Machiavellian Variations, or When Moral Convictions and Political Duties Collide

Commenting on Michael Walzer's essay, the author adopts a perspective that traces back to Machiavelli. In this view, 'dirty hands' is a true problem faced by politicians, not a philosophical fiction or a moral quandary resulting from wrong reasoning. 'Dirty hands' results from the collision of two spheres of human action -morality and politics- which entail different duties; it concerns actions which have extremely serious public consequences and therefore applies eminently to politicians and the public sphere. The author examines different scenarios to elicit a clear view of the specificity of this problem, which is not analogous to the conventional issue of immorality in politics. 'Dirty hands' is a problem that cannot be avoided by politicians, because they have responsibility over the ultimate decisions; it follows that people who wish not to dirty their hands should thus refrain from entering the political realm.

Automated summary

In this article, the author comments on Michael Walzer's essay and adopts a perspective tracing back to Machiavelli, arguing that 'dirty hands' is a real problem faced by politicians and cannot be avoided by refraining from politics.