ENGLISH

From Politics to Reason of State: The Acquisition and Transformation of the Language of Politics 1250-1600 (Ideas in Context)

By Maurizio Viroli

Book information

Year
2005
ISBN
0521673437, 9780521673433, 0521414938, 9780521414937
LCC
JA82 .V57 1992
Open Library ID
OL1541556M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
15 MB (16248249 bytes)
Pages
344\354
Topic
History
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

Between the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries, the language of politics underwent a radical transformation. The author argues that this transformation amounted to a "revolution of politics," global in scope, and wide-ranging in its intellectual and moral implications. Not only did the meaning and the range of application of the concept of politics change, but also the status of political science, the role of political education, and the value of political liberty. For three centuries politics had enjoyed the status of the noblest human science, but emerged from the revolution as an ignoble, sordid, and depraved activity. It was no longer the means of fighting corruption, but the means of perpetuating it. This "revolution of politics" has received little attention, despite its importance. This study fills a gap in the history of political thought, and attempts to return to a conception of politics as an activity worth committing ourselves to.

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