Machiavelli's Art of War: A Reconsideration*
Abstract Machiavelli's Art of War contains an unexplored and unexplained paradox: the dialogue's chief interlocutor is Fabrizio Colonna, a condottiere in the employ of Ferdinand of Aragon, who played a critical role in the Spanish conquest of northern Italy and in the collapse of the Florentine republic led by Piero Soderini, in which Machiavelli worked as a civil servant. Yet, Machiavelli chooses Fabrizio to defend the superiority of the citizen militia, which he associates with republican civic virtue, over mercenary troops. This paradox has remained unaccounted for because literary scholars have ignored the historical background underlying the text's assorted political subtexts, while historians have ignored the nature of Quattrocento dialogue, as a literary genre, in contextualizing the work. Once these historical and literary dimensions of the Art of War are brought together, it can be seen why Fabrizio Colonna would have been perceived, by Machiavelli and his audience, as the ideal representative of a military position which he espoused neither in theory or in practice.
Administrative Rhetoric Revisited : Investigating Rhetorical Identification between Ruler and Ruled
The notion of commonplace, or common opinion, is one of imperative elements of politics. Machiavelli shows how the ruler manipulates the commonplace to embrace his private interests as the social needs. This study investigates rhetoric of Machiavellianpolitics in the attempt to reveal ways in which the ruler guidespeople to identifywith his private interests.The study firstly investigates the relationship between politics and rhetoric to examine how Machiavelli locates these two arts. Then, this inquiry discusses Machiavelli's political theory by focusing on his notions of republic, people, and appearance. Thirdly, focusing on the rhetorical theories of Aristotle and Burke, this inquiry explains how the commonplace plays a critical role. This section also examines their notions of commonplace, deductive reasoningbased on opinion,and identificationwill reveal techniquesof the ruler to use the commonplace to guide people to accept his private aims. Lastly, this study discusses Machiavellian politics and the current politics in order to call for the need of healthy commonplace for our engagements in politics. Whosecould these men be? Whatwere they talking about? What authority couldtheyrepresent? K. lived in a country with a legal constitution, there was universalpeace, all the laws were inforce; who dared seize him in his own dwelling? He had always been inclinedto take thingseasily, to believe in the worstonly when the worst happened, to take no carefor the morroweven when the outlook was threatening. . . But he was still free. (The Trial, Kafka, 1925/1992, pp. 4-5)
The Hollywood War Machine: U.S. Militarism and Popular Culture
CONTENTS Preface Chapter One: Media Culture in the Imperial System Chapter Two: Militarism in American Popular Culture Chapter Three: War and Cinema: The Historical Legacy Chapter Four: The Vietnam Syndrome: Politics and Cinema Chapter Five: Recycling the Good War Chapter Six: Cinematic Warfare in the New World Order Chapter Seven: Hollywood After 9/11