- Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
- Edited by Pasquale Terraciano, Francesco Valerio Tommasi
Reviewing Machiavelli: German Journals and the Politics of the Enlightenment
- Pasquale Terraciano
- © 2026 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.06
The essay explores how German learned journals between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mediated the reception of Machiavelli and Italian Renaissance thought. Through the analysis of reviews in the Acta Eruditorum, Neue Zeitungen von Gelehrten Sachen and other periodicals, the paper shows how the figure of Machiavelli evolved from theological scandal to object of philosophical debate. The review becomes a lens through which the moral and political conscience of the German Enlightenment took shape—balancing virtue, power, and historical judgment. Particular attention is given to Christian Thomasius, who used reviewing as a form of moral reasoning, and to the vast critical debate surrounding Frederick II’s Anti-Machiavel. Ultimately, the paper argues that the philosophical review was not a secondary genre but a space where modern political thought and the ethics of criticism were forged.
- Keywords:
- Machiavelli,
- German Enlightenment,
- Journals,
- Anti-Machiavel,
- Thomasius,
Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-5862-9480
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Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Reviewing Machiavelli: German Journals and the Politics of the Enlightenment
Authors
Pasquale Terraciano
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1.06
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Philosophical Reviews in German Territories (1668-1799)
Book Subtitle
Volume 2
Editors
Pasquale Terraciano, Francesco Valerio Tommasi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
282
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0999-1
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0998-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0999-1
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-1060-7
Series Title
Knowledge and its Histories
Series ISSN
3035-5974
Series E-ISSN
3035-5923