Details:
Guest presenter:
Dr Nicole Hochner (Hebrew University of
Jerusalem)
Paper Title:
Are Men Free to Hate or Free to Love? A
Restatement of Machiavelli's View on Emotions
Event Information:
Dr Hochner is currently an Early Career Visiting Fellow
at the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, Perth
node. This presentation, at the Medieval
and Early Modern Centre at the University of Sydney, is part of
her visting fellowship program.
Time and Date:
5.00pm on Wednesday 15th August
Venue:
Woolley Common Room, The University of Sydney
Further inquiries:
Further inquiries:
Dr Juanita Feros
Ruys
Director of the Medieval and Early Modern Centre (University of
Sydney)
Director of the Sydney node of the ARC Centre of
Excellence for the History of Emotions (Europe 1100 - 1800)
Paper Abstract:
Machiavelli's political theory is still often mistakenly seen in
textbooks as the first modern empirical theory promoting an
a-ethical and pragmatic vision of human affairs. This so-called
realpolitik is completely alien to Machiavelli who on the contrary
scrutinizes politics from the point of view of emotions and
virtues. Emotions, I will argue, are a central political prism for
Machiavelli's theory since domination is a matter of manufacturing
and stirring up emotions. Fear, ferocity, hate, cupidity are
central features in Machiavellian anthropological analysis, but I
shall show that love is no less fundamental to the Machiavellian
political dynamic. Despite the fact that in the Prince Machiavelli
claims that it is better to be fearedthan loved, the ability to
love (love of fatherland but also the critical love of liberty) is
an indispensable civil disposition to build and stabilize a regime
that promotes social virtues proper to good citizenship. This
reading raises important questions relative to Machiavelli's
understanding of emotions, to Machiavelli's theological thought and
the place of justice and freedom and their relations to love within
Machiavelli's political philosophy.
Nichole Hochner Biography:
Nicole Hochner is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political
Science and Head of the Program in Cultural Studies at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on early modern
France, and more specifically on the years 1480-1520.
Her publications include Louis XII: Les dérèglements de l'image
royale (Seyssel, Paris 2006) and a co-edited volume with Thomas
Gaehtgens L'Image du roi de Francois Ier à Louis XIV (Paris,
2006).
Her many articles have covered topics such as the emblem of the
porcupine, the figuration of the biblical Esther, the notion of
propaganda, the display of tears in official pageants, and the
political thought of political thinkers such as Guillaume Budé,
Pierre Gringore, Claude de Seyssel and Niccolò Machiavelli.
Her current projects include a study of social mobility in early
modern France, which emphasizes the 'birth' of the word emotion and
the importance of the medical gaze; a project on Machiavelli and
love; and a political reading of Pierre Gringore's works which
focuses on satire.
