Machiavelli: a man misunderstood / The Princessa: Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli was one of the most important thinkers of his time. Here's where he got his start

CHRISTOPHER S. CELENZA

EnlargeSculpture of Niccolo Macchiavelli, Uffizi Colonnade, Florence. (Credit: wjarek via Shutterstock/Salon)

Excerpted from “Machiavelli: A Portrait”

Clues concerning Machiavelli’s thinking as to his own immediate personal path lie in one of the Italian Renaissance’s most beautiful—and in some ways most deceiving—letters, which he wrote to his friend Vettori on December 10, 1513. There had been a brief interruption in their correspondence, one that left Machiavelli concerned. But upon receiving Vettori’s latest letter Machiavelli is “most pleased,” he says, and since he has no news to report resolves to send Vettori an account of what his life in exile is like. “I am on my farm, and I haven’t been in Florence for more than twenty days, total, since my recent problems.” Machiavelli spent about a month hunting thrushes—“two at least, at most six”—each day. After this diversion ended, Machiavelli settled into a routine: “In the mornings I rise with the sun, and I go to one of my woods that I am having cleared, where I stay for two hours to look over the work done the day before and to spend some time with the woodsmen. They are always in the middle of some argument, either among themselves or with the neighbors.” Machiavelli mixes and mingles with people of all classes, even as he listens to and participates in arguments. This fact was probably unsurprising to Vettori, knowing his friend as he did, even as it might seem surprising to connoisseurs of “high” literature.

“After I leave the woods, I go to a spring, and thereafter to a place where I hang my bird nets. I have a book with me— Dante, or Petrarch, or a minor poet, like Tibullus, Ovid, or other ones of that sort. I read about their romantic passions, their love affairs, and I remember my own, taking pleasure for a while in those thoughts.” From the social to the solitary: this seems to be the second phase of his day, where repeated reading of a light classic, something that he already has read many times but to which he willingly returns, allows him to reflect on his own life. After this diversion and care of the soul comes more interactivity: “Then I take to the road, on the way to the inn. I chat with people who pass by, ask them about the news where they live, learning this and that, and I take note of the diverse taste and imaginings of men.” Machiavelli’s curiosity and, again, his proto-anthropological sensibility, is on display here.

A meal follows—“whatever there is to eat that this poor farm and my tiny means afford me”—and then he returns to the inn, where he finds “the innkeeper, normally, a butcher, a miller, and a couple of kiln-workers. I bum around with them for the rest of the day,” playing cards and backgammon and, again, arguing: “these games lead to a thousand disagreements and endless insults.” We sense a Machiavelli at home in different environments, who needs the give and take of vigorous human interaction.

There then follows the letter’s best known part, Machiavelli’s account of the conclusion of his day:

magnetism Show phonetics
noun [U]
a quality that makes someone very attractive to other people:
The actress has a personal magnetism that is rare in someone so young.
his personal magnetism attracted men to the brotherhood

'Blood and Beauty: The Borgias'
By SARAH DUNANT
Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER

The Renaissance Borgias and their Machiavellian magnetism.

 It is now 500 years since Niccolò Machiavelli produced the most famous book on politics ever written. On Dec. 10, 1513, he wrote a letter to a friend describing a day in his life and remarking by the way that he had composed a "little work," one of his "whimsies," on principalities. This was "The Prince," a short book for the busy executive so shocking that it wasn't published until 1532, after Machiavelli's death. It was coupled with the "Discourses on Livy" (1531), a much longer book for those readers with more time to observe and reflect.

馬基雅維裏——一個被誤解的人(Machiavelli:a man misunderstood)

作者:(英國)(Michael white)邁克爾·懷特 譯者:周春生

內容簡介

馬基雅維裏從政治關係的角度來考慮基督教。他將有組織的宗教當做一種社會控制的設置和工具，但他也確信宗教有害於社會的演變，因為它引導群眾關心虛幻的身 後世界而非實在的當下世界。對於馬基雅維裏而言，《聖經》就像許多古典作品一樣，它用玫瑰色的眼鏡來透視世界。柏拉圖在《理想國》中表達的觀念就是馬基雅 維裏認為的那種不根據真實的人性來定義現實世界、實踐現實世界的思想典型，希臘的哲人用不可能企及的理想來構建他們的觀念。馬基雅維裏也用評價柏拉圖理想 系統的方法來評價基督教的道德。對於馬基雅維裏而言，基督教營造的教義結構是不現實的和不自然的，因而無真實價值可言。

如 此這類的意見並沒有使馬基雅維裏名噪一時。事實上，馬基雅維裏的名字遭到詛咒是因為他1527年逝世前幾年有人盜版印製、抄襲、傳播了《君主論》。不過那 時的馬基雅維裏也習慣了被人不屑一顧。那些曾經想對他表示尊敬的人，尤其是那些其行為被他鮮明剖析過的君主，都會在馬基雅維裏闡述的真理世界面前感到難有 其立足之地。而那種不屑一顧完全是馬基雅維裏主義的寫照，它意味著大多數統治者和君主對一本揭示他們手段的書本身毫無興趣可言。

目錄

第一章　享受愛而非金錢

第二章　馬基雅維裏時代的歐洲

第三章　身不由己

第四章　與狼共舞

第五章 馬基雅維裏名揚佛城

第六章　與尚武教皇周旋

第七章　百感交集

第八章　囚禁

第九章　放逐

第十章 《君主論》

第十一章　複出

第十二章　最後的歲月

第十三章 馬基雅維裏的遺產

附錄Ⅰ 馬基雅維裏的主要著作

附錄Ⅱ 馬基雅維裏的生平和時代

參考文獻

譯後記

The Princessa: Machiavelli
女君王論

女君王論: 女人獲取權力的戰略、戰術與武器The princessa : Machiavelli for women
作者：哈蕊特．盧本/原著
原文作者：Harriet Rubin
譯者：王瑞香譯

• 出版社：智庫
• 出版日期：1998年11月15日

義大利政治家馬基維利的不朽作品（君王論）主張：為了權力不擇手段、背棄良心的人才夠格稱王。五百年來這種觀點被奉為圭臬，而女人就在男人的地盤裡摸索奮鬥，爭取立足之地。
　 　美國出版社女傑哈蕊特．盧本為女性的成功訣竅寫下（女君王論），同樣探討「權力」的主題，卻提供了迥然不同的論點與方法。她認為現代女性不應被動地遵循 男人世界的遊戲規則，不論在職場上，或是私生活的領域裡，女人必須發揮柔性特質，運用女人獨特的生理與心理天賦來改變局勢，自已創造遊戲規則。盧本歸納出 十八種實用的戰術，並引用了諸多傳奇女性的故事作為範例，妳不僅能勝出，更能贏得漂亮。

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