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Original version published in California Italian Studies 2.2. (Dec. 2011)
Reading Machiavelli Rhetorically: the Prince as Covert Criticism of the Renaissance Prince--updated version 9/22/14In this essay, we use classical rhetorical theory to show that Machiavelli's Prince was not intended as advice for a prince, nor as "political science," but rather as a very subtle, but nevertheless powerful, critique of the Italian princes of his day, the Medici included. While not a new reading of the text (the notion of the Prince as a crypto-republican work goes back even before the Enlightenment to the very first years of its appearance), this article places such an interpretation on the firm base of rhetorical theory together with a close reading of the text. Classical rhetorical theory will thus be seen to be a powerful tool in the proper understanding of the text, a line of approach continuing the already important work of the past twenty years, which seeks to restore an appreciation of the fundamentally rhetorical nature of Machiavelli's literary technique and political thought. From this examination of the text against the background of rhetorical theory, one of the perennially vexing questions in the interpretation of Machiavelli's political thought--how to reconcile the apparently "princely" counsels of the Prince with the republican sentiments expressed in Machiavelli's other writings--can finally be resolved.
University of Arkansas History Undergraduate Honors Theses
A Machiavellian Christian: Analyzing the Political Theology of 'The Prince'2016 •
This paper attempts to reconsider the role that Christian religion played in the political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli, focusing specifically on "The Prince." Despite regnant popular and scholastic opinion, this paper posits that Machiavelli's ideological foundation falls squarely into the theological and moral traditions and scripture of Christianity, and is thus an inseparable element of the political theory of Machiavelli. Further, this work seeks to illustrate the presence of orthodox political and religious beliefs contained within "The Prince" and throughout the Machiavellian corpus, focusing on the socio-political milieu of Renaissance Florence and the broader traditions of humanist thought. In doing so, this paper argues for a much more religiously-compatible understanding of Machiavelli and his political philosophy, even going so far as to place the Christian God at the center of his political advice in "The Prince."
2016 •
On the History of Political Philosophy is a lively and lucid account of the major political theorists and philosophers of the ancient Greek, Roman, medieval, renaissance, and early modern periods. Topics include discussions concerning human nature, social justice, the origin of law and human rights, the rise and development of different forms of government, idealism and realism in international relations, the distinction between just and unjust war, and the sources of public authority and the nature of legitimate sovereignty. The organizing principle of the book is the idea that the great political thinkers were searching for the best political order and a criterion for human conduct in both domestic and international politics. Demonstrating the continued relevance of historical ideas to today's problems, the author traces ongoing discussions about politics by examining the ideas of key political theorists. The book is intended for use in courses on political philosophy or the history of political philosophy. https://www.routledge.com/On-the-History-of-Political-Philosophy-Great-Political-Thinkers-from-Thucydides/Korab-Karpowicz/p/book/9780205119745
A study of the means by which Italian Renaissance artists and writers managed to express criticism of the religious and political status quo in relatively safe ways.
A study of the means by which Italian Renaissance artists and writers were able to express their dissatisfaction with the religious and political status quo in relatively safe ways.
*Social Research* 81:1 (Spring 2014) 133-164.
The Enduring Ambiguity of Machiavellian Virtue: Crime, Cruelty, and Christianity in *The Prince*History of Political Thought
The place of the tyrant in Machiavelli's political thought and the literary genre of the prince2008 •
*History of Political Thought* 36:1 (March 2015) 29-52,
Machiavelli's Inglorious Tyrants: On Agathocles, Scipio & Unmerited Glory2015 •
2012 •
The Review of Politics
Five Hundred Years of Italian Scholarship on Machiavelli's Prince2013 •
University of Toronto Press
Machiavelli and the Politics of Democratic Innovation2018 •
In *Exemplarity and Singularity Thinking through Particulars in Philosophy, Literature, and Law,* Michele Lowrie & Susanne Lüdemann, eds. (Taylor & Francis) 123-39
Machiavelli’s Agathocles: from criminal example to princely *exemplum*2015 •
Journal of Politics
Politics in Apocalyptic Times: Machiavelli's Savonarolan Moment2016 •
History of European Ideas
HEI: A Tribune Named Niccolò: Petrarchan revolutionaries and humanist failures in Machiavelli's Florentine Histories (uncorrected proofs)2018 •