The question of esoteric writing in Machiavelli’s works

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2017-03-01

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Abstract

The question addressed by this article is whether esotericism or secret teachings exist in Machiavelli’s writings. This question has been a major point of contention between the commentators of Machiavelli, with many denying the existence of esoteric teaching in the Machiavellian corpus. This article will explore the controversy by studying Machiavelli’s own works, and on this basis it will be contended that there are many references and elements present in Machiavelli’s works that justify an esoteric interpretation. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that Machiavelli has esoteric intentions that are different from the surface meaning of his texts. It is therefore necessary for commentators to go beyond the surface of his writings to uncover his deeper teachings.

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Scholars@Duke

Namazi

Rasoul Namazi

Assistant Professor of Political Theory at Duke Kunshan University

Rasoul Namazi's research focus is the comparative study of Islamic and Western political thought. His work has been published in Comparative Political TheoryReview of Politics, Journal of Religion, Perspectives on Political Science, American Political Thought, Iranian Studies, Interpretation, Renaissance & Reformation, and Eurorient as well as several collected volumes.

Namazi’s book titled Leo Strauss and Islamic Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2022) is a recipient of the Delba Winthrop Award for Excellence in Political Science. The book is a comprehensive study of Leo Strauss’s writings on Islamic political thought. He is also a co-editor of Leo Strauss on Religion: Writings and Interpretations (SUNY Press, 2024) and is currently working on a book-length manuscript on early Islamic political thought in the Quran.

A laureate of Prix Raymond Aron, Namazi has a Ph.D. in Political Theory from Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, M.A. in Political Philosophy and Ethics from Université Paris-Sorbonne, M.A. in Political Studies from EHESS, and B.A. in Political Sciences from the University of Tehran Central. 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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