Tag: Niccolò Machiavelli

Edmund Husserl

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Leo Strauss credited Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology as a critical resource for his project of overthrowing modern political thought and vindicating the ancients. This may come as some surprise to readers of Strauss, given the prominence of his critique of historicism, which applies to Husserl as well. But Strauss’s late essay, “Philosophy as Rigorous Science and Political Philosophy”[1] as well as posthumously published lectures and correspondence reveal significant debts to Husserl.

Husserl was not, moreover, a mere “negative influence” — i.e., someone whose ideas Strauss rejected. Husserl was a “positive influence,” meaning that Strauss accepted and incorporated some of his ideas. (more…)

James Burnham

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In The Machiavellians: Defenders of Freedom,[1] James Burnham sets forth a Machiavellian method for interpreting political texts. (Methods of interpretation are also known as “hermeneutic” methods.) Burnham distinguishes between the “formal” and the “real” meanings of texts. The formal meaning of a text is “what it explicitly states when taken at face value” (p. 8). The formal meaning also expresses, albeit in an indirect and disguised manner, “what may be called the real meaning” (p. 8). (more…)

Santi di Tito, Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli, ca. 1550.

287 words / 1:55:51

Gregory Hood was host Greg Johnson‘s guest on the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio, and they discussed James Burnham and Machiavellianism, the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, and answered YOUR QUESTIONS, and it is now ready for download and online listening. (more…)

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Neema Parvini
The Populist Delusion
Perth: Imperium Press, 2022

Neema Parvini, Ph.D., is the author of five books on Shakespeare who in recent years has turned his attention to political philosophy, including the broader Dissident Right. In our sphere, he is known as Academic Agent.

Parvini’s The Populist Delusion is a critique of populism and democracy from the Right. (more…)

Carl Schmitt, 1888–1985

127 words / 1:55:45

The last episode of Counter-Currents Radio featured Greg Johnson reading from and discussing his essay “Reflections on Carl Schmitt’s The Concept of the Political,” as well as answering YOUR QUESTIONS, as always, and it is now available for download and online listening.

Topics discussed include:

The Concept of the Political
A few words on Carl Schmitt (more…)

Detail, Santi di Tito, Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli, ca. 1550.

1,379 words

I had been aware for some time of the phrase “the engineer’s fallacy,” but unaware of its provenance and exact definition. I struck lucky on the ‘net, because this gentleman claims to have invented the phrase, and this short piece repays inspection. 

Mr. Kelly’s definition of the Engineer’s Fallacy is pleasingly simple: (more…)

4,562 words

Andrew Lynn
Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man
Classic Spirituality for the Modern Man
Howgill House Books, 2017

“In a time of universal triviality, seeking answers to the great questions of existence is . . . a revolutionary course of action. Those who have the humility to ask the question ‘Could it be us who have gone astray?’ are the true radicals.”–Andrew Lynn (more…)

President Obama and Mark Zuckerberg, two leading figureheads of the globalist elite.

2,287 words

One of the redeeming features of imperialism is that it makes for great adventure stories. The works of H. Rider Haggard and Rudyard Kipling and the literature of the American West from James Fenimore Cooper to Louis L’Amour would not have been possible without the empires and imperial problems that provide the setting for their tales. The reason for the relationship ought to be fairly obvious.

Empires offer all the standard fare of blood, guts, intrigue, romance, and action: villains plotting to overthrow civilization, heroes striving to protect it; (more…)

2,219 words

Republican theorists of the 16th and 17th centuries recognized the merits of sortition, and included the practice when drawing up their ideal constitutions.

Niccolò Machiavelli

In 1520, Niccolò Machiavelli, in a proposal to the Medicis, published the Discourse on the Government of Florence, arguing that none of the previous governments worked for the common good and merely represented the interests of one faction at the expense of the other, be they Medici, aristocratic, or popolo. (more…)

839 words

Translated by Greg Johnson

Borne along by the French Spring, the Conservative Revolution is in fashion. One of its most brilliant theorists deserves to be remembered, even if his name has long been maligned. Indeed it is scarcely flattering to be described as “Machiavellesque” if not “Machiavellian.” It can be seen as an aspersion of cynicism and deceit.  (more…)

695 words

English original here

Навіть його власне ім’я повернулось проти нього. І дійсно, навряд чи хто втішатиметься епітетом «макіавеліанський». В уяві одразу вимальовуються тіні підступної та зрадливої жорстокості. Та все ж до написання свого найвідомішого та найскандальнішого твору – «Державець» Макіавеллі привела турбота про його батьківщину – Італію. (more…)

Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito: “I prefer my fatherland to my own soul.”

838 words

Translated by Greg Johnson

Even his own name has been turned against him. Indeed it is hardly flattering to be described as “Machiavellian.” One immediately envisions a hint of cunning and treacherous violence. And yet what led Machiavelli to write his most famous and scandalous work, The Prince, was concern for his fatherland, Italy. (more…)