Valdés’s problematic Machiavellianism in the Diálogo de las cosas acaecidas en Roma

Abstract

If there is a way of comparing the construction of Valdés’s Diálogo with the works of Machiavelli, it is not for the wrong extrinsic reasons (a very unlikely positive influence, Valdés’ hasty identification with a simplistic «Machiavellianism»), but because both authors, separated by a few years, seek to invent the political discourse adapted to their era, and the discursive regimes they adopt make for an interesting analogy. This analogy can be studied from three angles: firstly, in their way of comprehending political facts by grasping them as natural effects, and by thus neutralising their ideological or symbolic content; secondly, in their choice of constructing an orderly reasoning to make these facts intelligible; and lastly, in the way in which both choose to face the divisions and dissension seen as essential objects of political reasoning. The study of this triple analogy will, in conclusion, enable the hypothesis to be formed, according to which these three processes, common to Machiavelli and Valdés, make their writings a type of prehistory of the raison d’État.