Introduction to Political Philosophy (PLSC 114)
The discussion of Machiavelli's politics continues in the context of his most famous work, The Prince. A reformer of the moral Christian and classical concepts of goodness and evil, Machiavelli proposes his own definitions of virtue and vice, replacing the vocabulary associated with Plato and the biblical sources. He relates virtue, or virtu, to manliness, force, ambition and the desire to achieve success at all costs. Fortune, or fortuna, is a woman, that must be conquered through policies of force, brutality, and audacity. The problem of "dirty hands" in political and philosophical literature is discussed in detail.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction and Class Agenda
04:09 - Chapter 2. "Discourses on Livy"
10:30 - Chapter 3. The Problem of "Dirty Hands"
22:50 - Chapter 4. Was Machiavelli a Machiavellian?
36:19 - Chapter 5. What Did Machiavelli Achieve?
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: open.yale.edu/c...
This course was recorded in Fall 2006.