Stolen time, suspended time. Reason of State and utopia in Italian XVIth-XVIIth century culture

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the relations between the doctrine of Reason of State and Utopianism in the Italian political culture during the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Its focus is on the use of time prescribed to the prince as a peculiar tool for preserving his power and the state, while for the utopists time is a condition for rationalising the life of their ideal communities. On the other hand some authors of Reason of State and utopists considered the perfection of the political and social institutions the only way for stabilizing the state, but the perfection is a metaphysical feature devoted to stop the corruption of the political community. So, even in this view, Reason of State and Utopianism are two doctrines that both teach the conservation of the state.