Abstract

There is a theoretical difficulty in the economy of argument of The Prince’s, notably in chapter IX, when it deals with the fortunate astuteness necessary for the new prince. In the period that opens this central chapter in the economy of the work, we have the mobilization of important notions of Machiavellian political thought, such as virtù, fortune, private citizen, and, also, astuteness figures as an important attribute. Now, Machiavelli talks little about the fortunate astuteness, on the contrary, it does not receive any expository attention, despite its importance in the list of political qualities necessary for the prince. Hence the question of how to think about the new prince’s fortunate astuteness. In order to better understand this Machiavellian concept, we intend to bring it closer, firstly, to the Greek métis, which allows us to better understand what this quality is that is required of the new prince. Then, based on the argumentative economy of the work, extract an understanding of this political quality.