Machiavelli's idea of virtu' is not of moral character, but of what is
best or the utilitarian needs of the country. For Machiavelli virtu'
out weighs virtue in times of need
As for a more 'wordlike' definition I refer to George Bull
the Italian `virtu' is used in *The Prince* in many different senses,
which most often translates as `prowess'. This meaning, of course, comes
from the root `vir' and encompasses the manly qualities enumerated in Chapter
XIX: "grandeur, courage, sobriety, strength."
Chapter XV includes two senses:
what is probably the more traditional sense of moral goodness and the more
practical sense of producing a desired end (or that which is efficacious). My
understanding is that, rather than conforming to certain moral standards of
behavior (the first sense), Machiavelli's prince determines the virtu of a
particular course of action based upon its likelihood to be effective in
achieving political ends (the second sense).
*The Dictionary of the History of Ideas* has a good overview of `virtu' in the
dual sense I mention above and its centrality as a concern in Renaissance
humanist debate. |
