Discourses

It is not the well-being of individuals that makes cities great, but the well-being of the community

Few figures in intellectual history have proved as notorious and ambiguous as Niccol Machiavelli. But while his treatiseThe Princemade his name synonymous with autocratic ruthlessness and cynical manipulation,The Discourses(c.1517) shows a radically different outlook on the world of politics. In this carefully argued commentary on Livy's history of republican Rome, Machiavelli proposed a system of government that would uphold civic freedom and security by instilling the virtues of active citizenship, and that would also encourage citizens to put the needs of the state above selfish, personal interests. Ambitious in scope, but also clear-eyed and pragmatic,The Discoursescreates a modern theory of republic politics.

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