Machiavelli Leonardo Science of Power by Masters Roger D.;

Author:Masters, Roger D.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Published: 2016-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

III. The Legacy of Machiavelli: Replacing Christian Piety with Human Knowledge and Politics

Like Leonardo, Machiavelli died having left behind relatively few works available to the public: for both, many practical endeavors ended in failure; for both, the most significant works were not widely accessible. Leonardo’s Mona Lisa was not in a museum; he kept it with him when leaving Florence, and it found its way to King Francis I—and only later to the Louvre, where it could be seen by millions of visitors; Leonardo’s Treatise on Painting was not published until the seventeenth century, and most of his Notebooks were largely unknown until late in the nineteenth century. Machiavelli’s Mandragola had been performed and his Art of War and Florentine Histories published before his death, but the Discourses on Titus Livy and The Prince were not published until 1531 and 1532 respectively. Yet, like Leonardo, Machiavelli’s historical legacy has been enormous, first by word of mouth and private circulation of manuscripts, and of course ultimately by publication and fame.

To summarize Machiavelli’s achievement, it is useful to consider how he changed the understanding of human history and action. For this purpose, it is well to return to The Prince. In chapter fifteen, when Machiavelli speaks of “imagined republics and principalities,” the thoughtful reader is tempted to recall one exemplar of each of these kinds of regime: the Republic of Plato and The City of God of Augustine. More broadly, then, Machiavelli is critical both of the “best regime” of the ancient (pagan) philosophers—presumably including Aristotle’s Politics or Cicero’s De Republica along with the work of Plato—and of the Christian ideal of the “kingdom of God” (whether in its biblical or medieval formulation). Philosophers and theologians alike have explored what we call “theories” of human nature and political life, but these theories are defective when considered in the light of practice.

Machiavelli’s criticism of these defective theories entails a redefinition of the concept of virtù. For the ancient pagan philosophers, virtue (arete, virtute) meant human excellence either in moral and ethical action or in theoretical wisdom: as Plato’s Republic illustrates, the four cardinal virtues were courage, moderation, wisdom, and justice. For the Church Fathers and Christian theologians, virtue meant belief in God, submission to his will, and love of fellow-men or, as the New Testament puts it, “faith, hope, and charity.”

Although there is debate on the exact meaning that Machiavelli gives the word virtù, there can be no doubt that he departs radically from both the Platonic and Christian ideals. For some, Machiavellian virtue is merely “ingenuity” and “astute” manipulation of power; for others, it is prudent and effective political leadership in the founding and maintenance of republican government. What is obvious is that—to risk an anachronistic phrase—Machiavelli engages in a transvaluation of values, converting both pagan and Christian ideals into a practical, this-worldly form of human excellence.

To define Machiavelli’s novelty with more precision, it is necessary to consider the practical exemplars or models which replace the “imagined republics and principalities.” Machiavelli’s two

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