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Western Political Thought

Notes behaviour and good conduct that was necessary for the well-being of a society. Religion determined
the social and ethical norms and values that governed human conduct and actions. Machiavelli
had no interest in philosophic contemplation as the highest form of human life, nor was he
interested in what constituted good life. He was, however, very seriously concerned with the
display of high moral standards and qualities in public life. The distinction that Machiavelli made
between the private and public conceptions of morality was among his important contributions.
Machiavelli was categorical that public spirit was crucial to the stability of the state. One of the key
determinants of public spirit was religion, and the other, liberty. He advised the prince to do
anything and everything possible to cultivate belief in religion, even if the ruler in his personal
capacity was irreligious or had very little faith in religion. He was the first to look upon religion
as a coercive force, thereby anticipating Rousseau, Burke and Marx.
Machiavelli’s vision was dominated by classical ideas, especially with regard to his key idea, virtu,
by which he meant masculine and warlike qualities. He admired qualities like courage, self-
assertiveness, fortitude, ambition, vitality, intelligence, fame, and strength, which religion should
ideally foster. By his own preference, he criticized Christianity, for it made men effeminate,
charitable and weak, glorifying qualities like renunciation, humility, lowliness, other-worldliness,
asceticism, charity, and patience under injustice. A civic religion for Machiavelli should instil fear
and respect for authority and help in the inculcation of military valour.
Machiavelli distinguished between pagan and Christian morality, and chose paganism. He did
not condemn Christian morality, nor did he try to redefine the Christian conception of a good
person. He dismissed the Christian view that an individual was endowed with a divine element
and a supernatural end. He also rejected the idea of absolute good. He observed:
Goodness is simply that which subserves on the average or in the long run, the interests
of the mass of individuals. The terms good and evil have no transcendental reference;
they refer to the community considered as an association of individual and to nothing
else. At bottom apparently, they refer only to the universal desire for security.
Machiavelli contended that original Christianity taught virtues that linked internal good of the
soul with the generation and training of civic virtu. Gilbert found nothing in Machiavelli that was
anti-Christianity. In fact, many sentiments in the Discourses were Christian, for example the
condemnation of luxury. Berlin linked Machiavelli to the pagan and Christian traditions. He set
aside Croce’s view of Machiavelli as an early liberal moralist, unhappy at the fact that politics and
ethics did not go together and a general condemnation if one acted politically. Berlin noted that
Machiavelli chose pagan morality that focused on public life, social existence and institutional
requirements, while Christian morality was inward looking, individualistic and concerned with
the need to tend one’s soul. In spite of preferring paganism, Machiavelli did not despise Christian
values. Moreover, Machiavelli, according to Berlin, taught us unintentionally the irreconciliability
of ultimate values, the impossibility of rationally proving that one set of values was superior to the
other.
Though Machiavelli was critical of Christianity, he retained the basic Christian views on the
differences between good and evil. For instance, he regarded murdering one’s co-citizens, betraying
one’s friends, disloyalty and irreligiousness as lack of virtu not entitled to glory. Machiavelli was
clear that Italy needed a religion similar to one that ancient Rome had, a religion that taught to
serve the interests of the state. He was categorical that Florentines needed political and military
virtues which Christian faith did not impart. His reason for writing The Art of War was to teach his
fellow citizens the importance of training in arms.
Machiavelli’s conception of civic virtu marked an important stage in the development
of modern political thought and practice, for it symbolized an end to the old alliance
between statecraft and soul-craft. Hence it would be increasingly taken for granted

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