According to Leo Strauss, Machiavelliʼs teaching on the new prince is an indirect way to raise the “what is” question. By doing so, Machiavelli investigates the origin and nature of political societies. By “nature” we mean, on the one hand, the essential character of a thing or a group of things; on the other hand, the first things. By reducing the question concerning the nature of society to its origin, Machiavelli seems to beg the question concerning the essential character of the “political” as opposed to the “non-political”, and, therefore, he seems to ignore the political problem of justice in favor of the search for order. This paper will try to show how the question concerning the origin of society conveys a deeper meaning, and how it serves as a new approach to the fundamental ontological distinction between nature and convention.
L'interesse teorico di Machiavelli. Una nota sulla lettura straussiana del Principe
Menon, Marco
2017-01-01
Abstract
According to Leo Strauss, Machiavelliʼs teaching on the new prince is an indirect way to raise the “what is” question. By doing so, Machiavelli investigates the origin and nature of political societies. By “nature” we mean, on the one hand, the essential character of a thing or a group of things; on the other hand, the first things. By reducing the question concerning the nature of society to its origin, Machiavelli seems to beg the question concerning the essential character of the “political” as opposed to the “non-political”, and, therefore, he seems to ignore the political problem of justice in favor of the search for order. This paper will try to show how the question concerning the origin of society conveys a deeper meaning, and how it serves as a new approach to the fundamental ontological distinction between nature and convention.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
