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
Rasoul Namazi
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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