Principality And Republic: Physiognomies Of Machiavelli

The opinions about Machiavelli's doctrine are widely divided, and some of these opinions are misunderstanding. Many scholars are at odds with their colleagues over the theory of polity. Some of them believe that principality is Machiavelli's temporary plan to save his country and his idea is to establish a republic nation like ancient Rome; or some consider Machiavelli as a preacher of political techniques who remained neutral between republic and principality; while some acknowledge Machiavelli as a restorer of classical republicanism; and some others deem that Machiavelli actually had already surpassed the classical republicanism and conceived an ideal republic.With the attitude of honest understanding, this thesis displays a decipherment of four masterpieces of Machiavelli in a meticulous way, and unveils Machiavelli's different physiognomies as a political scientist, a political philosopher, a dramatist, and even a historian, in order to gain the cognition to Machiavelli's image. From the comprehension of his masterpieces, Machiavelli's doctrine is proved to be a rounded system and coherent. During the process of Machiavelli's argumentation, he adopts an antithetical discourse which is formed by two kinds of different expressions. He conveys "the esoteric teaching" in the deep level of "the exoteric teaching", which is the start point to excavate Machiavelli's truth. To begin with the acclamation of disparity between Machiavelli's doctrine and the classical theories, this thesis draws a comparison between his moral, political theories and the classical ones from the angle of pre-modern, and examines the connection between Machiavelli and the modern political philosophy on the purpose of clarifying his genuine direction of polity. In conclusion, the author argues that Machiavelli does not aim at the patriotism, but places the self-interest as the basis of the political life. He makes recommendations to principality and republic for their maintenance and preservation on an object position. Nevertheless, leaving aside the principality which can be applied under the situation of contingency, Machiavelli holds a preference to republic which aims at meeting the need of the majority. Machiavelli has realized the transformation of the conception of philosophy while fathering the modern political philosophy.