Machiavell's Use Of Fear

Machiavelli thinks it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. For a prince who is loved will be compassionate towards others, mainly his soldiers. When danger is at bay his men will hold him in the highest regard. Should an attack occur they will very quickly turn their backs on him. He may be viewed as weak and untrustworthy, thus easier to overtake. As he explains, “And men are less hesitant about harming someone who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared because love is held together by a chain of obligation which, since men are a sorry lot, is broken on every occasion in which their own self-interest is concerned: but fear is held together by dread of punishment which will never abandon you” (p.46). If he is loved rather than hated he can never keep an army of soldiers under his command. However, he must not be so feared to the point he is hated to do so he must not take what does not belong to him, and keep his hands off the wives of his subjects.

If a leader must choose to be feared or loved what should they choose? On one hand being feared gives that leader control over society because the people fear punishment from the leader. Feared leaders usually have a strong military force and presence. On the other hand if a leader is loved they will have control over the people because society agrees because they listen to the society's ideas. A loved leader will be forgiven by the people when they make mistakes they will also have more trust from the people. Being loved as a leader is much better than being feared.

Machiavelli led us to a question that was continuously in disagreement. That question was “Is it better to be loved than feared, or vice versa” (p.392)? Machiavelli thought that one is to be loved & feared. Nevertheless, at the same time it’s tremendously hard to achieve being both loved & feared. Machiavelli believed that if one had to do without one of them that it would be a safer to be feared than to be loved. For example if a ruler was more loved than feared then if you served their men’s interest & were also devoted to them they would promise you their blood, possessions, lives, & children until you needed help because once you needed help you were on our own. If you’re more feared than loved then when you’re in trouble your

Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli encourages the idea that a fear leader is a good leader. Machiavelli makes the point that a good leader knows that it is, “far safer to be feared than loved” (Machiavelli 43) because love allows for weakness. It is easy to keep people under control and in line when they fear their leader because they do not want to have to face consequences that come with “doing wrong”. When a leader is loved, some many look at this as a weakness. Those who fear their leader are is less likely to curate rebellions and revolts because they know that their leader is not afraid of applying punishment. When a ruler is too kind to their subjects it leaves them vulnerable and they are easily taken advantage of, which threatens their position. For a good leader should, “desire to be accounted merciful and not cruel”, and needs to,

In Machiavelli’s “Prince” he discussed the use of fear as a political tool to maintain the state. He argued that fear when properly directed could generate loyalty and bolster the support of the government. He went on to write that fear was only powerful when wielded with care and when abused could quickly become counterproductive and result in being hated by the people. Fear was potent because it was the prince’s creation. Unlike love that is given to the prince and can easily be taken away, fear is the prince’s tool and his alone. “…men love at their own free will but fear at the will of the prince…” Politicians throughout history have used fear tactics with varying degrees of success. For the purpose of my argument I will compare

Determining the qualities in which a leader should possess has been a argued about for centuries. In “The Qualities of the Prince” Machiavelli describes the qualities he believed that a leader should have. The quality that brought the most interest to me was “it is much safer to be feared than to be loved.” Being a loved leader creates the opportunity for others to manipulate them easily, where a leader who is feared is in control, and is respected. Machiavelli states that “since men love at their own pleasure and fear at the pleasure of the prince, a wise prince should build his foundation upon that which belongs to him, not upon that which belongs to others: he must strive only to avoid hatred.” There are many examples of leaders who are

The concept of fear as a tool and as a condition is present throughout the Prince. In what is likely his most famous quote, Machiavelli argues that “…it is much safer to be feared than loved…” (1950, p. 61). This implies that inspiring fear in one’s subjects is of great importance to the Prince, and that once again the means of doing this are secondary to the end goals. He also argues that the Prince himself should have a healthy amount of fear, both of his subjects and external threats, and that this fear will allow the Prince to preserve himself and therefore the state which he presides over (p. 67). Socrates would disagree with this fundamentally, for him it is not true that “…where there is fear there is also reverence…”, he would argue that in fact fear and reverence stand in sharp contrast to one another (Plato, 1987, p. 35). Using fear as a tool would not enable one to reach the ideal that Socrates espouses. He also addresses fear as a condition of a ruler by saying that a man should not consider life and death when making decisions, but again should only look to whether his actions are good and just. For him “…to be afraid of death is only another form of thinking that one is wise when one is not…” (pp. 59-60). Both Machiavelli and Socrates see fear as a part of human nature, but where Machiavelli sees fear as a weapon, Socrates sees weakness. A Prince that lived in a state of fear, while also using fear in order to gain and

Machiavelli’s political advice would help a politician in a modern democratic society. The main idea that Machiavelli is trying to get across is this: A ruler must seem kind, considerate, and have all the positive characteristics that their subjects want them to have - but at the same time, the ruler can’t be afraid of being seen as horrible if in the long run, it will preserve the country/civilization/etc. Machiavelli says: “A prince, therefore, must not mind incurring the charge of cruelty for the purpose of keeping his subjects united and faithful.” It is much better to kill one person than to allow that person to go around and completely destroy a community or civilization. Basically, it is better to be seen as cruel and save a country than to be thought of as kind and let it crumble. Machiavelli thinks that being seen as the ‘perfect’ ruler is great, but trying to keep that image and letting the civilization collapse is the improper thing to do. Machiavelli also says “Is it better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved? The reply is, that 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.” This is true, as he goes on to explain. Fear will get people to do things, but love won’t always get the same results. All of these advices would help a politician in a modern democratic society. To get people to vote, the politician has to seem very sincere, kind, generous, and everything that the people of the society want. Even after the politician achieves whatever position they wanted, they need to keep up their image and continue to seem like the ideal person. However, when the time comes, it is necessary to do cruel things, and things that some people won’t agree with. But this is necessary to keep the city, state, or even country strong and functioning properly. If the president was feared and loved at the same time, it would be ideal. People would do as he asked and

If someone is loved as a leader, they have a certain image to uphold. If people disagree with their choices, they may try and get that person out of office. This is shown in The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar during Brutus' funeral speech for Caesar, he solemnly confessed "as he was/ valiant, I honor him: but, as he was ambitious, I/ slew him." (III, 2, 23-24) Brutus is saying that even though he loved Caesar, he killed him, because he was too ambitious. This means the ambition ruined Caesar's image to Brutus, causing Caesar's death. This is important because if people rule by fear, they won't have an image to uphold, and that can prevent their rule from ending prematurely. Moreover, love can make people neglectful towards major decisions that the leader makes.

According to Machiavelli's view of how to be an effective leader, a ruler should be one who is feared but not hated. Machiavelli states that fear is better than love because love is unreliable. All of the reasons that Machiavelli gives relate to how human nature controls men and drives them to commit crimes in order to reach their goals and satisfy themselves.

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he provides advice on how one should rule in order to maintain power and respect. One of the key pieces of advice he gives considers whether one should be loved or feared with the goal of being an effective ruler in mind. Both qualities have benefits as well as negative aspects, but Machiavelli believes one needs to be realistic when choosing which quality to display. Since he believes that men are inherently untrustworthy, it is better to be cruel for the purpose of maintaining power and authority over the state.

A ruler that is only loved is problematic because that would result in his people willing to do anything for him, but they could also go against him without fear of punishment. A prince that is only feared is equally as bad: people will do nothing for him, other than considering revolts, which will eventually happen. There has to be a balance between the two sides: love and fear. At the time that Machiavelli wrote this book, The Prince in the year of 1513, he dedicated it to a prince that he was completely obsessed with, Cesare Borgia, which fit his ideals since he does exactly what the book, The Prince tells him to. Today, the person that rules in the most Machiavellian way is a man that goes by Vladimir Putin, who happens to be the current Russian Prime Minister. While Putin is loved by the vast majority of his people, he makes little to no attempt to hide from the ugly fact that his one objective in life is to nurture Russia's assertion of influence on the world. Putin most definitely uses Machiavelli's advice from The Prince, to both aid and to protect his fast-growing European

This is not to say, however, that Machiavelli intended the prince to be indulgent and benevolent to the people, he says quite clearly in Chapter 17, "…it is much more safe to be feared than loved, when you have to choose between the two…" Machiavelli's reasoning was that an excess of clemency towards the subjects when they do something wrong would lead to widespread crime, hurting the whole community. Therefore, being cruel and severe to those who deserve it would allow for the greatest utility (Chapter 17). This view on how to maintain relations with the populace is both logical and realistic. However, Machiavelli draws a clear distinction between being feared and hated. He writes, " A prince must make himself feared in such a manner that … he shall at least not incur their hatred, for being the feared, and not hated, can go very well together," (Chapter 17). The way that a ruler can earn his subjects hatred, says Machiavelli, is if he steals or harms their property. Therefore, by being severe and cruel in his punishments he inspires fear. In being feared, the prince further secures his empowerment, for none of his subjects dare to attempt to take it from him.

To be loved is to be appreciated and accepted as a person. To be feared is to watch the people you interact with cringe and strangle the peace of those that you come in contact with. Machiavelli’s quote, “It is much safer to be feared than loved” reflects on the fact that the people or colleagues of a ruler are able to take advantage of the ruler. The question of conspiracy does not even come up when those people or colleagues fear the repercussions. Machiavelli's advice would not be valid for today's political leader because to be feared as a leader is to be a tyrant. Though the idea of tyranny is the most effective, it is not beneficial for a group as a whole. Many examples of this concept has been shown all throughout history such as with

In the book The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli, the author argues in chapter seventeen that a ruler should be feared by the citizens as long as he or she avoids being hated. Machiavelli states that every prince should aim to be fair, or in other words neither feared nor loved. Machiavelli explains that if being fair is not a choice then the ruler should choose to be feared because the purpose of a ruler should have his or her kingdom united and loyal. A ruler that is loved by the community has the citizens’ loyalty preserved through friendship, and this type of friendship can be betrayed or taken advantaged of by the citizens. He or she should be feared as long as the citizens do not hate the ruler because this allows him or her to have a unified community. Machiavelli concluded that being feared as a ruler is better than being a loved ruler, but he or she must avoid hatred. I disagree with Machiavelli’s main point that a leader should be feared as long as he or she is not hated because a leader should be viewed as a role model to the community, which is why a leader should be loved.