A CONTINGÊNCIA DA POLÍTICA E A NECESSIDADE DA HIPOCRISIA EM O PRÍNCIPE DE MAQUIAVEL

• Autor(a) principal: Pina, Albano
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.21814/eps.2.1.88
• topic: LYING AND HYPOCRISY IN POLITICS AND MORALITY, WITH RUTH GRANT

In his most famous work, Machiavelli showed how the prince is never assessed by what he is, but according to what he appears to be. Therefore, the politician needs to act as a hypocrite, as a ‘great pretender and dissembler’, to maintain the support of the people on which his power relies. However, hypocrisy does not simply mean deception of the ruled by the rulers. Given the social division which underlies the state, it actually plays a fundamental role in the imaginary constitution of a sovereign power capable of imposing unity and stability on collective life. Our aim is to question the use of hypocrisy in order to emphasize the distinction introduced by Machiavelli between moral virtue and political ‘virtù’. Furthermore, we will try to demonstrate how it is presented as part of a broader strategy against the unpredictable effects of time, symbolized by the metaphor of ‘Fortuna’.