Machiavelli’s Virtu

Machiavelli can be counted as one of the most controversial thinkers of the history of political philosophy. For his theory, many philosophers have their own different interpretations. As for this, Machiavelli became a mystery.virtu (virtue) is a very important concept in Machiavelli ideological system. There are some unusual places in the usage of Machiavelli’s virtu and almost every book on Machiavelli should discuss the term "virtu".The Machiavelli’s political philosophy construct is likely to be closely related to it. Perhaps through analysis of Machiavelli concept of virtu, we can explore Machiavelli’s thinking, so as to uncover the mysterious veil of Machiavelli.According the divided virtu by previous scholars and text, this paper plans to analyze the relationship between the various levels of the virtu and to interprete the Machiavelli’s the connotation of virtu and to reveal the new understanding of the Machiavelli’s virtu that Machiavelli highlights the the effectiveness capacity of the virtu concept.Then Compared with Machiavelli’s virtu and the previous virtue to emphasize the effectiveness in Machiavelli’s virtu, and against the classical tradition of virtue and the Christian virtue. He wants a effectiveness of virtue instead of the useless classical traditional virtue and the Christian virtue, so that the ancient political philosophy develops to modern political science, highlighting the importance of political effectiveness in political science. And then describing the performance and impact of Machiavelli’s virtu in the thought of Machiavelli, the relationship between politics and moral initiated by virtu, the neglection of political legitimacy, reflecting the pragmatism of political science in Machiavelli’s thought. Finally, the paper analyzes and comments on the pragmatism tendency in Machiavelli’s thought.