Nevertheless

Machiavelli, Pascal

By: Carlo Ginzburg

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eBook | 25 January 2022

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From the master of ‘micro-history’, a reconstruction of two contrasting early-modern thinkers

Through his repeated use of the adverb nondimanco (“nevertheless”), Machiavelli indicated that there is an exception to every rule. This may seem merely to confirm the traditional image of Machiavelli as a cynical, “machiavellian” thinker. But a close analysis of Machiavelli the reader, as well as of the ways in which some of Machiavelli’s most perceptive read his work, throws a different light on Machiavelli the writer. The same hermeneutic strategy inspires Ginzburg’s essays on the Provinciales, Pascal’s ferocious attack against Jesuitical casuistry, or case-based ethical reasoning.

Casuistry vs anti-casuistry; Machiavelli’s secular attitude towards religion vs Pascal’s deep religiosity. We are confronted, apparently, with two completely different worlds. But Pascal read Machiavelli and reflected deeply upon his work. A belated, contemporary echo of this reading can unveil the complex relationship between Machiavelli and Pascal—their divergences as well as their unexpected convergences.

About the Author

Carlo Ginzburg has been a pioneer of ‘micro-history’ since his earliest works, The Night Battles and The Cheese and the Worms (the first of his books to appear in English, winning instant acclaim). His latest book is Old Thiess, a Livonian Werewolf, co-authored with Bruce Lincoln.