“Is it moral to take advantage of the evil of others?” On Fray Luis de León’s lesson on a Machiavellian background

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to bring into light, for the very first time, the lectures that Fray Luis de León read, as extraordinary substitute in the Prima chair at Salamanca (March 1567), about the morality of taking advantage of other’s wickedness. The text of these lessons, included as appendix, is pre­ceded by a brief introduction. This introduction, first of all, claims, against the opposite opinion, his authorship; then, it traces the Thomist context of these lessons to underline their uniqueness; finally, it connects, through the common background of cardinal Caietan, the issue under discussion with the foundations of the modern politics in the hands of Machiavelli.