POL200Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Girolamo Savonarola
Moves beyond the table of contents
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"but because one becomes prince by 2 modes"
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Crime
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Consent of citizens
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Princes from private station - not fortune or virtue
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Virtue : rely only on your self, fortune : rely on others
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Ex: Agathocles : hardened criminal / thug
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"King of Syracuse from mean and abject future"
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Crimes accompanied by spirit and fortune by body
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Virtue and crime are not mutually exclusive
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'nothing can be contributed to fortune.'
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If one considers Agathocles' virtue, it is not below others, but not
the greatest --> praises virtue
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Was Agathocles virtuous or not? --> seems he was not
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Virtues : self-reliance, result in promotion of self, persistence,
initiative
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Class of virtues (justice, honesty) which promote the good of
others, not self, Agathocles lacks
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Due to split in virtues in this way, what is Agathocles? He is
virtuous or evil?
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Enable to acquire empire - doesn't deserve to be celebrated
despite clear non-traditional virtue --> always had a bad
reputation
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How did 4 founders succeed - same 'bad' virtues --> Agathocles is
not equal to founders due to reputation, wasn't evil ENOUGH -
no modes to convince that evil is good -- COMPEL belief
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Not 'virtuous' enough, improve prophecy
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Can he simply regard crime as a virtue?
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Tyrant of Sicelese is similar to Yaro
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Typical morality needs to be destroyed
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Chapter VIII
Simply inevitable due to strengths of people
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No one had promoted idea of state of people
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Problem : people too narrowly selfish to support an innovative /
superior state
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Machiavelli debunks old idea of virtue, less inclined to exclude people
due to lofty state
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Ascend with support of people / great
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Seem easier to satisfy, but still really are only concerned with
themselves --> they are just as bad
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People merely wish to be unoppressed - desire small things
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Great want to oppress --> are they bad / evil?
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People v. elites (can't trust) - populism
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People are sheep, need someone to protect
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Congruence of people and Prince - people need someone to
protect them from the Greats, give Prince power
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Rivalry between Prince and the great
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Each sees other as means to ends
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Notion of social contract - promotes purely selfish notion of
politics --> no one cares about common good, enter in contract purely
for themselves
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Have to be able to punish / reward
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Chapter IX
Lecture 2.4: Machiavelli,
The Prince
, chapters 9-14
January 26, 2017
2:00 PM
LECTURE Page 44