ITALIAN HUMANISM - THE THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF MACHIAVELLI'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

Humanism was the most prominent feature of the Renaissance in the West. Humanism influenced almost all of the fields such as architecture, sculpture, painting, literature, art, and political philosophy. It can be said that humanism cannot be separated from the spiritual and cultural fields of the Renaissance. Most of the great artists and thinkers of the Italian Renaissance were humanists. Niccolò Machiavelli - the leading Italian political philosopher of the Renaissance - is also one of the typical humanists. His political philosophy is imbrued with the spirit of Renaissance humanism. This article analyzes and proves that Italian humanism is one of the theoretical foundations of Machiavelli's political philosophy