Lefort: the Work of the Thought’s Work

Abstract

One of the fundamental elements of Machiavelli's Lefortian reading is the recognition of the distance that separates Machiavellianism and Machiavellian work. In fact, Lefort asks where the image of Machiavellianism comes from, which accompanies the reading of the Machiavellian work in the vein of times. To answer and dismantle this image, the author questions what Machiavelli is looking for when he examines Italian cities, particularly Florence in the quattrocento and cinquecento, proposing the figures of the new prince and the new order. These figures point to the place where the Machiavellian work is born as a question about the genesis of politics from the interrogation of the experience of the political present.