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In this highly original interpretation of Machiavelli's thought, Anthony J. Parel identifies a theme generally neglected in the scholarship of this sixteenth-century political thinker: Machiavelli's belief in the occult forces of heaven and humors. Challenging the current tendency to view Machiavelli as a pioneer of modern political science, Parel argues instead that a premodern cosmology and anthropology underlie Machiavelli's political works. Parel shows that Machiavelli's world picture owes more to the astrological cosmology prevalent in the Renaissance than to the Aristotelian or Platonic or Christian world picture. This astrological determination significantly affects Machiavelli's conceptions of history, politics, and religion and shapes his notions of virtu and fortuna. It also has considerable impact on his ethical ideas: the Machiavellian cosmos has no room for a Ruling Mind or for the Sovereignty of the Good, and humans are left to pursue their appetites for riches and glory as best they can. In a similar fashion, says Parel Machiavelli's political anthropology is influenced by the ancient idea that body humors determine a person's temperament and behavior, for he believes that humors compromise human autonomy and rationality. According to Parel, the theory of humors also affects Machiavelli's view of the body politic and his characterization of republics, princedoms, and licenzia, and Parel explicates this in new readings of The Prince, the Discourses, and the Florentine Histories

AbstractMachiavelli's argument in chapter 25 ofThe Princefor resisting Fortune is no longer persuasive. The reason is that it is based on the outmoded Ptolemaic cosmology. With that cosmology long discarded, it is time to discard thepolitical philosophybased on it. But discarding the political philosophy does not mean discarding the chapter. On the contrary, we should study the chapter with renewed diligence as part of the history of Machiavelli's political philosophy. The distinction between his political philosophy and the history of his political philosophy is critical here.

The premise of this essay is that although there can be a certain degree of openness in a good political society, the idea remains valid that all political societies, without exception, are fundamentally closed systems. This means that, no matter how progressive a political system believes itself to be, it exists ultimately for the protection and advancement of the values and interests of a particular exclusive group and not for the defense and advancement of the values of humanity as a whole. The demonstration is based on Bergson's thesis on the elan vital and on social obligations immanent in the individual. Hence the specific impact of Bergsonian evolutionism on the debates in political theory: (1) war and violence seem to be the most fundamental issue of political theory; (2) any exaggerated confidence in the strength of the intellect, viewed separately from intuition and love, does not offer a solution for the issue of war and violence; and (3) modern technology, if it is not guided by intuition and love for mankind, can destroy life. Consequently, the necessity arises for a political organization of the values of an open society, under conditions of the continuation of the manifestation of the values of the closed society.

Larticle démontre que l'activité politique de Gandhi peut être expliquiée par les symboles auxquels il a eu recours. Pour Gandhi, la politique n'avait pas qu'une fonction utilitaire mais aussi un rôle de formation par la poursuite de valeurs, d'origine spirituelle sans doute, mais servant d'objectifs à l'action politique. Pour faire saisir ces objectifs, Gandhi a eu recours à divers symboles : le « khadi » (pièce d'étoffe du pays s'enroulant à la taille et faisant office de vêtement unique), la vache, leûne et le « harijan » (mot signifiant « peuple de Dieu » par lequel Gandhi désignait les « Intouchables » de l'Inde). Les valeurs représentées par ces symboles étaient la dignité du travail, la noblesse de la personne en soi, la bienveillance, la pureté de l'âme, la liberté naturelle et civile, ainsi que la poursuite du bonheur par des voies à la fois matérielles et spirituelles dont la pratique de certaines vertues telles l'esprit de pauvreté, la chasteté et la droiture du cœur.De tels symboles servaient à la propagation des idées de Gandhi. Ainsi, ceux qui portaient le khadi semblaient adhérer à ses valeurs et pratiquer les vertus appropriées. Par l'utilisation de ces symboles, Gandhi réussit à provoquer chez ses adhérents, quoique à des degrés divers, des changements d'éthique personnelle. Ces symboles aident également à comprendre les tâches politiques que Gandhi a pu assumer avec succès. Le jeûne, par exemple, lui a servi d'instrument pour améliorer la législation et les attitudes sociales à l'égard des « intouchables » De même, il a utilisé, mais sans succès, la vache comme symbole d'amitié entre Indous et Musulmans. L'auteur conclut que l'originalité du style politique de Gandhi s'explique largement par les symboles d'action qu'il avait adopté.