Saving One’s Soul or Founding a State: Morality and the Politician

Susan Mendus

 

 

In his celebrated essay on Machiavelli, Isaiah Berlin argues that what is truly original about Machiavelli is his discovery that ‘there are at least two worlds: each of them has much, indeed everything, to be said for it; but they are two and not one. One must learn to choose between them and, having chosen, not look back’. The politician does not act contrary to morality; he embraces a different morality – the morality of politics.

 

In this lecture, I will discuss the claim that politics is itself a world of value and I will ask how that claim might influence our understanding and assessment of politicians who engage in morally disreputable acts.