Niccolo Machiavelli 's The Prince Essay

“The state is the highest achievement of man, a progressive and elaborate creation of his free will. The individual, the leader, the people, cooperate in maintaining it.” This idea of state was put forth by Niccolo Machiavelli in The Prince, which was in essence a ruler’s handbook to governing and maintaining his land. Machiavelli conjured his theories for government by basing his ideas in his belief that men, especially men in power, tend to follow the same directions, and therefore by looking at past leaders and their follies we can better determine how to run a state. “Men are always the same and are animated by the same passions that lead them fatally to the same decisions, acts, an results…. That one can foresee the course of

“It is much safer to be feared than loved.” This quotation was just a specimen of the harsh and very practical political annotation of the legendary historian, Niccolò Machiavelli – philosopher, patriot, diplomat, advisor and statesman. He was born as the son of a poor lawyer in 1498, but he never let boundaries restrict him. He still received an excellent humanist education from the University of Florence and was soon after appointed as the Second Chancellor of the Republic of Florence.2 His political importance to Florence would soon give him the opportunity to write what is disputed as one of the most significant works in history, The Prince.

From describing world leaders to political antiheroes in television dramas, characterizing someone as a “Machiavellian figure” is perceived more as derisive description than an accurate representation of that person’s philosophical views of power. This popular depiction is due to Niccolo Machiavelli’s harsh portrayal of the interlaced relationship between power and politics in his treatise, The Prince. Machiavelli begins his work by contending that it is “more effective” to reveal the “practical truth of a subject” rather than “depend on [his] fancies for it”(Machiavelli 2524). His rejection of idealism and focus on realism impels him to claim that a ruler has to be acquainted with and effectively use both virtue and vice to wield power over his subjects. However, Machiavelli’s philosophical justifications which allow him to arrive at such a conclusion are based on three problematic beliefs which are that the public is easily gratified with a fulfillment of their most basic desires, the ruler has to develop a narcissistic personality to understand how to wield power and the ruler, as a man, must beat the woman Fortune to have dominion (Machiavelli 2531). These assumptions are what gives the term “Machiavellian” such a negative connotation; more importantly, they reveal that Machiavelli’s understanding of power is problematic since it is not based on realism but on an idealized view of the general public and masculinity.

Niccolò Machiavelli had a very negative view when it came to the nature of humans. He made the weakness of human nature the central message of all his writings. Machiavelli’s mannerist cynicism about human weakness came about from wounded idealism, for life had taught him that his early optimism was wrong. In most of his writings, he is meaning for human nature to restore sanity to a world that he believed to have gone mad. Machiavelli’s most enduring contribution that left the strongest imprint on Western culture was, The Prince, which led into the worldly debate of whether the end justifies the means.

Most people throughout history and today are probably in agreement that those who are in power, with rule over peoples should keep their word; however, as Machiavelli notes, those “princes” that have accomplished the most have done so through deception. A prince can fight with laws, in a civilized manner, or with force if needed. Machiavelli believes a prince should “imitate the fox in cunning as well as the lion in strength.” So a prince must seem virtuous, while simultaneously deceiving those individuals who are willing to be deceived in order to fulfill his own interests. Machiavelli justifies this way of carrying oneself in that other princes cannot be expected to keep their word to you, so you must act in ways that are prosperous to your

Machiavelli lived from the late 15th century into the early 16th century, best known for his political views in The Prince. Human beings (Man) requires and seeks order. Governments provide order to keep a certain flow in society. This order prevents chaos and allows Man to live day to day as they please under certain restriction. Government is composed of a leader or leaders. The leader is the person or government in charge, while the followers include the people under control (the masses/populace). Machiavelli’s societal ideal is of how to maintain power as a prince should. The Prince describes the nature of “cold-blooded political war.” This is where the term Machiavellian originated (Burton, 8). Machiavelli discusses how princely power is maintained, founded on an idea of human

On the surface, Machiavelli's The Prince teaches leaders how to best acquire and maintain power. Machiavelli said that his purpose of writing is to tell the "real truth of the matter". The truth according to Machiavelli is that people who are seldom are what they appear to be and that people who focus on ideals and principles or what ought to be done will end up ruined. Some people thought that Machiavelli's intentions was to expose how autocratic leaders have truly exercised their power throughout history. Some even say that he wrote The Prince to secure a government position from Lorenzo de' Medici, who was the ruler of Florence. Others believed that he meant it as a warning to Florentines to look out for tyrants like Medicis. Machiavelli

In life, it is important for us to have and abide by moral values that encourage us to be good people throughout our lives. In the New Testament and Machiavelli’s The Prince, both works express the moral values that one should live by. The New Testament expresses the morals of a Christian life, those you should follow to live a Godly life that has purpose. In The Prince, Machiavelli details a guide that one should use to gain and protect power when being a leader. These two works were written for different purposes, yet they agree on many aspects that would be considered to be good moral ideologies. The main difference is that Machiavelli is understanding in that, especially in a position of power, one cannot always act as the most

Machiavelli has many ideas throughout his work. A few of them can definitely translate to current day situations. In Machiavelli’s “the prince” he brings up many key points that people may find very controversial. Some people completely agree and other people think that they're completely irrational and too powerful. Either way you look at it you have a really organized government form that may or may not work in this day and age.

Nowadays, it is politically impossible to commit to paper a "training guide" for leaders. There are innumerable detractors to any possible stance or strategy a leader might adopt. As a result of this, all "training" must take place behind closed doors, far from the prying eyes and ears of the news media or the public. But this has not always been the case.

Niccolo Machiavelli and Karl Marx developed theories concerning wealth and poverty in our society, as well as different types of governments. For instance, Machiavelli supported a capitalist economic system, unlike Marx, who embraced socialism in the society. Machiavelli wrote a book "The Prince" that explained how to be an effective leader. The theme of the book is "the end justifies the means." A person could or should do whatever is necessary to achieve the desired goal. According to Machiavelli, there is no concept of a perfect ruler, but only effective or ineffective leaders. Therefore, he claims that there are no fair fighters, but only losers and winners. Contrary, Marx embraced democracy as good practice for the government. This paper will analyze whether Marx would buy Machiavelli 's thought that states "desired ends justify undesirable means" (Weng 1).

Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince” provides guidelines for how the leader of a state should conduct himself, and the actions he should take to consolidate and maintain power. While Socrates does not explicitly discuss what he believes a good leader should do and how he should act in either “Apology” or ”Crito”, he presents his opinion on how men in general should conduct themselves, and how a government should be run. Based on the accounts given, Socrates would vehemently disagree with Machiavelli’s concept of an ideal prince. The values that Machiavelli believes a prince should have and the courses of action he should take as a leader are inconsistent with how Socrates believes men should conduct themselves. In turn, the type of political

Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince examines the nature of power and his views of power are still somewhat in existence today. I'll discuss this in this essay, emphasizing the following theses. Machiavelli discusses power over the people, dictatorial power, and power with people, shared power. While it is possible for power with to attain greater prevalence in society, it will not completely eliminate power over. In The Prince, Machiavelli discusses two distinct groups of people, the political elite, including nobles and other princes, and the general public. Today in the United States, the first group, the political elite, includes political leaders, religious leaders, business leaders and the leaders of

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli presents a detailed analysis of how to acquire political power and maintain it. The author discusses how great men should conduct themselves and the desired principles of a princely government. Utopia by Sir Thomas More illustrates what the character Raphael Hythloday, its narrator, suggests to be the perfect human society found in the island of Utopia. This essay looks at why Machiavelli thinks a prince needs to have virtù in order to rule well, and whether Fortuna can actually foster the prince’s virtù. It will also look at the extent to which Utopia provides an argument that a leader has to have virtù in order to govern well. The essay will explore if there is any proof in Utopia that Fortuna plays a role in fostering virtù.

Niccolò Machiavelli thoroughly discusses the importance of religion in the formation and maintenance of political authority in his famous works, The Prince and The Discourses. In his writing on religion, he states that religion is beneficiary in the formation of political authority and political leaders must support and endorse religion in order to maintain power. However, Machiavelli also critiques corrupt religious institutions that become involved in politics and in turn, cause corruption in the citizenry and divisions among the state. In the following essay, I will examine Machiavelli’s analysis of religion and discuss the relationship between religion and politics in Machiavelli’s thought.