourses on Livy to argue that Machiavelli is actually a passionate advocate of republican politics who saw the need for occasional harsh measures to maintain political order. Which best characterizes the teachings of the prolific Italian philosopher? With Machiavelli’s Politics, Catherine H. Zuckert turns this question on its head with a major reinterpretation of Machiavelli’s prose works that reveals a surprisingly cohesive view of politics.
Starting with Machiavelli’s two major political works, Zuckert persuasively shows that the moral revolution Machiavelli sets out in The Prince lays the foundation for the new form of democratic republic he proposes in the Discourses. Distrusting ambitious politicians to serve the public interest of their own accord, Machiavelli sought to persuade them in The Prince that the best way to achieve their own ambitions was to secure the desires and ambitions of their subjects and fellow citizens. In the Discourses, he then describes the types of laws and institutions that would balance the conflict between the two in a way that would secure the liberty of most, if not all. In the second half of her book, Zuckert places selected later works— La Mandragola, The Art of War, The Life of Castruccio Castracani, Clizia, and Florentine Histories —under scrutiny, showing how Machiavelli further developed certain aspects of his thought in these works. In The Art of War, for example, he explains more concretely how and to what extent the principles of organization he advanced in The Prince and the Discourses ought to be applied in modern circumstances. Because human beings act primarily on passions, Machiavelli attempts to show readers what those passions are and how they can be guided to have productive rather than destructive results.
A stunning and ambitious analysis, Machiavelli’s Politics brilliantly shows how many conflicting perspectives do inform Machiavelli’s teachings, but that one needs to consider all of his works in order to understand how they cohere into a unified political view. This is a magisterial work that cannot be ignored if a comprehensive understanding of the philosopher is to be obtained.
Starting with Machiavelli’s two major political works, Zuckert persuasively shows that the moral revolution Machiavelli sets out in The Prince lays the foundation for the new form of democratic republic he proposes in the Discourses. Distrusting ambitious politicians to serve the public interest of their own accord, Machiavelli sought to persuade them in The Prince that the best way to achieve their own ambitions was to secure the desires and ambitions of their subjects and fellow citizens. In the Discourses, he then describes the types of laws and institutions that would balance the conflict between the two in a way that would secure the liberty of most, if not all. In the second half of her book, Zuckert places selected later works— La Mandragola, The Art of War, The Life of Castruccio Castracani, Clizia, and Florentine Histories —under scrutiny, showing how Machiavelli further developed certain aspects of his thought in these works. In The Art of War, for example, he explains more concretely how and to what extent the principles of organization he advanced in The Prince and the Discourses ought to be applied in modern circumstances. Because human beings act primarily on passions, Machiavelli attempts to show readers what those passions are and how they can be guided to have productive rather than destructive results.
A stunning and ambitious analysis, Machiavelli’s Politics brilliantly shows how many conflicting perspectives do inform Machiavelli’s teachings, but that one needs to consider all of his works in order to understand how they cohere into a unified political view. This is a magisterial work that cannot be ignored if a comprehensive understanding of the philosopher is to be obtained.
- GenresPhilosophyPolitics
512 pages, Hardcover
Published April 25, 2017
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75 people want to read
About the author
Catherine H. Zuckert
20 books16 followersCatherine H. Zuckert is the Nancy R. Dreux Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. She was Editor-in-Chief of The Review of Politics from 2004-2018, and Visiting Professor, ASU’s School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership in 2019.
Zuckert’s book, Natural Right and the American Imagination: Political Philosophy in Novel Form, won the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the best book written in philosophy and religion by the American Association of Publishers in 1990. Understanding the Political Spirit: From Socrates to Nietzsche, edited by Zuckert, received a Choice award as one of the best books published in political theory in 1989. Her book on Plato’s Philosophers: The Coherence of the Dialogues (University of Chicago Press, 2009) won the R.R. Hawkins award from the Association of American Publishers for the best scholarly book published that year. She co-authored The Truth about Leo Strauss (2006) and Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy (2014) with Michael P. Zuckert (both published by the University of Chicago Press), and edited Political Philosophy in the 20th Century: Authors and Arguments (Cambridge University Press, 2011) as well as Leo Strauss on Political Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 2018). Her most recent monograph, Machiavelli’s Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2017), was selected by the Washington Examiner as a book of the decade.
Zuckert has received several grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Bradley and Earhart Foundations.
She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has been listed in several editions of Who’s Who in America, and was selected as a member of the Templeton Honor Role in 1998.
Zuckert’s book, Natural Right and the American Imagination: Political Philosophy in Novel Form, won the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for the best book written in philosophy and religion by the American Association of Publishers in 1990. Understanding the Political Spirit: From Socrates to Nietzsche, edited by Zuckert, received a Choice award as one of the best books published in political theory in 1989. Her book on Plato’s Philosophers: The Coherence of the Dialogues (University of Chicago Press, 2009) won the R.R. Hawkins award from the Association of American Publishers for the best scholarly book published that year. She co-authored The Truth about Leo Strauss (2006) and Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy (2014) with Michael P. Zuckert (both published by the University of Chicago Press), and edited Political Philosophy in the 20th Century: Authors and Arguments (Cambridge University Press, 2011) as well as Leo Strauss on Political Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 2018). Her most recent monograph, Machiavelli’s Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2017), was selected by the Washington Examiner as a book of the decade.
Zuckert has received several grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Bradley and Earhart Foundations.
She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, has been listed in several editions of Who’s Who in America, and was selected as a member of the Templeton Honor Role in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 25, 2022
For those who interest in the thought of Machiavelli, I truly recommend this book. It is so completed and comprehensive. Absolutely, the book show why the author should be praised as one of the best scholar in Machiavelli's writings !!
March 25, 2018
The best interpretation of Machiavelli that I have read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews