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Machiavelli's Paradox: Trapping or Teaching the Prince

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

John Langton  and
Mary G. Dietz
John Langton
Affiliation:
Westminster College
Mary G. Dietz
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Abstract

In The Discourses Machiavelli extolled the virtues of republican government, yet in The Prince he advised the ruler on how to perpetuate autocratic rule. What accounts for this paradox? Mary Dietz argues that Machiavelli sought to deceive the prince, trapping him into actions that would destroy his rule. John Langton contends, in contrast, that Machiavelli was seeking to teach the prince how to govern so that the autocratic state could evolve into a republic.

Type
Controversies
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 81 , Issue 4 , December 1987 , pp. 1277 - 1288
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1987

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