TY - BOOK ID - 281712 TI - Machiavelli's ethics PY - 2009 SN - 9780691141770 9780691141763 1282458523 9786612458521 1400831849 9781400831845 9781282458529 0691141762 0691141770 6612458526 PB - Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press DB - UniCat KW - Machiavelli, Niccolò KW - Ethics KW - Deontology KW - Ethics, Primitive KW - Ethology KW - Moral philosophy KW - Morality KW - Morals KW - Philosophy, Moral KW - Science, Moral KW - Philosophy KW - Values KW - Machiavelli, Niccolò, KW - Machiavelli, Niccolò KW - Ethics. KW - FPEÑAS KW - マキアヴェルリ UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:281712 AB - Machiavelli's Ethics challenges the most entrenched understandings of Machiavelli, arguing that he was a moral and political philosopher who consistently favored the rule of law over that of men, that he had a coherent theory of justice, and that he did not defend the "Machiavellian" maxim that the ends justify the means. By carefully reconstructing the principled foundations of his political theory, Erica Benner gives the most complete account yet of Machiavelli's thought. She argues that his difficult and puzzling style of writing owes far more to ancient Greek sources than is usually recognized, as does his chief aim: to teach readers not how to produce deceptive political appearances and rhetoric, but how to see through them. Drawing on a close reading of Greek authors--including Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, and Plutarch--Benner identifies a powerful and neglected key to understanding Machiavelli. This important new interpretation is based on the most comprehensive study of Machiavelli's writings to date, including a detailed examination of all of his major works: The Prince, The Discourses, The Art of War, and Florentine Histories. It helps explain why readers such as Bacon and Rousseau could see Machiavelli as a fellow moral philosopher, and how they could view The Prince as an ethical and republican text. By identifying a rigorous structure of principles behind Machiavelli's historical examples, the book should also open up fresh debates about his relationship to later philosophers, including Rousseau, Hobbes, and Kant. ER -