The International Machiavelli Society warmly invites you to the first event in its 2026 online lecture series, titled “DI/SPERARE: Hope and Despair in Machiavelli,” to be held on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 12:00 PM (EDT) / 5:00 PM (CET).
The session will be chaired by Andrea Polegato (California State University, Fresno) and will feature presentations by Colleen Mitchell (Villanova University) and Alessio Panichi (Università di Napoli L’Orientale). Colleen Mitchell’s talk, “The Overlooked Role of Hope in Machiavelli’s Thought,” reconsiders a passion that is often neglected in discussions of Machiavelli, examining the relationship between hope and fear and its implications for Machiavelli’s understanding of political freedom. Alessio Panichi’s lecture, “‘He Who Does Not Hope for Good Does Not Fear Evil’: Despair and Punishment in Machiavelli’s Thought,” explores Machiavelli’s reflections on despair as a dangerous political passion and analyzes its connection to punishment and the regulation of human behavior within political life.
Together, these presentations offer a fresh perspective on the role of political passions in Machiavelli’s thought and invite a broader reconsideration of the emotional foundations of his political theory.
The lecture will take place on Zoom (Meeting ID: 813 8647 0336, Password: 554914).
All scholars and students interested in Machiavelli, Renaissance political thought, and the history of political philosophy are warmly welcome to attend.
