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Between Form and Event: Machiavelli's Theory of Political Freedom

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Part of the book series: Topoi Library (TOPI, volume 2)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. Introduction

  3. The Form of the State — On Beginnings

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-35
    2. The Topology of Political Freedom

      • Miguel E. Vatter
      Pages 99-112
  4. Machiavelli’s Theory of History: Modes of Encounter between Action and Time

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 131-135
  5. The Event of the Republic — The Return to Beginnings

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 217-220
    2. The Aporetic Foundation of Political Freedom

      • Miguel E. Vatter
      Pages 221-235
    3. The Theory of Return to Beginnings

      • Miguel E. Vatter
      Pages 237-263

About this book

Before Machiavelli, political freedom was approached as a problem of the best distribution of the functions of ruler and ruled. Machiavelli changed the terms of freedom, requiring that its discourse address the demand for no-rule or non-domination. Political freedom would then develop only through a strategy of antagonism to every form of legitimate domination. This leads to the emergence of modern political life: any institution that wishes to rule legitimately must simultaneously be inscribed with its immanent critique and imminent subversion. For Machiavelli, the possibility of instituting the political form is conditioned by the possibility of changing it in an event of political revolution.
This book shows Machiavelli as a philosopher of the modern condition. For him, politics exists in the absence of those absolute moral standards that are called upon to legitimate the domination of man over man. If this understanding lies open to relativism and historicism, it does so in order to render effective the project of reinventing the sense of human freedom. Machiavelli's legacy to modernity is the recognition of an irreconcilable tension between the demands of freedom and the imperatives of morality.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Northwestern University, Evanston, USA

    Miguel E. Vatter

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Between Form and Event: Machiavelli's Theory of Political Freedom

  • Authors: Miguel E. Vatter

  • Series Title: Topoi Library

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9337-3

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2000

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-7923-6533-4Published: 30 November 2000

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-90-481-5547-7Published: 09 December 2010

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-015-9337-3Published: 17 April 2013

  • Series ISSN: 1389-689X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 355

  • Topics: Political Philosophy, Political Science, Modern Philosophy, Philosophy, general

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access