Machiavelli The Prince Research Paper

In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

Machiavelli argues the perfect prince will be both feared and loved by his people, and if unable to be both he will make himself feared and not hated. Machiavelli believes it is much safer to be feared than to be loved because people are less likely to offend and stand up against strong characters, also people are less concerned in offending a prince who has made himself loved. Accordingly, Machiavelli believes generosity is harmful to your reputation and the choice between being generous or stingy, merciful or cruel, honest or deceitful, should only be important if it aids the prince in political power. All in all, Machiavelli believes the ruler must be a great deceiver and do what is essential to uphold power over the

Niccolo Machiavelli While Machiavelli valued being compassionate, he knew in order to be a successful ruler one must not be afraid to strike fear into his subjects. Machiavelli seems to have many thoughts on how in order to be a successful ruler, one must rule through fear. In, The Prince, he talks about how in order to be a successful prince one must not be afraid to be cruel and rule through fear. While being a kind and compassionate ruler is something to be admired, it is not always the best way to rule. Machiavelli wrote, “A prince, therefore, must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and faithful.”

The Prince, a brilliant book written by Machiavelli, was primarily concerned with the issue of how to keep order, and how a leader of a state should control its state. Machiavelli describes to the reader the types of leaders that have achieved their way to being a leader either through their hard work of virtue or by the lucky chance of fortune. Machiavelli approaches fortune by putting a negative connotation towards the kings who have achieved their power by their inheritance and the chances and opportunities that God gives them. As for virtue, it is described as the better way of achieving and continuously keep the power, it relies on one’s own skills and talents rather than the help of outside forces. The issue with achieving a leader’s

Machiavelli was writing his work to a prince, Lorenzo he Magnificent, as a gift of knowledge, saying: “So it is necessary to be a prince to know thoroughly the nature of the people, and one of the populace to know the nature of princes. ”(Machiavelli, The Prince) Unlike Plato, Machiavelli preferred the method of instilling fear in subjects as a ruler. The common thing about both of these philosophers is they never actually lead anyone. They both looked at systems of government around them at their respective epochs to come to conclusions about the proper way to rule a group. While Plato really insisted on a proper education with intentionality, Machiavelli looked at the history that he had access to.

During his career he was able to study the science of politics and thought about its fundamental principles. Furthermore, he observed men and his view on humanity was not cheerful. Indeed, the pessimistic notion that humanity is evil is not so much Machiavelli’s conclusion about human nature as his premise for the course a ruler should follow. A prudent ruler…cannot

Machiavelli’s The Prince (2012) is often misunderstood as a sort of “manual” for tyrants, mostly due to his infamous “better to be loved than feared or feared than loved” quote (p. 59). This oft-cited but tenuously understood quotation seems to have secured its place in history as the go-to phrase when discussing cruel and dictatorial leadership. The “feared/loved” quote, however, was not written to condone or promote tyranny. According to Machiavelli (2012), a leader always should “wish to be both,” while recognizing and accepting the fact that it is “difficult to unite [love and fear] in one person” (p. 59).

In Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, he maintains a harsh perspective on reality. His advice for power leaves no room for compassion. Despite this, he notes that a ruler cannot be hated, for he will lose power so it is important for a ruler to balance his reputation. While it may seem like a fine line to walk, Machiavelli tends to emphasize that it is better to maintain power through fear, rather than compassion. Machiavelli’s critical view leads him to suggest that a ruler should balance being cruel with being hated in order to maintain power.

One aspect of Machiavelli’s theory which significantly contributes to his reputation as the “philosopher of evil,” is his advice to the prince on keeping their word to the public. In chapter eighteen, Machiavelli states, “a wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when doing so is to his disadvantage, and when the reasons that led him to promise to do so no longer apply” (pg. 37). To simplify, Machiavelli says princes are obligated to lie in certain circumstances. He also states that while it is unnecessary for the prince to have positive qualities, such as honesty, trustworthiness, sympathy, compassion, or be religious, it is essential for the prince to be viewed so by the public (pg. 37). While many people argue that Machiavelli’s legitimization of lying and deception in politics is immoral, I argue the opposite.

Both of these highly influential authors had different opinions on ruling that would shape how people would rule during their time and for rulers to come. One of Machiavelli’s major points in The Prince was that it was better to be feared than to be loved. He said this was because while both ways can be useful tools to help one rule, men are less likely to turn a ruler if they were afraid of punishment. Machiavelli had little faith in the common man and had this to say about them, “They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of dangers, eager to gain”(pg.353).

Machiavelli noticed that princes that always honor their word are praised, however, princes that succeeded are those that gave their word lightly and knew how to trich men. This goes back to the topic of loyalty and how human nature influences politics. Machiavelli expressed that a ruler must learn to fight with both force and law, being half man and half beast. By doing this, a prince would know how to respond accordingly to his subjects. Machiavelli again describes man as “wretched creatures who would not keep their promises to [the prince], [so he does] not need to keep [his] word to them.”

Nichole Jackson (Student No.13003235) Key Concepts of Cultural Analysis: Production of the Human Critical Commentary Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince addressed the problem of the ethics of rule from the viewpoint of both the prince and the people. Machiavelli sought to theorise how to construct a form of rule that combined both ethics and fear under conditions of circumstances.1 In order to provide background, it should be noted that this political manifesto was written in Florence, in the context of political upheavals of Renaissance Italy where there were pressing contemporary issues associated with the problems of Italian unification and the subordinate place of Italy in the structures of international relations.2 Machiavelli makes a number

Niccolo Machiavelli and his influence on the Enlightenment Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, also known as the father of “Modern Political Theory” was a well-known Italian diplomat, politician, humanist, historian, philosopher and writer from the era of renaissance philosophy. He belonged to several schools of thought, namely: Renaissance humanism, Political realism, Classical republicanism. His claim to fame was his popular book, “The Prince”, which was a handbook for politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving, cunning inspiring the term “Machiavellian.” Before he wrote his book, Machiavelli was a diplomat for 14 years in Italy’s Florence Republic during the Medici family’s exile.

Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer of the Renaissance period, has believed that you should rule through fear rather than love. Machiavelli said “One ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting.” He wants people to be able and willing to lie, cheat, and kill when it is needed. ”However, Machiavelli did not believe in ruthlessness. He recognized the acts of cruelty need to be clearly justified.”

I. Machiavelli In his famous work the Prince Niccolo Machiavelli exposes what it takes to be a good prince and how only this good price and keep control over his state. There are many different qualities that make a man a good ruler but there are some that are more essential than others. In this work Machiavelli stresses the importance of being a warrior prince, a wise prince, and knowing how to navigate the duality of virtù and vices. Without these attributes there was no way that a prince could hold together their state and their people.