Paul-Erik Korvela, Ph.D
Researcher
Political Science
Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy
E-mail: paukorv@yfi.jyu.fi
Postal address:
P.O. Box 35 (MaB)
FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä
Research interests
Paul-Erik Korvela’s doctoral dissertation (2006) focuses on Machiavelli’s view of Christianity. It is argued that Machiavelli did not distinguish between politics and morality, but, rather, between politics and Christian morality. Nor did he claim that it would be better for a society to rid itself of religion altogether.
Machiavelli thought that the present religion was poorly interpreted and that there were better ways available for arranging religious appeals in a society. He thought that religion should be used as the ancients used it, although he did not demand that the religion in question be the same form as that of the ancients. Thus, his aim was not to resurrect paganism. Christianity contains some effective elements that were unavailable to paganism, and, when interpreted according to virtù, it, too, could allow virtuous action in the Machiavellian sense. Nor was it his intent to engage in any kind of reinterpretation or reform of Christianity, since it is hardly possible to interpret Christianity in such a way that it would exalt this life over another.
After completing his dissertation, Korvela intends to focus on the political elements in international relations. The central aim in Martin Wight’s seminal article, “Why is there no international theory?,” (1966) is that international theory does not exist in the same sense as political theory. If political theory is speculation about the state, then international theory might be understood as speculation about the society of states or the international community.
Unlike the field of political theory, international theory cannot claim any classics of the branch. Of the many theoretical writings on the subject, not many can claim to be political classics. For Wight, “international theory is marked, not only by paucity but also by intellectual and moral poverty”. My argument is that the lack of classics in the field of international relations is at least partly due to the fact that this field was not (always) considered as political.
Key words: Machiavelli, Christianity, political theory, Renaissance