Machiavelli and the Religion of the Ancients
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€107.99
A01=Miguel Vatter
Ancient Theology
Author_Miguel Vatter
Category=JPA
Category=QDHA
Category=QDHH
Category=QDTS
Category=QRAC
Constitutionalism
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
forthcoming
Humanism
Niccolo Machiavelli
Platonism
Primitivism
Radical Republicanism
Product details
- ISBN 9781399517829
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 31 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Machiavellianism and Platonism are traditionally opposed, as realism is to idealism, and might is to right. This book questions this opposition, arguing that Machiavelli is far more influenced by Platonism than by Epicureanism. The Platonism at the time of the Medici is marked by the reception of Arabic/Islamic and Byzantine interpretations of Plato. These portray Platonism as an expression of an “ancient theology” that offers an alternative to Christianity by undoing a stark opposition between faith and knowledge; emphasising the political and state-founding role of prophets; affirming the continuity between humans and animals; and defending the rationality of divine and human law. Miguel Vatter contends that from these alternative approaches to Platonism, Machiavelli draws a critique of both the Catholic Church and of Humanism, rejecting their oligarchic tendencies in favour of a radical form of republicanism.
Miguel Vatter is Professor of Politics at Deakin University.
