Page 92 - DPOL201_WESTERN_POLITICAL_THOUGHT_ENGLISH

Western Political Thought

Notes the ramification of the political aspect of Machiavelli’s theory by writing The Modern Prince
which remained incomplete. In the Prison Notebooks (1925–1936), there were a number of
references to Machiavelli, and Gramsci pointed out that the protagonist of the new prince in
modern times could not be an individual hero, but a political party whose objective was to
establish a new kind of state.
• Machiavelli distinguished acts of morality and immorality in the conventional sense. Though
critical of the Church and Christianity, Machiavelli was born and died a Christian. His attack
on the Church was due to his anti-clericalism, rather than being anti-religion. In comparison,
paganism of the ancient world seemed preferable.
• The breakthrough of Renaissance political theory lay in Machiavelli’s treatment of the
legitimacy of regimes and political leaders. Prior to the Prince and the Discourses, writers
treated political regimes dichotomously as pure and corrupt, normative and non-normative,
in the original Platonic and Aristotelian senses. Machiavelli, viewing politics as practiced in
Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, legitimized non-normative politics as unavoidable, as
survival-related, as part of reality ... . Machiavelli touched the nerve of political science with
this “value-free” orientation and his name has become a synonym for moral indifference and
political cynicism. The issues raised by this venture into realism are still fluttering the dovecotes
of political philosophy.
• Undeservedly, Machiavelli was seen as the devil’s agent, confined to permanent infamy for
preaching villainy and duplicitous pursuit of political power. It was the price that he paid for
making the first attempt to develop a new science of politics and identifying the essential
ingredients of modern political theory. It was his good fortune that the greatest political
thinker that Italy produced did not meet the same fate as Galileo did.

5.6 Key-Words

1. Anti-clericalism : A historical movement that opposes the clergy for reasons including
their actual or alleged power.
2. Political cynicism : Important political sentiments

5.7 Review Questions

1. In what way does Machiavelli’s works reflect his times?
2. Enumerate the main features of Machiavelli’s thoughts on politics and forms of government.
3. Critically analyse Machiavelli’s theory of statecraft.
4. Discuss the theory of separation of ethics from politics
Answers: Self-Assessment
1. 1494 2. Borgia 3. Borgia
4. Political animal 5. Machiavelli
5.8 Further Readings

1. Mukherjee, S. and Ramaswamy, S. 2004: A History of Political Thought, PHI
Learning Pvt. Ltd.
2. Mukhopadhyay, A.K. 1990 Western Political Thought, Calcutta - KP Bagchi and
Company.

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