Machiavelli & Montesquieu on the philosophy of freedom

Harvey Mansfield's late or last thoughts on our political troubles

So one of the subjects we keep getting back to on PoMoCon is Machiavelli, his influence on modern thought in politics & science, the power & the danger of his arguments, & why we are returning to him rather than forgetting about him. Our politics is really ugly, but also hysterical; Machiavelli says many ugly things, but at least he’s not hysterical!

Her…