California Italian Studies

Machiavelli's reflection on Fortuna constitutes a precious alternative to the philosophical and political projects based on the desire to immunize fully the political community. Machiavelli's acceptance of the aleatory and unpredictable in human life and in the life of the state is an antidote to the risks that the processes of self-immunization constitute for the life of individuals and of the political community. Machiavelli's political philosophy is based on the acceptance of a plurality of outcomes and is, consequently, different from the totalizing aspirations of the European philosophers of history.