Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- 1 Negative Association
- 2 “Carthage Must Be Saved”
- 3 Enemies at the Gates: Machiavelli's Return to the Beginnings of Cities
- 4 The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend: Negative Association and Reason of State
- 5 Survival through Fear: Hobbes's Problem and Solution
- 6 Hobbism
- 7 The Politics of Enmity
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend: Negative Association and Reason of State
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- 1 Negative Association
- 2 “Carthage Must Be Saved”
- 3 Enemies at the Gates: Machiavelli's Return to the Beginnings of Cities
- 4 The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend: Negative Association and Reason of State
- 5 Survival through Fear: Hobbes's Problem and Solution
- 6 Hobbism
- 7 The Politics of Enmity
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
It is a wicked prayer to ask to have someone to hate or to fear, so that he may be someone to conquer.
So if it was by waging wars that were just, not impious and unjust, that the Romans were able to acquire so vast an empire, surely they should worship the Injustice of others as a kind of goddess? For we observe how much help “she” has given towards the extension of the Empire by making others wrong-doers, so that the Romans should have enemies to fight in a just cause and so increase Rome's power.
– Saint AugustineJust as “Sallust's Theorem” did not originate in Sallust's history, but can be seen wherever there are political associations, Machiavellism “existed before Machiavelli, and is as old as politics itself.” Nevertheless, for reasons that become apparent to any reader of The Prince, Machiavelli's name became synonymous with immoral political action very quickly. A few years after his death, the term reason of state made a reluctant appearance on the political stage. From the beginning, it was used to refer to political considerations that lie outside the bounds of ordinary circumstances, especially those foreseen and addressed by the law. The relationship of the term reason of state to Machiavellism is a complicated one, and the date of birth of the former only adds to the complication. Reason of state became popular at the same time that reaction – mostly, but not exclusively, negative – to Machiavelli's teachings was mounting.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Fear of Enemies and Collective Action , pp. 72 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007