Not even a god can save us now : reading Machiavelli after Heidegger

Harding, Brian 1976- (author.).

Summary: "Machiavelli is rarely discussed in depth by philosophers working in what is commonly called 'continental philosophy, ' but which with more accuracy might be called post-Heideggerian philosophy. Likewise, few scholars working on Machiavelli attempt to engage post-Heideggerian philosophy. Both tendencies, Brian Harding believes, are lamentable, since many of the problems that engage major figures in the continental tradition also engaged Machiavelli: themes such as the relationship between violence, religion and politics; the origin or foundations of authority; the relationship between philosophy and politics; and the critique or overcoming of Platonism. He suggests that a careful reading of Machiavelli in dialogue with at least some post-Heideggerian philosophers (Heidegger himself, Jacques Derrida, and René Girard) will shed more light on these themes than either Machiavelli or those post-Heideggerian philosophers could in isolation. His book is an attempt at exactly such cross-pollination. Instead of looking at Machiavelli from the usual standpoint of political philosophy, it concentrates on such topics as Machiavelli's discussion of the debate about the world's eternity, the roles of fortune and God in human affairs, sacrificial violence, and the consequences of believing that the world is eternal. But instead of examining these topics from a historical perspective, Harding examines the interplay between Machiavelli's work and the ideas of contemporary European thinkers."--

Record details

ISBN: 077355050X
ISBN: 9780773550506
ISBN: 0773550518
ISBN: 9780773550513
ISBN: 0773550534
ISBN: 9780773550537
ISBN: 0773550526
ISBN: 9780773550520
Physical Description: 1 online resource
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Publisher: Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Reading Machiavelli with post-Heideggerian philosophy -- Sacrifice and the eternity of the world -- Truth and sacrifice in Machiavelli -- Sacrifice and the city -- New Princes, new philosophies, and old gods -- The end of the world.