Abstract
In the chapter “The Idea of Negative Liberty: Machiavellian and Modern Perspectives”, the reader will find the main thoughts of the Cambridge School presented in a clear and comprehensible manner. Skinner takes the liberal view and places it in contrast to the neo-roman tradition, which is capable of understanding negative liberty in relation to citizens’ public obligations.
Machiavelli asks what it means to live vivere libero. He finds his answer in the political system represented by the Roman model, in which the grandi’s ambition to rule and the people’s desire not to be ruled stand in opposition to one another.
Skinner shows that freedom is threatened by internal as well as external ambitions. Internal ambitions are represented by the grandi – the solution is the Roman model, which is capable of reigning in the grandi’s ambitions and redirecting them towards the common good.
The solution to the problem of the external ambitions is an imperial republic.