Wow! eBook
Niccolo Machiavelli: The Laughing Lion and the Strutting Fox
Author(s): Raymond Angelo Belliotti (Author)
- Publisher: Lexington Books
- Publication Date: 28 Nov. 2008
- Language: English
- Print length: 220 pages
- ISBN-10: 0739130625
- ISBN-13: 9780739130629
Book Description
Machiavelli is usually understood as a thinker who separated morality from politics or who championed Roman, pagan morality over conventional, Christian morality. Belliotti argues, instead, that Machiavelli’s innovation is his understanding of the perhaps irresolvable moral conflicts that exist within political leaders who fulfill the duties of their offices while accepting the authority of absolute moral principles. Machiavelli is a moral pessimist who insists that politicians must ‘risk their souls’ when performing their public responsibilities. Politicians and military leaders must dirty their hands in service to their constituents. This is especially the case when one strong man founds a state or reforms a corrupt state. History washes away_that is, excuses_many of the horrifying deeds that are required in such cases. Belliotti does not try to domesticate Machiavelli by picturing him as a liberal humanist inclined only toward free government. Nor does he paint him as a teacher of evil. Instead, the book offers a balanced understanding of the Florentine, with special focus on his insights and his myopias. Machiavelli’s view of human nature and his conclusion that international affairs have always been and will always be a series of zero-sum contests lead him to stunning discoveries and glaring errors alike.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Recommended.
This book unfolds in a way that intensifies an initial attraction to a work about Machiavelli and remains readable and enjoyable throughout.
About the Author
Raymond Angelo Belliotti is State University of New York Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and author of twenty-six books, including Values, Virtues, and Vices, Italian Style: Caesar, Dante, Machiavelli, and Garibaldi and Heroism and Wisdom, Italian Style: From Roman Imperialists to Sicilian Magistrates, both published by Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
