Machiavelli’s Solitude

Abstract

“Machiavelli’s Solitude” is the text of a lecture to the Association Française de Science Politique delivered by Louis Althusser in 1977. Despite his being enormously influential philosopher, continually surrounded by irreconcilable opponents and supporters, it is contended that Niccolo Machivelli’s solitude consists of the fact that he remains unclassifiable — an indecipherable riddle. The particular issue of whether he was a monarchist or a republican is explored in detail, and it is argued that to pose this problem in these terms goes against Machiavelli’s assertion that a classification of governments is impossible. Rather, Machiavelli was a theoretician of the nation-state (specifically, of the political conditions necessary for its formation), and his “prince” was an autonomous, anonymous actor in search of this “new principality”. Machiavelli’s solitude is also related to the “unwonted” character of his thought; his belief that “one must be alone to found a state” is reflected in his writings, in which he rejected the dominant ideologies of the past and formed a unique tradition of political thought. The relationship between Machiavelli’s ideas and the Marxist tradition is discussed, along with Antonio Gramsci’s assessment of them. This lecture exemplifies a side of Althusser that has often been neglected: his skill as a lecturer and stylist.