The Impact of Renaissance on Machiavelli
“The whole of Renaissance is in Machiavelli.” Harold J. Laski.
Renaissance is a French word meaning ‘rebirth’. Renaissance signified a rebirth of human spirit in the attainment of liberty, self-confidence, and optimism. The central theme of renaissance was humanism, which affirmed the dignity and excellence of human beings and defended the freedom of the human spirit and knowledge.
Renaissance brought the emergence of the new human: an ambitious restless individual, motivated by self-interest, seeking glory and fame.
The political chaos and moral confusion in Machiavelli’s Italy led him to shape his understanding of the modern state and the modern individual on the basis of the Renaissance thinking. The modern State afterwards would be understood as omnipotent and omnicompetent.
Machiavelli was convinced that the State needed a morality of its own, namely that of success. This idea will be further developed in his concept of the Omnipotent Legislator.
Machiavelli separated religion from politics thus bringing in the elements of secularism in modern political thought. He advocated individual freedom, not submission to the authority of the Church. Religion was subordinated to the State.
Machiavelli treated national interest as supreme and politics was seen as an end in itself.
All the above thoughts of Machiavelli represented the major developments of his time shaped by Renaissance thinking. Because of this, he is regarded as the best representative thinker of Renaissance.
Leave a Reply