Machiavelli redeemed
Subtitle: retrieving his humanist perspectives on equality, power, and glory
By: Robert A. Kocis.
Publisher: Lehigh University Press; Associated University Presses
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Bethlehem; London; Cranbury, NJ
Language: eng
Number of pages: 264
Subjects: Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527.; Humanists -- Italy.; Italy -- Intellectual life -- 1268-1559.
Description: The true Machiavelli is not to be found in extremist interpretations. The fault for these misperceptions is partly his own: he spoke in provocative paradoxes to challenge sacred truths, and this makes it easy for observers to ignore the obvious. In this portrait, the obvious dominates our vision, and he emerges as a Renaissance humanist. Like all of us, Machiavelli was a flawed being with strains of greatness mixed with baser ingredients.

But his political insights and recognition of the emergence of a new reality qualify him as a political genius. Neither devil nor saint, Machiavelli has languished too long in the Purgatory of the human imagination and deserves redemption.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-258) and index.