From the master of \u2018micro-history\u2019, a reconstruction of two contrasting early-modern thinkers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through his repeated use of the adverb nondimanco<\/em> (\u201cnevertheless\u201d), Machiavelli indicated that there is an exception to every rule. This may seem merely to confirm the traditional image of Machiavelli as a cynical, \u201cmachiavellian\u201d thinker. But a close analysis of Machiavelli the reader, as well as of the ways in which some of Machiavelli\u2019s most perceptive read his work, throws a different light on Machiavelli the writer. The same hermeneutic strategy inspires Ginzburg\u2019s essays on the Provinciales<\/em>, Pascal\u2019s ferocious attack against Jesuitical casuistry, or case-based ethical reasoning. 272 pages \/ 25 January 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verso<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Casuistry vs anti-casuistry; Machiavelli\u2019s secular attitude towards religion vs Pascal\u2019s deep religiosity. We are confronted, apparently, with two completely different worlds. But Pascal read Machiavelli and reflected deeply upon his work. A belated, contemporary echo of this reading can unveil the complex relationship between Machiavelli and Pascal\u2014their divergences as well as their unexpected convergences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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