A Revision of Machiavellian Realism: The Problem of One’s Own Weapons

Abstract

The association of Machiavelli’s teaching with the advice of possessing one’s own weapons has become axiomatic in the interpretation of his work. Nonetheless, the apparent simplicity of this formula implies an inadequate interpretation of Machiavelli’s text. His frequent self-contradictory statements on the subject, as well as the stories he tells in his books, deny in certain cases the accuracy of the advice of possessing one’s own weapons. We intend to analyze Machiavelli’s understanding of the foundations of power (if it relies simply on weapons or if an element of another order intervenes), and the development of our reading will reveal new dimensions such as the relationship with representation and its figures, the importance of appearance and the scene of the spectacle of power, the question of the legitimacy of power, and the place of religion and philosophical knowledge.