MACHIAVELLI E I CONFLITTI ‘HORRENDI’, MA NECESSARI
Machiavelli and the “Horrendous” but Necessary Conflicts

Summary/Abstract: The article addresses the issue of conflict, the concept of which has divided and united various intellectuals over the centuries. Niccolò Machiavelli defines it as a necessary moment of growth, one could say that he considers it as an instrument of freedom. He brings as an example the Roman Republic in whose society there was the “conflict” between patricians and plebeians (Discourses, book 1, chap. 4). Other intellectuals, like Girolamo Savonarola, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Etienne de La Boétie, Francesco Guicciardini, Thomas More, Baldassarre Castiglione, and the “Polish Machiavelli” Krzysztof Warszewicki, address the topic of conflict, giving it a different meaning that will be analyzed in the article. The reflection, therefore, focuses on a broader meaning of the term conflict: today we should confront those who give this term a negative connotation and those who manage to distinguish a deeper meaning that hides within it the seed of democracy and freedom.

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