POL208Y1 Study Guide - Cesare Borgia, Human Nature, Castruccio Castracani
3 Aug 2011
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Machiavelli turns to the many writers and artists during italian renaissance for his inspiration and political education. He does so because during this period it marked a revival in the sciences and arts and marked a time where religion was losing its influence in politics. Machiavelli uses this theme in all his writings and separation of church and state is a monumental change for not only his work but many others during this time period. On book ii, the discourses, machiavelli turns for inspiration and political education from previous thinkers like plato and aristotle. For inspiration, machiavelli argues that in order to encourage prince to be good, people must look the great past to see how great the predecessors were. From his point, if predecessors did well in the past, successors would be inspirited and think they can also do well in the future as their predecessors did. As he remarks in the beginning of book ii,
