What’s the case for The Prince being sarcastic? I realize it’s quite different from his Discourses on Livy, but I’ve read it as being more of a “extreme measures for an extreme situation” kind of deal. He does write in the Discourses that a sufficiently corrupted society could require a monarch using extreme and unusual means.
Historical context basically, I don’t remember the exact argument for it but it’s a commonly held view by specialists that I’ve seen referenced in newspaper-published essais.
What’s the case for The Prince being sarcastic? I realize it’s quite different from his Discourses on Livy, but I’ve read it as being more of a “extreme measures for an extreme situation” kind of deal. He does write in the Discourses that a sufficiently corrupted society could require a monarch using extreme and unusual means.
Historical context basically, I don’t remember the exact argument for it but it’s a commonly held view by specialists that I’ve seen referenced in newspaper-published essais.