Machiavelli’s Critique of Classical Philosophy and His Case for The Political Life

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2021-01-01

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Abstract

This article illuminates how Machiavelli’s critique of classical philosophy is fundamental to his teaching. It will argue that Machiavelli criticized classical philosophy for its ineffectiveness and its endorsement of the leisurely philosophic life as the best way of life. In contrast, Machiavelli’s optimistic depiction of the scope of human power in controlling chance and his critique of the life of contemplation promote his new understanding of the best life, in which political life and its glory occupy the highest rank. I will then contend that in Machiavelli’s writings there is a coherent and powerful defense of the political life as the alternative for the philosophical life of contemplation.

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Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1080/10457097.2021.1894057

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Namazi, R (2021). Machiavelli’s Critique of Classical Philosophy and His Case for The Political Life. Perspectives on Political Science, 50(3). pp. 171–181. 10.1080/10457097.2021.1894057 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23500.

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Namazi

Rasoul Namazi

Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Duke Kunshan University

Rasoul Namazi's research focuses on the comparative analysis of Islamic and Western political thought. His book, Leo Strauss and Islamic Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2022), received the Delba Winthrop Award for Excellence in Political Science and was the subject of a symposium in The Review of Politics. This work offers a comprehensive study of Leo Strauss’s writings on Islamic political thought. He is also the co-editor of Leo Strauss on Religion: Writings and Interpretations (SUNY Press, 2024) and is currently working on a book-length study of early Islamic political thought in the Quran.

Namazi's research has appeared in Comparative Political Theory, Review of Politics, Journal of Religion, Perspectives on Political Science, American Political Thought, Iranian Studies, Interpretation, Renaissance & Reformation, and Eurorient, as well as in several edited volumes.

A laureate of the Prix Raymond Aron, Namazi received his Ph.D. in Political Theory from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Before joining Duke Kunshan University, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (2019–2021) and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago (2016–2018).


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