JLC-110 FA2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Cesare Borgia, W. M. Keck Observatory, Natural Justice
7 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Men can"t afford to be just because they have to focus on their own self-interest. Machiavelli does not mention natural justice; justice is what the prince says it is. The prince recognizes that people believe in natural justice and so he must profess to believe in it as well. Machiavelli describes politics as they are rather than as they should be. If the prince can maintain his state for long enough people will see him as honorable. Machiavelli presents an acquisitive view of human nature; the most valuable thing he can impart to lorenzo de" medici is his own knowledge. Machiavelli"s extreme desire that you arrive at the greatness that fortune and your other qualities promise you is condescending in the sense that he later derides acquisition through fortune as the virtue of unintelligent men. Virtue- capacities/skills that allow a person to master fortune.
