Search Results (26)

This article discusses how in De principatibus Machiavelli defines the status of the treatise main character (the Prince) through the intersection of three levels: (a) history (as a character born from the symbolic fusion of traits and characteristics of historical personalities who actually existed); (b) politics (as a character who is the sign of an abstract political function); and (c) literary invention (as a fictional character constructed according to the rhetorical and logical strategies of literary invention). This case study shows how rhetoric, historiography, oratory, and political analysis are mixed together in a coherent organism, thanks to the creation of a character (the Prince) who constantly oscillates between historical–political reality and literary fiction. The analysis, both theoretical and historical, of the status of the protagonist of De principatibus is accompanied by the study of the critical readings of Francesco De Sanctis, Antonio Gramsci, and Luigi Russo, whose reception is strongly conditioned by the ambiguous nature of the character of the Prince, both in terms of critical categories and argumentative strategies. Full article

The use of artificial intelligence for political decision-making is in an early stage of development; however, there are several questions that arise about its current and hypothetical uses. These questions often come from areas of philosophy, such as ethics, political philosophy, and logic. In this article, first, the theoretical approaches from which the current and hypothetical uses of artificial intelligence for political decision-making can be interpreted will be presented. These approaches include realistic politics, bureaucracy theory, and conflict theory. Then, the possible uses that artificial intelligence could have in politics, as well as the attempts that have already been made, will be discussed. Subsequently, the logical, ethical, and political problems that the use of artificial intelligence for political decision-making could cause will be outlined. Next, a basic experiment will be presented on what kind of political decisions artificial intelligence could suggest. Finally, the points previously discussed will be analyzed from the mentioned theories. The conclusion reached was that, at the present time, the use of artificial intelligence for political decision-making could align more with the approaches of Machiavelli, focusing primarily on achieving goals such as maintaining power, while downplaying moral dilemmas. Full article

When scholars view characters in King Lear through a Machiavellian lens, they read Edmund, Goneril, and Regan as stock Machiavels. In contrast, they often perceive Cordelia, Kent, and Edgar as selfless, apolitical characters. This essay argues that the latter characters are more complicated and politically adroit than they are often judged to be. They are Machiavellian as well, but Shakespeare conceives them within a more appreciative view of the concept of realpolitik. This essay explains the characters’ strategies by relating them to Machiavelli’s tenets of achieving and maintaining political power. The central quandary of the play is the lack of a male heir to the throne. Cordelia attempts to solve the problem by marrying the King of France for political reasons. She has an alliance with Kent, who helps her to justify her invasion of her homeland with French forces. Once the plans for a surprise attack go awry, Cordelia does not follow Machiavellian strategies and is consequently killed. Ironically, Edgar is as ambitious as Edmund, whom he lets plot against his father and bring about Gloucester’s slow decline so as to inherit his father’s fortune while Edmund incurs the blame for his father’s demise. Like Kent, he enlists a disguise for self-advancement. The most adroit Machiavellian characters—Edgar, Kent, and the King of France—all survive through chicanery and cunning. Shakespeare illustrates that secular methods of governorship defeat the old world of divine politics. Full article

The circulation of Il Principe in the British Isles increased significantly in 1584, thanks to the editor John Wolfe. His aim was to spread Machiavelli’s works not only in England but also across Europe and Italy, where the book had been included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum since 1557. Machiavelli’s advice to rulers on how to acquire and maintain power, ensuring peace and stability, attracted a diverse readership, from members of the royal court to reformers, philosophers, legal scholars, and even playwrights like Shakespeare. This paper, departing from the influence of The Prince in England, focuses on how the ambiguous figure of the principe nuovo served as a model for discussing diverse forms of government and political theories. It will be shown that Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure enters the political debate by representing Duke Vincentio as the embodiment of a tyrannical Machiavellian prince, offering an indirect criticism of the rule of King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Full article

The Melnikov method is applied to a class of generalized Ziegler pendulums. We find an analytical form for the separatrix of the system in terms of Jacobian elliptic integrals, holding for a large class of initial conditions and parameters. By working in Duffing approximation, we apply the Melnikov method to the original Ziegler system, showing that the first non-vanishing Melnikov integral appears in the second order. An explicit expression for the Melnikov integral is derived in the presence of a time-periodic external force and for a suitable choice of the parameters, as well as in the presence of a dissipative term acting on the lower rod of the pendulum. These results allow us to define fundamental relationships between the Melnikov integral and a proper control parameter that distinguishes between regular and chaotic orbits for the original dynamical system. Finally, in the appendix, we present proof of a conjecture concerning the non-validity of Devaney’s chaoticity definition for a discrete map associated with the system. Full article

This article examines Gustave Le Bon’s thinking, focusing in particular on the aspects most closely connected to the search for the “laws” of the rise and fall of civilizations. Indeed, throughout his intellectual career, Le Bon cultivated the ambition of providing a credible answer to the problem of French decadence. In other words, he tried to become a kind of “Machiavelli of the age of crowds”. This article argues that this political objective affected Le Bon’s theory and his psychology of crowds. Since he wanted to make his political recipes appear credible to the elites of the Third Republic, he had to modify his theoretical architecture on nonsecondary points. He managed to hide the inconsistencies under the veil of effective rhetoric but, in retrospect, one can easily recognize that, in his theory, he uses three different ideas of the unconscious to explain the behavior of crowds, peoples, and “races”. Full article

This contribution aims to explore the composite nature of the theatrical character, with a focus on the comedy genre. The objective is to outline a theoretical framework for the development of a formal ontology that encompasses the editorial, performative, and receptive dimensions involved in the creation of dramatic characters. This article incorporates three perspectives: those of the author, the actor, and the spectator/reader. Drawing on the research of Manfred Pfister and Anne Ubersfeld, this contribution highlights how the study of theatrical characters requires specific methodologic attention, especially when compared with those of the narrative character, given the medial duality of the dramatic context. Since the theatrical character is the product of complex interplay between intentions and perceptions, the role of both the audience and the reader merit particular attention. The comedy genre lends itself to a categorical approach due to the historic configuration of stock types in classical comedy and masks in commedia dell’arte. Theoretical reflections will be supported by an analysis of Machiavelli’s comedies as a case study. The Machiavellian example most effectively illustrates the critical stratification underlying the perception of a character and the classes and properties that are essential to formalize its digital ontology. Full article

The political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli has often been reduced to the statement that ‘the end justifies the means’ and understood as an expression of realpolitik as a result of his pragmatic, even ruthless, counsel to would-be princes, or political leaders. However, a more nuanced understanding of Machiavelli’s reflections on human nature in his writings, especially The Prince, reveals that there is a philosophic core within his approach to political success, the acquisition and maintenance of state. But while there is no doubt that Machiavelli openly rejected the idealism of certain ancient and medieval thinkers, whose imagined republics only ever existed in theory, and instead candidly advised princes to seek and wield power, his work reflects not only a profound engagement with the harsh realities of a political landscape dominated by practical necessity but also a project of far-reaching scope. With the concept of “effectual truth” as his guide, Machiavelli proposes radical means to overcome fortuna with virtù and establish the foundations of power in order to bring about that conquest. The fulfillment of his mission and mandate to those who follow his lead represents the Machiavellian enterprise. Full article

In Plato’s Republic, Socrates praises reason and vilifies force. This preference for reason continued its role in philosophy and only a few political thinkers considered the use of force. Plato also dismissed persuasion as the Sophists’ art of making the weaker argument appear stronger and the stronger argument appear weaker. It was Machiavelli who focused on force and persuasion, but he was criticized for his advice to the Prince. Vilfredo Pareto did not offer counsel but rather provided one of the first realistic accounts of social behavior. For Pareto, that meant exploring the range of means which humans use to achieve what they want. For Pareto, that meant less attention on reason and more on persuasion and cunning. Thomas Hobbes wrote that force and fraud are two means, but Pareto insisted that humans use force, persuasion, and cunning. It is to Pareto’s credit as a social behaviorist that he provided one of the first scholarly analyses of cunning and deceit. Full article

In Measure for Measure Shakespeare addresses a question that is both straightforward and hard to answer: how do we make people obey the law? Over the course of the play, this simple question gives way to a complex set of problems about human will, political legitimacy, and the origins of sovereign power. Measure for Measure is concerned with illicit activity and ineffective government. But in this comedy—this “problem play”—Shakespeare is especially interested in the political mechanism by which authority and obedience are restored. How is a delinquent population, used to license, brought under control? Shakespeare examines one strategy in this play, one he has seemingly adapted from the Florentine political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Multiple critics have recognized that the story of Duke Vincentio and his deviant deputy, Lord Angelo, bear a striking resemblance to the story Machiavelli tells about Cesare Borgia and Remirro de Orco in Chapter 7 of The Prince. Here, I build upon these analyses to offer a new account of Shakespeare’s relationship to Machiavelli and political realism more generally. The Cesare story provides Shakespeare with an opportunity to explore how spectacle and theatricality can be used—not only to subdue an unruly population but to legitimate sovereign authority. However, Shakespeare delves deeper than Machiavelli into the mechanism whereby political authority is reestablished, first by considering the psychological conditions of the Duke’s subjects (both before and during his spectacular display of power), and second, by emphasizing the need for individual citizens to will sovereign authority into being. As we will see, in Shakespeare’s Vienna, order can only be restored once the delinquent people beg to be governed. Full article

Giovanni Botero’s political thought is significantly influenced by Machiavelli, yet it possesses its own distinctive features, particularly in its religious perspective. In contrast to Machiavelli’s condemnation of Catholicism, Botero argues that Catholicism, far from weakening individuals, could instill in them the courage to defy death and foster military virtues through the promise of eternal life. While Botero agrees with Machiavelli that religion plays a central role in politics, he asserts that Catholicism is more effective than other sects as it is better suited to maintaining social order and disciplining the human conscience. However, he refutes the idea that religion should serve merely as an instrument of domination. Instead, he suggests that it should be the foundation of the state and the purpose of governance. Furthermore, he maintains that religion and the state are interdependent, functioning together to ensure the maintenance and strengthening of both. Full article

This study explores Machiavelli’s perspective on the interplay between religion and political rule. Rather than being an enemy of religion itself, we argue that the Florentine thinker was critical of its particular interpretations and applications. Specifically, Machiavelli highlights the detrimental effects of certain religions and denominations (particularly Catholic Christianity) on virtue and political engagement, which (in his perspective) foster passivity and fatalism. On the other hand, Machiavelli sees religion as a tool for rulers to serve and defend their power. By dissecting Machiavelli’s views, we unveil his nuanced approach to the political value of religion. In short, we will argue that Machiavelli diverged from classical Greek and Roman philosophical systems; his view of Christianity as a tool for civil obedience marks an important shift towards modern political thought. Full article

Karl Friston’s free-energy principle casts agents as self-evidencing through active inference. This implies that decision-making, planning and information-seeking are, in a generic sense, ‘wishful’. We take an interdisciplinary perspective on this perplexing aspect of the free-energy principle and unpack the epistemological implications of wishful thinking under the free-energy principle. We use this epistemic framing to discuss the emergence of biases for self-evidencing agents. In particular, we argue that this elucidates an optimism bias as a foundational tenet of self-evidencing. We allude to a historical precursor to some of these themes, interestingly found in Machiavelli’s oeuvre, to contextualise the universal optimism of the free-energy principle. Full article