The Importance Of Machiavelli's The Prince

It is not impossible that this was the case; Henry was clearly willing to entrust Cromwell with a large amount of authority by bestowing upon him the title of Vice-Gerent. However, there were limits to the heights Cromwell was allowed to achieve, and in the end he was the king;s minister. The clear-cut evidence for this exists in Cromwell’s downfall and execution. The real debate which surrounds Cromwell is this: was he a religious reformer or simply a political figure? Did Cromwell play a leading role in the English Reformation or did he just follow the directions of the King in matters of religion, while indulging in a quest for

The theory of the Divine Right of Kings grants political power by means of religion; it asserts that a higher deity permits kings the right to rule. However, the theory was meant to “instill obedience” and was a form of “propaganda” (The Divine Right of Kings). “Papa” is utilizing this divine right similarly; through Mona, the potential deity in this case, he is softening his “harsh” rule, the very rule instilled by Bokonon and McCabe to stifle San Lorenzo’s problems. He uses the divine right as propaganda; by having a god-like, religious figure in his rule, he is indirectly convincing the San Lorenzans that it is acceptable to practice Bokononism. Mona's character is juxtaposed with "Papa's" character for the same reason McCabe is juxtaposed with Bokonon and becomes the "tyrant" and pirate" while Bokonon becomes the "angel" and saint"; they must enforce dynamic tension in order to promote Boknononism indirectly (Vonnegut

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey 's success throughout his religious, military and political career was heavily intertwined within the success in the reign of Henry VIII. Wolsey had become known as the second king, as lord chancellor he oversaw many royal documents and as legate was the pope 's representative in England. If an individual wanted something done they would go to York Palace or Hampton court and not the King 's residency.1 However, Wolsey retained his power as long as young King Henry remained lazy and the Cardinal retained his confidence. The Cardinal 's ambition acquired him a number of various positions, however, his ambition also proved his downfall in which he was unable to maintain the demands of the king. The purpose of this paper

These resulted in giving the papacy even more authority over Rome. Pope Leo is most famous for meeting with Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn his back from invading Italy. He was a contributor to the centralization of spiritual authority witin the Church and in reaffirming papal authority [9]. Pope Gregory the Second became the defender of the temporal and spiritual interests and faith. He addressed respectful letters to the emperor, to induce him to maintain in the churches a salutary practice [9].

In “The Prince,” Machiavelli discusses the terms and procedures he believes a prince should take to govern his society. Many perceive his views on human nature and leadership as evil and cruel towards his people. He justifies his views on human nature as he draws examples from the tactics and traits of successful leaders from the past. His ideas are comprised from justifying the means of his actions by its ends. Machiavelli selects the aspects of admirable historical figures to produce and describe his ideal prince.

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. Throughout the chapter, Machiavelli uses authoritative language to help convince the reader and prince that his ideas are worthy of being followed.

Jean Domat, a royally appointed juror by king Louis helped explain a better understanding of the new system of governance to the people of France in his writings. Domat wrote “On Social Order and Absolute Monarchy” to defend the king’s powers, and to give a better understanding of the hierarchy type system so ordinary people would accept it. Jean Domat’s life goal was explaining absolutism. Since he was not a king and seen as a regular person, people at his time can get a better understanding of the system when someone like him explains it. He explained that the king was given his power through God and is responsible to no one but God.

Faith and reason are the two wings that help the man to rise to the truth. Faith and Reason (Fides et Ratio) are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth. This expression leads Pope John Paul II 's encyclical "Fides et Ratio". After reading this encyclical, I was amazed in how Pope John Paul II, in so few many words is able to synthesize the core of his letter, the subject of truth, something essential in life and history of men. Thus, as Pope John Paul II sponsors the capacity of human reason to be aware of the truth and demand that faith and philosophy again find their profound unity.

What drives apparently good men to become ruthless, ambitious, jealous and greedy? We see an example of this in the play “Macbeth” performed at Pop Up Globe, directed by Tom Mallaburn, was written originally by the well-known author, William Shakespeare. Macbeth is based upon a big tragedy, where the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, inevitably were forced to do evil things due to their ambition; taste the sweetness of victory and then downfall again. Although the play was written by an English author, Shakespeare smartly sets his story based upon the idea of ambition, a concept that relates to all of us, no matter where we are from. We have to admit that in our minds, the concept of power and ambition is linked to men.

Undoubtedly politics is “the study of influence and the influential”, there is most certainly truth in Harold D.Lasswell’s definition of politics. Throughout the course of this essay the study of politics will be examined in relation to Laswell’s definition. Furthermore the concept of government and how people influence government action will be looked at. In Lasswell’s book “Politics, Who Gets What, When and How” he clearly outlines the “influential are those who get the most of what there is to get”, in his opinion politics was primarily to do with power and influence. Lasswell’s definition of politics has been in the past supported by prominent political scientists such as Abraham Kaplan and Robert A. Dahl, both men believe the study of politics is largely to do with the use of influence by those who find themselves in influential positions.