Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Christianity, Christ, and Machiavelli’s The Prince
- 1 Christianity’s Siren Song
- 2 Christ’s Defective Political Foundations
- 3 Hope Is Not Enough
- 4 The Prince of War
- 5 Machiavelli’s Unchristian Virtue
- 6 Christ’s Ruinous Political Legacy
- 7 The Harrowing Redemption of Italy
- Conclusion: Machiavelli’s Gospel
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
5 - Machiavelli’s Unchristian Virtue
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 June 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Christianity, Christ, and Machiavelli’s The Prince
- 1 Christianity’s Siren Song
- 2 Christ’s Defective Political Foundations
- 3 Hope Is Not Enough
- 4 The Prince of War
- 5 Machiavelli’s Unchristian Virtue
- 6 Christ’s Ruinous Political Legacy
- 7 The Harrowing Redemption of Italy
- Conclusion: Machiavelli’s Gospel
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Chapter 15 commences Machiavelli's teaching on how princes ought to regard—and practice—the virtues and vices. The title, “Of Those Things for Which Men and Especially Princes Are Praised or Blamed,” indicates two important features of Machiavelli's subsequent discussion. First, these teachings—unlike the majority located in chapters 1 through 14—apply to all men, and only especially to princes. Machiavelli thus announces his ambition to provide a universal teaching on virtue to “whoever understands it”—although what follows applies especially to princes, insofar as he will seek “what the modes and government of a prince should be with subjects and with friends” (P 15).
Second, the title testifies to Machiavelli's attention to the reputation that attends virtue and vice, rather than the practice of the virtues and the avoidance of vices. By presenting virtue and vice as “things” (P 15) for which men are praised or blamed, he treats virtue as instrumental to opinion, rather than desirable for its own sake. Because praise and blame illuminate the virtues and vices, the latter are not inscrutable characteristics of one's soul, or evident in one's conduct toward others, but a form of popular moral shorthand that indicates others’ perception. In chapter 15, Machiavelli diminishes the moral force of this popular judgment by blurring the distinctions between virtues and vices. He accomplishes this dramatically by providing a convoluted list of paired “qualities that bring [men, and especially princes] either blame or praise” (P 15).
Someone is considered liberal, someone mean… ; someone is considered a giver, someone rapacious; someone cruel, someone merciful; the one a breaker of faith, the other faithful; the one effeminate and pusillanimous, the other fierce and spirited; the one humane, the other proud; the one lascivious, the other chaste; the one honest, the other astute; the one hard, the other agreeable; the one grave, the other light; the one religious, the other unbelieving, and the like. (P 15)
Machiavelli offers that it would be “praiseworthy” for a prince to possess all of the “above-mentioned qualities that are held good,” but due to his obfuscations, it is not certain which qualities Machiavelli endorses as good (P 15). By alternating the expected order of the virtues and vices, Machiavelli confuses his presentation. The apparent randomness of his presentation furthers his explicit contention that, when choosing virtue and vice, appearances can be deceiving.
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- Information
- Machiavelli's GospelThe Critique of Christianity in "The Prince", pp. 106 - 126Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2016