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Author Topic: Machiavelli - Where to start ?  (Read 398 times)

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Offline Lancezh

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Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« on: Jan 20, 2012, 01:08:40 PM »
I've read on and off some bits of machiavellis theories and have always been interested in his stuff but never got around to actually read his books... where does one start ? Is "The Prince" a good thing to get into it ? Any takes on him ?
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Offline EhJayArr

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #1 on: Jan 20, 2012, 01:26:43 PM »
I read The Prince in a World Lit class some 10 year ago... I enjoyed it. IIRC, it seemed like some pretty decent instructions on how to be a ruthless but effective autocrat. It goes much deeper than that (I want to say some fairly novel-at-the-time ideas on social justice, for example), but it's been too long and I'd be pulling any further description out me bum.

On the plus, it's not a very long book, so it's probably worth a read regardless.
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Online David E.

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #2 on: Jan 20, 2012, 01:38:14 PM »
Sun Tzu's Art of War is an interesting compliment to the Prince. 
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Offline lukebourassa

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #3 on: Jan 20, 2012, 02:19:39 PM »
Quote from: David E. on Jan 20, 2012, 01:38:14 PM
Sun Tzu's Art of War is an interesting compliment to the Prince.

IMO, Art of War > The Prince .  But both are worth reading.
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Online Halleyscomet/Wakefield

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #4 on: Jan 20, 2012, 02:50:32 PM »
Note: He wrote "The Prince" while in prison, after having both his arms broken by the man to whom the book was allegedly directed. In many ways it was a catalog of what the guy was already doing. Both before and after writing "The Prince" Machiavelli worked against the kind of despots he seemed to advocate in "The Prince."

Garrett Mattingly: The Prince: Political Science or Political Satire?

Machiavelli’s The Prince as a Satire:
An Exploratory Look at Machiavelli’s Works to Determine His True Political Inclinations

Read more: 6 Books Everyone (Including Your English Teacher) Got Wrong #4. Machiavelli's The Prince
« Last Edit: Jan 20, 2012, 02:57:38 PM by Halleyscomet/Wakefield »
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Offline Jack R.

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #5 on: Jan 20, 2012, 08:14:22 PM »
The Prince is Machiavelli's most important work, I won't comment on his motivations or intentions while writing it - they weren't really discussed by my Western Civ professor.  The only other work of his that I would consider relevent today are his discourses on Livy.
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Online Johnny Slick

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #6 on: Jan 20, 2012, 10:15:53 PM »
My biggest Takeaway from The Prince was "wow, this works great in Civ".
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Offline MikeHz

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #7 on: Jan 20, 2012, 10:22:11 PM »
I'd go for "The Prince." It's affected a lot of history, and is not very long. I have not read "Discourses" or his other works, and so can't say anything about them.
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Offline Lancezh

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #8 on: Jan 22, 2012, 11:39:22 AM »
Quote from: lukebourassa on Jan 20, 2012, 02:19:39 PM
Quote from: David E. on Jan 20, 2012, 01:38:14 PM
Sun Tzu's Art of War is an interesting compliment to the Prince.

IMO, Art of War > The Prince .  But both are worth reading.

i didnt like the art of war at all for some reason... had much higher hopes when reading it.
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Offline Jack R.

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Re: Machiavelli - Where to start ?
« Reply #9 on: Jan 22, 2012, 01:06:53 PM »
Quote from: MikeHz on Jan 20, 2012, 10:22:11 PM
I'd go for "The Prince." It's affected a lot of history, and is not very long. I have not read "Discourses" or his other works, and so can't say anything about them.

From what I recall, they're pretty much a conceptual  discussion of "The Republic" as compared to "The Principality". 
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