The Reason of State

The Reason of State (Italian: Della Ragion di Stato) is a work of political philosophy by Italian Jesuit Giovanni Botero published in 1589. The book first popularized the term "reason of state", which refers to the right of rulers to act in ways that go against the dictates of both natural and positive law, with the overriding aim of acquiring, preserving, and augmenting the dominion of the state to be used for the public welfare. This way of thinking about government morality emerged at the end of the fifteenth century and remained prevalent until the eighteenth century. Botero supports the political role of the Catholic Church and criticizes the immoral methods of statecraft associated with Niccolò Machiavelli.