Niccolò Machiavelli, Renaissance man, politician and philosopher, is one of the most controversial figures in history. To this day, Machiavelli is predominantly viewed as a ‘teacher of evil,’ renowned and notorious primarily for his allegedly amoral doctrine that the end justifies the means: Machiavellianism. A hard-nosed realism in power politics and a primacy of reasons of state were also often seen as further central elements of Machiavelli's teachings. In the lively international debate about the Florentine thinker, however, the focus today is either on Machiavelli the republican or even on the radical, proto-Marxist democrat and class theorist. Philipp Hölzing traces this equally astonishing and exciting turn in the debate about Machiavelli in his book.
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Philipp Hölzing, born in 1978, is a philosopher, historian of ideas and editor in the academic editorial department of Suhrkamp Verlag. He focuses on the history of political thought, particularly republicanism, and on the life and work of Machiavelli. He is the author of numerous books, including Republikanismus und Kosmopolitismus. Eine ideengeschichtliche Studie (Republicanism and Cosmopolitanism: A Study in the History of Ideas) and Ein Laboratorium der Moderne. Politisches Denken in Deutschland 1789–1820 (A Laboratory of Modernity. Political Thought in Germany 1789–1820).
