1. Several scholars have argued for the existence of a “Machiavellian moment” representing a significant discontinuity in Western political thought. Based on your readings in this class, assess the merits of such a discontinuity hypothesis. Caveat – this term was coined by Pocock, with whose work you need no familiarity, and you are liable to be led astray if you try researching it. Pocock states in his introduction that “”The Machiavellian moment” is a phrase to be interpreted in two ways. In the first place, it denotes the moment, and the manner, in which Machiavellian thought made its appearance . . .”, which he argues to be a discontinuity in political thought demarcating “modernity” and with which he deals largely in Part I of his book. The second deals with the issue of the historical moment in which republics confront their own instability. Only the question of whether Machiavelli – or perhaps some other author – represents a significant discontinuity in Western political thought is relevant to this question.
2. Most of the writers you have studied so far addressed in some fashion the issue of “property”. Discuss the aspects of agreement and disagreement among these political thinkers.
3. One of the fundamental issues surrounding political thought addresses the ultimate purpose of government. Write about addressing the various perspectives of the political thinkers we have studied on this question, and the implications for the balance of their formulations.
