Machiavelli on the Intention and Utility of The Prince
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3970305 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Wood (0000-0001-9415-9976, Charles University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 44-56 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The European Legacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10848770.2024.2364548 |
| OpenAlex | W4400044219 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Machiavelli’s The Prince, which he refers to in a famous letter of 10 December 1513 to Francesco Vettori as a treatise On Principalities, is sometimes read as a “failed job application” to work as an adviser to the recently installed Medici rulers of his native Florence. This article argues that, without necessarily replacing this traditional interpretation, such a reading of the text can also be supplemented by a reading which takes Machiavelli’s intention as more comprehensive and as directed to a theoretically-inclined posterity, especially if attention is paid to the utility of the treatise as intended by its author
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |