Machiavelli on Freedom and Civil Conflict: An Historical and Medical Approach to Political Thinking

In Machiavelli on Freedom and Civil Conflict: An Historical and Medical Approach to Political Thinking, Marie Gaille rethinks Machiavelli’s conception of civil conflict. In complete opposition to the common view of Machiavelli as a defender of tyranny, this analysis brings new elements to the forefront: the use of medical metaphors to describe the body politic, its historical lifespan and its institutional arrangement. This study is also based on a comprehensive approach to Machiavelli’s writings, including his most famous works, but also The History of Florence, his correspondence, and his political, military and diplomatic reports. This study allows Marie Gaille to propose an original assessment of Machiavelli’s insights for contemporary conceptions of democracy.

This is a revised and translated edition of Conflit Civil et Liberté la Politique Machiavelienne entre Histoire et Médecine, first published in French, in 2004 by Éditions Honoré Champion.

Marie Gaille, Ph. D. (2001), National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), is a senior researcher in philosophy. She has published monographs, translations, special issues, and many articles on medical decisions and health issues, the relationship between medicine and politics, and the history of medicine.