Anti-Machiavel

Anti-Machiavel

"Anti-Machiavel" is an 18th century essay by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia and patron of Voltaire, rebutting "The Prince", the 16th century book by Niccolò Machiavelli. It was first published in September 1740, a few months after Frederick became king.

Composition and Publication

The work was produced at a turning point in Frederick's life, after his turbulent and rebellious youth, and immediately before his assumption of the throne of Prussia. Frederick had, of course, read Machiavelli long before; it is not exactly clear what drew his attention to this subject in the late 1730s, although his affiliation with Voltaire and his impending change in rank most certainly contributed to the project. It is known from letters to Voltaire that Frederick began to ruminate on the project early in 1738; his draft of the brief work was completed by the end of 1739.

At this point, Voltaire took over. Living in the Vieille Cour, the Prussian residence in The Hague, and working with a local printer named Van Duren, Voltaire revised the text extensively--so much so, in fact, that the printer decided to publish, in addition to Voltaire's revised edition, a version of the king's original manuscript. There was also a combined edition, with Voltaire's emendations as footnotesFact|date=June 2008.

In the meantime, Frederick had become king, and his authorship--which was a very open secret--made the book an instant success and bestseller. Not surprisingly, Frederick had other matters to occupy his attention, and he did not return to the work in an appreciable way.

Argument

Frederick's argument is essentially moral in nature: he asserts that Machiavelli offered a partial and biased view of statecraft. His own views appear to reflect a largely Enlightenment ideal of rational and benevolent statesmanship: the king, Frederick contends, is charged with maintaining the health and prosperity of his subjects. On the one hand, then, Machiavelli erred by assigning too great a value on princely machinations that, Frederick claims, ended in disaster, as the king's evil actions are taken up by his subjects. On the other hand, and in support of the first idea, Frederick points out the numerous cases in which Machiavelli had ignored or slighted the bad ends of the numerous malefactors he describes and praises.

ources

*Thomas Carlyle (1865). "History of Friedrich II of Prussia", Book 10. Project Gutenberg. March, 2000.

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/danielmacryan/antimac.html Full text of the essay] , English translation with some notes on provenance


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Anti-Machiavel — Édition princeps Auteur Frédéric II de Prusse Genre Essai …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Discours Sur Les Moyens De Bien Gouverner (Anti-Machiavel) — Les Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (1576), connus sous le nom d Anti Machiavel, sont un traité du réformé Innocent Gentillet. Le titre est: Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner maintenir en paix un Royaume, ou autre Principauté [ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (anti-machiavel) — Les Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (1576), connus sous le nom d Anti Machiavel, sont un traité du réformé Innocent Gentillet. Le titre est: Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner maintenir en paix un Royaume, ou autre Principauté [ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (Anti-Machiavel) — Les Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner (1576), connus sous le nom d Anti Machiavel, sont un traité du réformé Innocent Gentillet. Le titre est: Discours sur les moyens de bien gouverner maintenir en paix un Royaume, ou autre Principauté [ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Machiavel — Nicolas Machiavel « Machiavel » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir Machiavel (homonymie). Nicolas Machiavel P …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Anti-philosophique — Philosophie Auguste Rodin, Le Penseur, 1880 82 : représentation fameuse d un homme plongé dans ses méditations …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Anti-pornographie — Pornographie Sexologie et sexualité Sexualité Sexualité humaine Amour Libido …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Anti-mitterrandisme — François Mitterrand Pour les articles homonymes, voir Mitterrand (homonymie). François Mitterrand …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nicolas Machiavel — « Machiavel » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir Machiavel (homonymie). Nicolas Machiavel Philosophe florentin Renaissance …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fortuna et Virtù (Machiavel) — Nicolas Machiavel « Machiavel » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir Machiavel (homonymie). Nicolas Machiavel P …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”