S0616 Machiavelli and the Foundations of Modern Political Philosophy

This course will consider Machiavelli’s, The Prince, Discourses On Levy and his Florentine Histories in order to understand his distinctive contribution to the foundation of modern political philosophy. Although the focus will be primarily on the original texts, we will also read two major commentators on Machiavelli, Leo Strauss and Harvey Mansfield. The course will be divided into three sections: the first dealing with The Prince, the second organized around the Discourses and the third focusing on the Florentine Histories. Throughout the course we will be considering the meaning of the claim that Machiavelli is the first modern political philosopher