Niccolò Machiavelli as Machiavelli had himself done, despite also explaining how they could sometimes work). This became the theme of much future political discourse in Europe during the 17th century. This includes the Catholic Counter Reformation writers summarised by Bireley: Giovanni Botero, Justus Lipsius, Carlo Scribani, Adam Contzen, Pedro de Ribadeneira, and Diego Saavedra Fajardo. These authors criticized Machiavelli, but also followed him in many ways. They accepted the need for a prince to be concerned with reputation, and even a need for cunning and deceit, but compared to Machiavelli, and like later modernist writers, they emphasized economic progress much more than
Li Zhi (philosopher) women were inferior to men in native intelligence, and that many historical women such as Wu Zetian were actually superior. However, he did not believe women should be emancipated and commended widows who chose suicide over remarriage. His philosophical works included "A Book to Hide" and "A Book to Burn". He was a notable author of the xiaopin, a form of short essay. Li Zhi (philosopher) Li Zhi (1527–1602), often known by his pseudonym Zhuowu, was a Chinese philosopher, historian and writer of the late Ming Dynasty. A critic of the Neo-Confucianist views espoused by Zhu Xi, which was then