Michelle T Clarke
Biographic Data
| ID | 4124954 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michelle T Clarke |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michelle T |
| FAMILY NAME | Clarke |
| SIGNATURE | CLARKE M T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Dartmouth College |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5427-2413 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 16 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Liberty, the People, and Republican Constitutionalism in Cicero’s Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo
This article examines Cicero’s treatment of libertas and its constitutional underpinnings in Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo. In Pro Rabirio, Cicero offers a concentrated discussion of libertas in which he downplays its relationship with popular institutions and procedures and emphasizes instead its strong correlation with social and political consensus. Indeed, for Cicero, libertas is more closely associated with the qualitative characteristics of…
Introduction: A Memorial in Honor of Rex Stem, Scholar and Friend
Boni Gone Bad: Cicero’s Critique of Epicureanism in De Finibus 1 and 2
This paper argues that Cicero’s critique of Epicureanism in De finibus is motivated by a concern about its degrading effect on the moral sensibility of Rome’s best men. In place of earlier objections to Epicureanism, which centered on its inability to explain or recommend the virtuous conduct of Roman maiores, De finibus focuses on its inability to do so properly and, more prospectively, to assist boni in the work of maintaining the dignity and r…
Style Is the Man Himself: Eloquence and the Revival of Roman Virtue in Renaissance Humanism
James Hankins’s Virtue Politics is a masterful contribution to the study of the history of political thought, and especially Renaissance humanism. An enormous amount of scholarly research has positioned itself in relation to something that it calls “Renaissance humanism.” But Virtue Politics reveals the extent to which this seemingly well-trodden ground remains unexplored, and even unmapped. As one might expect from a scholar who has spent a life…
Curing Virtue: Epicureanism and Erotic Fantasy in Machiavelli’s Mandragola
Who is Lucrezia, the mysterious woman at the center of Machiavelli’s comic play Mandragola? And why is she deemed “fit to govern a kingdom”? This article revisits these questions with attention to Mandragola’s sophisticated, and often irreverent, allusions to Roman source materials. While scholars have long recognized that Mandragola draws on Roman history and drama, its sustained engagement with Lucretian and Ovidian poetry has gone largely unno…
Machiavelli’s Virtuous Princes: Rhetoric, Power, and the Politics of Ironic Historiography
In The Prince, Machiavelli often associates power with force and the ability to compel obedience. In the Discourses on Livy and Florentine Histories, however, he emphasizes the role that moral authority has played in the construction of princely power, especially in republics like ancient Rome and modern Florence. This article explores the alternative style of princely virtù that Machiavelli associates with these princes and contrasts it with cru…
Response to Yves Winter’s review of Machiavelli’s Florentine Republic
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Tyranny: A new interpretation
The Virtues of Republican Citizenship in Machiavelli’sDiscourses on Livy
What are the virtues of a good citizen? This article argues that Machiavelli takes a skeptical view of the Roman social virtues, and especially certain aspects of fides, in light of their strong association with clientelism. Attentive to how these "virtues" have been used by elites to amass significant extralegal powers, Machiavelli urges his readers to condemn them as the political vices they actually are. As part of this effort, he re-examines …
The Mythologies of Contextualism: Method and Judgment in Skinner's Visions of Politics
This article argues that Skinnerian contextualism is an unsuccessful attempt to develop a truly methodical approach to textual interpretation. According to Skinner, the various ‘mythologies’ that he associates with textualism are due to its misplaced confidence in the faculty of judgment. Whereas textualists believe that an interpreter's own judgment is his or her most useful tool in attempting to understand a text, contextualism proceeds from th…
Uprooting Nebuchadnezzar's Tree: Francis Bacon's Criticism of Machiavellian Imperialism
However boldly Francis Bacon might praise Machiavelli, he nevertheless formulates a powerful critique of his mentor's views regarding the means and aims of empire. Oriented by a prudential and normative commitment to philanthropia, Bacon reassesses the role of glory in political affairs and rejects key elements of Machiavelli's imperial vision. By deploying inversions of three Machiavellian images associated with empire—King Solomon rather than K…
On the Woman Question in Machiavelli
Although Machiavelli has been widely condemned as a misogynist, his three central political works feature dozens of women who engage in efficacious and often praiseworthy political action. To appreciate fully the character and value of their activity and ultimately Machiavelli's views on women as potential political agents, one must first carefully attend to his conception of animo . Usually translated as “spiritedness,” animo represents the natu…
The Virtues of Republican Citizenship in Machiavelli’sDiscourses on Livy
What are the virtues of a good citizen? This article argues that Machiavelli takes a skeptical view of the Roman social virtues, and especially certain aspects of fides, in light of their strong association with clientelism. Attentive to how these "virtues" have been used by elites to amass significant extralegal powers, Machiavelli urges his readers to condemn them as the political vices they actually are. As part of this effort, he re-examines …
Uprooting Nebuchadnezzar's Tree: Francis Bacon's Criticism of Machiavellian Imperialism
However boldly Francis Bacon might praise Machiavelli, he nevertheless formulates a powerful critique of his mentor's views regarding the means and aims of empire. Oriented by a prudential and normative commitment to philanthropia, Bacon reassesses the role of glory in political affairs and rejects key elements of Machiavelli's imperial vision. By deploying inversions of three Machiavellian images associated with empire—King Solomon rather than K…
On the Woman Question in Machiavelli
Although Machiavelli has been widely condemned as a misogynist, his three central political works feature dozens of women who engage in efficacious and often praiseworthy political action. To appreciate fully the character and value of their activity and ultimately Machiavelli's views on women as potential political agents, one must first carefully attend to his conception of animo . Usually translated as “spiritedness,” animo represents the natu…
Curing Virtue: Epicureanism and Erotic Fantasy in Machiavelli’s Mandragola
Who is Lucrezia, the mysterious woman at the center of Machiavelli’s comic play Mandragola? And why is she deemed “fit to govern a kingdom”? This article revisits these questions with attention to Mandragola’s sophisticated, and often irreverent, allusions to Roman source materials. While scholars have long recognized that Mandragola draws on Roman history and drama, its sustained engagement with Lucretian and Ovidian poetry has gone largely unno…
The Mythologies of Contextualism: Method and Judgment in Skinner's Visions of Politics
This article argues that Skinnerian contextualism is an unsuccessful attempt to develop a truly methodical approach to textual interpretation. According to Skinner, the various ‘mythologies’ that he associates with textualism are due to its misplaced confidence in the faculty of judgment. Whereas textualists believe that an interpreter's own judgment is his or her most useful tool in attempting to understand a text, contextualism proceeds from th…
On the Woman Question in Machiavelli
Although Machiavelli has been widely condemned as a misogynist, his three central political works feature dozens of women who engage in efficacious and often praiseworthy political action. To appreciate fully the character and value of their activity and ultimately Machiavelli's views on women as potential political agents, one must first carefully attend to his conception of animo . Usually translated as “spiritedness,” animo represents the natu…
Uprooting Nebuchadnezzar's Tree: Francis Bacon's Criticism of Machiavellian Imperialism
However boldly Francis Bacon might praise Machiavelli, he nevertheless formulates a powerful critique of his mentor's views regarding the means and aims of empire. Oriented by a prudential and normative commitment to philanthropia, Bacon reassesses the role of glory in political affairs and rejects key elements of Machiavelli's imperial vision. By deploying inversions of three Machiavellian images associated with empire—King Solomon rather than K…
The Virtues of Republican Citizenship in Machiavelli’sDiscourses on Livy
What are the virtues of a good citizen? This article argues that Machiavelli takes a skeptical view of the Roman social virtues, and especially certain aspects of fides, in light of their strong association with clientelism. Attentive to how these "virtues" have been used by elites to amass significant extralegal powers, Machiavelli urges his readers to condemn them as the political vices they actually are. As part of this effort, he re-examines …
The Mythologies of Contextualism: Method and Judgment in Skinner's Visions of Politics
This article argues that Skinnerian contextualism is an unsuccessful attempt to develop a truly methodical approach to textual interpretation. According to Skinner, the various ‘mythologies’ that he associates with textualism are due to its misplaced confidence in the faculty of judgment. Whereas textualists believe that an interpreter's own judgment is his or her most useful tool in attempting to understand a text, contextualism proceeds from th…
Tyranny: A new interpretation
Response to Yves Winter’s review of Machiavelli’s Florentine Republic
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Machiavelli’s Virtuous Princes: Rhetoric, Power, and the Politics of Ironic Historiography
In The Prince, Machiavelli often associates power with force and the ability to compel obedience. In the Discourses on Livy and Florentine Histories, however, he emphasizes the role that moral authority has played in the construction of princely power, especially in republics like ancient Rome and modern Florence. This article explores the alternative style of princely virtù that Machiavelli associates with these princes and contrasts it with cru…
Style Is the Man Himself: Eloquence and the Revival of Roman Virtue in Renaissance Humanism
James Hankins’s Virtue Politics is a masterful contribution to the study of the history of political thought, and especially Renaissance humanism. An enormous amount of scholarly research has positioned itself in relation to something that it calls “Renaissance humanism.” But Virtue Politics reveals the extent to which this seemingly well-trodden ground remains unexplored, and even unmapped. As one might expect from a scholar who has spent a life…
Curing Virtue: Epicureanism and Erotic Fantasy in Machiavelli’s Mandragola
Who is Lucrezia, the mysterious woman at the center of Machiavelli’s comic play Mandragola? And why is she deemed “fit to govern a kingdom”? This article revisits these questions with attention to Mandragola’s sophisticated, and often irreverent, allusions to Roman source materials. While scholars have long recognized that Mandragola draws on Roman history and drama, its sustained engagement with Lucretian and Ovidian poetry has gone largely unno…
Introduction: A Memorial in Honor of Rex Stem, Scholar and Friend
Boni Gone Bad: Cicero’s Critique of Epicureanism in De Finibus 1 and 2
This paper argues that Cicero’s critique of Epicureanism in De finibus is motivated by a concern about its degrading effect on the moral sensibility of Rome’s best men. In place of earlier objections to Epicureanism, which centered on its inability to explain or recommend the virtuous conduct of Roman maiores, De finibus focuses on its inability to do so properly and, more prospectively, to assist boni in the work of maintaining the dignity and r…
Liberty, the People, and Republican Constitutionalism in Cicero’s Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo
This article examines Cicero’s treatment of libertas and its constitutional underpinnings in Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo. In Pro Rabirio, Cicero offers a concentrated discussion of libertas in which he downplays its relationship with popular institutions and procedures and emphasizes instead its strong correlation with social and political consensus. Indeed, for Cicero, libertas is more closely associated with the qualitative characteristics of…
Philosophy (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Political science (9 works) · Art (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies (6 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Literature (5 works)