Political meritocracy in Renaissance Italy : the virtuous republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena / James Hankins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hankins, James, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Patrizi, Francesco, 1413-1494.

Patrizi, Francesco.

Political science--Italy--Philosophy--History--To 1500.

Political science.

Political ethics--Italy--History--To 1500.

Political ethics.

Philosophy, Renaissance.

Ethics, Renaissance.

Humanism--Italy--History--To 1500.

Humanism.

Political science--Philosophy.

Italy.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 430 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Virtuous republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena

Francesco Patrizi of Siena

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2023.

Summary:

"The first full-length study of Francesco Patrizi, the greatest political philosopher of the Italian Renaissance prior to Machiavelli. Patrizi was a humanist whose virtue politics-a form of values-based political meritocracy-sought to reconcile the conflicting claims of liberty and equality in service of good governance. He wrote two major works, On Founding Republics (1471) and On Kingship and the Education of Kings (1483/84), both of which were hugely influential when printed in the sixteenth century, but later forgotten"-- Provided by publisher.

"At the heart of the Italian Renaissance was a longing to recapture the wisdom and virtue of Greece and Rome. But how could this be done? A new school of social reformers concluded that the best way to revitalize corrupt institutions was to promote an ambitious new form of political meritocracy aimed at nurturing virtuous citizens and political leaders.The greatest thinker in this tradition of virtue politics was Francesco Patrizi of Siena, a humanist philosopher whose writings were once as famous as Machiavelli's. Patrizi wrote two major works: On Founding Republics, addressing the enduring question of how to reconcile republican liberty with the principle of merit; and On Kingship and the Education of Kings, which lays out a detailed program of education designed to instill the qualities necessary for political leadership -- above all, practical wisdom and sound character. The first full-length study of Patrizi's life and thought in any language, Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy argues that Patrizi is a thinker with profound lessons for our time. A pioneering advocate of universal literacy who believed urban planning could help shape civic values, he concluded that limiting the political power of the wealthy, protecting the poor from debt slavery, and reducing the political independence of the clergy were essential to a functioning society. These ideas were radical in his day. Far more than an exemplar of his time, Patrizi deserves to rank alongside the great political thinkers of the Renaissance: Machiavelli, Thomas More, and Jean Bodin" -- Page 2 of dustjacket.

Contents:

The Formation of a Political Philosopher

The Great Political Treatises

Principles of Republican Government

Meritocracy and the Optimal Republic

The Virtuous Society

Citizenship and the Virtuous Citizen

Virtuous Absolutism: Patrizi's De regno.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pagea 393-410) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Hankins, James. Political meritocracy in Renaissance Italy.

ISBN:

9780674274709

0674274709

OCLC:

1366102586