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Title: Machiavelli, Leonardo, and the Science of Power by Roger D. Masters ISBN: 0-268-01433-7 Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr Pub. Date: August, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95

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Summary: Machiavelli, Bacon, and Madness of Power
Comment: In this pathbreaking book Masters challenges the traditional view on the origin of modern science, or more precisely, technology. The traditional view is that the notion of science directed to conquest of nature, rather than contemplation, derives from Bacon. In contrast Masters argues that Baconian conquest of nature, though admittedly in a limited guise (Masters emphasizes that for Machiavelli man can control fortune only "half" the time), is present in Machiavelli, whose scientific principles were heavily influenced by his encounter with Leonardo.

The limited character of Machiavellian conquest of nature is the pivot of Masters's own thought. He sharply contrasts Machiavelli's limited conquest of nature, a conception that left ample room for political prudence, with the total conquest of nature that eliminated human contingency altogether. The latter view he attributes to Bacon and Hobbes, and other later moderns.

Masters's ultimate aim is to return to Machiavellian point in modernity which melded political prudence and science. In other words, it is an attempt to purify science with political prudence. Masters's own lifelong attempt to integrate science and politics, which he takes up in this work as well, should be viewed in this light. He wants to make those skeptical of scientific treatment of politics, like myself, reconsider the potential benefits of science, provided it is circumscribed by wisdom.

Indeed Masters is right that the difference between Machiavelli and Bacon, if it exists, is fundamental. But in my opinion the difference does not exist. A careful reading of works such as NEW ATLANTIS would have made Masters recognize that Bacon too wished to wisdom to rule over science (cf. Laurence Lampert, NIETZSCHE AND THE MODERN TIMES). As Jerry Weinberger and others have shown, Bacon did not subscribe to Baconian conquest of nature.

I would like to submit that my assertion of the convergence of Machiavelli and Bacon is at least as important as Masters's articulation of their difference. If Masters is right, there is salvation for science and our ills are simply the missteps taken by Machiavelli's disciples. If I am right, science cannot be redeembed by wisdom. It is an unruly demon that will instead enslave its human masters. The difference between my own and Masters's view seems to be also the difference between Leo Strauss and Alexandre Kojeve, in their legendary debate concerning the goodness of modernity.