Machiavelli's secret : the soul of the statesman / Raymond Angelo Belliotti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Belliotti, Raymond A., 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Statesmen--Psychology.

Statesmen.

Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527--Ethics.

Machiavelli, Niccolò.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (234 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The political statesman, Machiavelli tells us, must love his country more than his own soul. Political leaders must often transgress clear moral principles, using means that are typically wrong, even horrifying. What sort of inner life does a leader who "uses evil well" experience and endure? The conventional view held by most scholars is that a Machiavellian statesman lacks any "inwardness" because Machiavelli did not delve into the state of mind one might find in a politician with "dirty hands." While such a leader would bask in his glory, the argument goes, we can only wonder at the condition of the soul they have presumably risked in discharging their duties. In Machiavelli's Secret, Raymond Angelo Belliotti uncovers a range of clues in Machiavelli's writings that, when pieced together, reveal that the Machiavellian hero most certainly has "inwardness" and is surely deeply affected by the evil means he must sometimes employ. Belliotti not only reveals the nature of this internal condition, but also provides a springboard for the possibility of Machiavelli's ideal statesman.

Contents:

Contents; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1 The Value of Patriotism; The Final Chapter; The Need to Develop Civic Virtù; The Role of Virtù; The Nature of the World; The Requirements of Personal Identity; The Importance of Personal Security; The Quest for Deserved Glory; The Significance of the Value of Patriotism; Churchill and Coventry; Iran-Contra; Chapter 2 Religion and Morality; The Values and Uses of Religion; Refashioning God and Religion in Service of Patriotism; Patriotism, Religion, and the Condition of a Person's Soul; Machiavelli's Morality

The Popular View of Machiavelli on MoralityJustifications and Excuses; Machiavelli's Corollary Principle of Morality; Chapter 3 The Problem of Dirty Hands; How Political Hands Get Dirty; Moral Theory and the Problem of Dirty Hands; Machiavelli and Dirty Hands; Case Study in Dirty Hands: President Truman; Partial Excuses; Is Machiavelli's Doctrine Abhorrent?; Evaluating Military and Political Leaders; Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BCE-44 BCE); Oliverotto Euffreducci (Oliverotto da Fermo), CA. 1475-1502; Agathocles of Syracuse, 361 BCE-289 BCE; Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498

Piero Soderini, 1450-1513Giovampagolo Baglioni, 1470-1520; Cesare Borgia ("Duke Valentino"), 1475-1507; Romulus, CA. 770 BCE-CA. 716 BCE; Lucius Junius Brutus, CA. 545 BCE-CA. 509 BCE; Numa Pompilius, CA. 750 BCE-CA. 673 BCE; Hiero II, 308 BCE-216 BCE; Hannibal, CA. 247 BCE-183 BCE; Chapter 4 The Soul of the Statesman; Piecing the Clues Together; The Inner Life of a Machiavellian Statesman; Why Should a Statesman Worry about Losing His Soul?; The Puzzle Completed; Guicciardini's Critique; Machiavelli's Legacy; Appendix A: Texts and Their Abbreviations; References

Abbreviations for Book TitlesCitations to the Work of Francesco Guicciardini; Citations to the Work of Plato; Citations to the Work of Aristotle; Appendix B: Machiavelli's Life and Times; Appendix C: Case Studies-Heroes and Villains; Moses, CA. 1393 BCE-CA. 1273 BCE; Numa Pompilius, CA. 750 BCE-CA. 673 BCE; Gaius Julius Caesar, 100 BCE-44 BCE; Oliverotto Euffreducci (Oliverotto da Fermo), CA. 1475-1502; Agathocles of Syracuse, 361 BCE-289 BCE; Girolamo Savonarola, 1452-1498; Piero Soderini, 1450-1513; Giovampagolo Baglioni, 1470-1520; Cesare Borgia ("Duke Valentino"), 1475-1507

Romulus, CA. 770 bce-CA. 716 BCELucius Junius Brutus, CA. 545 BCE-CA. 509 BCE; Hiero II of Syracuse, 308 BCE-216 BCE; Hannibal, CA. 247 BCE-183 BCE; Notes; Bibliography; Books; Articles; About the Author; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438457222

1438457227

OCLC:

919720169