[This is a summary of our discussion of chaptes 9-11 in Alan Ryan’s On Politics. It was written by Jotun Hein]

For some reason it was easier to get an overview over today’s 3 chapters.

Again OP shies away from definitions/concepts and there is much biographical and historical description. Readable, but I get lost in Florentine intrigues which seems key to both Dante’s and Machiavelli’s life.

All three chapters are variants on a common theme: A shift from the God/Church governed universe towards having the individual as key player. At the personal level, at the relationship of the individuals relation to God and in politics. We had a lot of discussions of how this transition came about. Explanations invoking the Black Death [150 years before], which created labour shortage and greater internal mobility, the rise of cities and artisan trade, the appearance of printing and more general ability to read as a result of secular education.