The Multiple Figures of People in Machiavelli's Discourses

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3173.2020.v43n2.08.p133

Keywords:

Machiavelli, People, Discourses on Livy, Freedom, Political participation

Abstract

In the reading of the three major political works of Machiavelli is recurrent the use of the term popolo, or some correlate. Thus, if Machiavelli’s interest in the figure “people” seems clear, what does he mean by it? Is it possible to establish a sufficiently homogeneous and definitive conception of people in Machiavellian thought, particularly in Discourses? The purpose of this study is to show that, although an idea of popolo as a political actor in Machiavelli’s work is present, his conception is not definitively fixed, let alone that it can be homogeneous and static. Instead, it can be said that the conception of popolo in Discourses is polymorphic and varies according to the concrete historical conjunctures in which it emerges on the public scene, so that it is an idea in permanent and continuous transformation.

Recebido: 30/4/2018
Aceito: 29/6/2019

Author Biography

  • José Luiz Ames, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná

    Professor Associado da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNIOESTE).

References

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Recebido: 30/4/2018 - Aceito: 29/6/2019

Published

2020-06-30 — Updated on 2022-07-14

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Articles and Comments

How to Cite

The Multiple Figures of People in Machiavelli’s Discourses. (2022). Trans/Form/Ação, 43(2), 133-156. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3173.2020.v43n2.08.p133