Niccolo Machiavelli The Laughing Lion and the Strutting Fox

Niccol Machiavelli is usually understood as a thinker who separated morality from politics and championed the view that "the ends justify the means." Raymond Angelo Belliotti argues instead that Machiavelli presents us with a much more nuanced view of the potential moral conflicts faced by politicians and military leaders. While the exercise of political and military virtugrace; may require leaders to "risk their souls" when performing their public duties, this can be done only in pursuit of those most valuable political ends essential to the common good. In this historically informed discussion, Belliotti neither tries to domesticate Machiavelli by picturing him as a liberal humanist nor paints him as a teacher of evil. Rather, this book offers a balanced understanding of the Florentine and an insightful examination of the stunning discoveries and glaring errors that arise from his conclusion that international affairs have always been and will always be a series of zero-sum contests. Book jacket.

Raymond Angelo Belliotti is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia.