The interplay between violence, religion, and politics is a central problem for societies and has attracted the attention of important philosophers, including Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Rene Girard. Centuries earlier during the Italian Renaissance, these same problems drew the interest of Niccolo Machiavelli. In Not Even a God Can Save Us Now, Brian Harding argues that Machiavelli's work anticipates - and often illuminates - contemporary theories on the place of violence in our lives. While remaining cognizant of the historical and cultural context of Machiavelli's writings,...

The interplay between violence, religion, and politics is a central problem for societies and has attracted the attention of important philosophers, including Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Rene Girard. Centuries earlier during the Italian Renaissance, these same problems drew the interest of Niccolo Machiavelli. In Not Even a God Can Save Us Now, Brian Harding argues that Machiavelli's work anticipates - and often illuminates - contemporary theories on the place of violence in our lives. While remaining cognizant of the historical and cultural context of Machiavelli's writings,...