The Machiavellian Moment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1975, J.G.A. Pocock wrote this seminal work theorizing about a connection between republican thought in early 15th century Florence, English-Civil War Britain, and the American Revolution. In it he suggests that Machiavellian thought was a response to a series of crises facing early 15th century Florence in which a seemingly virtuous state was on the cusp of destruction. He traces this active republicanism that is apparent in works like the Prince to some pre-English Civil War thinkers and to a group of American Revolutionary personalities, all of whom, he suggests, faced similar Machiavellian Moments and offered related sets of answers.