Commanding Lady Fortune: Machiavelli’s Theory of History Essay

Commanding Lady Fortune Machiavellis Theory of HistoryMachiavelli opens his Discourses on Livy by declaring that what will follow will be entirely revolutionarya path yet untrodden by anyonebut then quickly backs down from such assertions, shifting his focus onward(p) from his own efforts to the modern views of the ancients, and leaving the nature of this revolutionary undertaking ambiguous (Discourses, 5) . Indeed, the purpose of the whole work is repeatedly skirted in the preface. Machiavelli instead focuses on the musical note between the moderns and the ancients, mourning the superficial modern adoption of ancient ideas in art and law that lacks a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of ancient thought. He leaves us with only a vague description of his purpose in writing the Discoursesso that those who read these state handsts of mine can more easily draw from them that usefulness for which one should seek knowledge of histories (Discourses, 6). What the s pecific returns of history is, however, and what is so novel ab let unwrap his discourse of it, Machiavelli does not say.However, within the preface, and throughout his subsequent word of the idea of history in both the Discourses and The Prince, it becomes clear that he is indeed arguing something revolutionary through his use of history as a suck for politics. He chastises the moderns for judging that imitation is not only difficult but impossibleas if heaven, sun, elements, men had varied in motion, order, and power from what they were in antiquity, that is, for cosmos deceived by Christianity into believing that its inception had fundamentally altered the nature of the world, and that a bill between the ancients and the moderns is anything... ...lf than of the prince he has been hired to serve, meaning that, because Machiavelli also believes in a human nature that is at its foundation, deeply self-serving, a monarch can have no true advisors and is doomed to failure (Pri nce, 93). In a republic, however, men like Machiavelli are free to look out for their own good while charting a course for the state, as both goods are aligned (Discourses, 130). succession the prince of a republic may himself only possess the second kind of mind and be unable by his nature to come to such a broad understanding of history and the causality of human events that Machiavelli has, it is enough that he has among his advisors such men as Machiavelli. Thus, ultimately, Machiavellis yet untrodden path turns out to be the creation of a method for government that is premised on the ability to master every kind of manifestation of fortune. Commanding Lady Fortune Machiavellis Theory of History EssayCommanding Lady Fortune Machiavellis Theory of HistoryMachiavelli opens his Discourses on Livy by declaring that what will follow will be entirely revolutionarya path yet untrodden by anyonebut then quickly backs down from such assertions, shifting his focus away fro m his own efforts to the modern views of the ancients, and leaving the nature of this revolutionary undertaking ambiguous (Discourses, 5) . Indeed, the purpose of the whole work is repeatedly skirted in the preface. Machiavelli instead focuses on the distinction between the moderns and the ancients, mourning the superficial modern adoption of ancient ideas in art and law that lacks a deeper understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of ancient thought. He leaves us with only a vague description of his purpose in writing the Discoursesso that those who read these statements of mine can more easily draw from them that utility for which one should seek knowledge of histories (Discourses, 6). What the specific utility of history is, however, and what is so novel about his treatment of it, Machiavelli does not say.However, within the preface, and throughout his subsequent treatment of the idea of history in both the Discourses and The Prince, it becomes clear that he is indeed argu ing something revolutionary through his use of history as a snuff it for politics. He chastises the moderns for judging that imitation is not only difficult but impossibleas if heaven, sun, elements, men had varied in motion, order, and power from what they were in antiquity, that is, for be deceived by Christianity into believing that its inception had fundamentally altered the nature of the world, and that a distinction between the ancients and the moderns is anything... ...lf than of the prince he has been hired to serve, meaning that, because Machiavelli also believes in a human nature that is at its foundation, deeply self-serving, a monarch can have no true advisors and is doomed to failure (Prince, 93). In a republic, however, men like Machiavelli are free to look out for their own good while charting a course for the state, as both goods are aligned (Discourses, 130). dapple the prince of a republic may himself only possess the second kind of mind and be unable by his na ture to come to such a broad understanding of history and the causality of human events that Machiavelli has, it is enough that he has among his advisors such men as Machiavelli. Thus, ultimately, Machiavellis yet untrodden path turns out to be the creation of a method for government that is premised on the ability to master every kind of manifestation of fortune.