Nico Yamin
Professor Kuhn
FYP
19 September 2017
Prompt 3.
Machiavelli: Fear, Love & Power
Niccolo Machiavelli’s stance on leadership in The Prince is a polarizing topic. Some interpret it as Italian poet Ugo Foscolo did, “a realist or pragmatic work that seeks to enlighten the citizenry.” Conversely, Leo Strauss found the work unethical and denounced Machiavelli as “a teacher of evil.” In the book, I found strong evidence to support Strauss’s view. Machiavelli’s The Prince was intended to demonstrate the best ways to exercise power. But it really argued that in order to use and pursue power, one must dismiss all ethics and morals.
In Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, Machiavelli sets forth guidance for leaders to use as they vie for ruling
Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 16th-century. His methods of acquiring and maintaining rule over people are not relevant in today’s modern American society. There are many principles that are still true in politics today, but the methods of ruling can no longer be used in American society today.
Bibliography Machiavelli, Niccolò, et al. The Prince. Cambridge University Press, 1998. Machiavelli establishes concepts on how princes may acquire and then maintain authority. He does this through provide princes with practical notions about what it means to be a great leader, but not necessarily a kind one as some immorality is not only acceptable but necessary.
Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince give the world an insight on his thought about those who rule, virtue, military power, and human nature. He elaborates on his ideal prince who must take power, but also maintain power. The Prince is extremely relevant in modern society and often looked upon as the beginning of modern political thinking. Machiavelli gives this prince an outline of the tools needed to maintain power and reinforces these ideas by giving examples of other leader’s successes and failures. Machiavelli believes that the prince must complete understand the balance between war and government. Understanding this balance and being fluent in both politics and war is crucial for maintaining power. Politicians today still use some of the tactics given by
In The Prince, Machiavelli explains what a good and successful prince should be like. He advocates a strong, cutthroat authority figure and encourages the winning of power by any means necessary. The main theme in The Prince is that mob rule is dangerous, for people know only what is good for themselves and not what is good for the whole. The common people, in Machiavelli’s view, “are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit; while you treat them well, they are yours”. He believes that these commoners should be
The Prince is essentially a guide book on how to acquire and maintain political power. We can think of it as a collection of rules and methods to achieve a level of superior authority. Its main focus is that the ends—no matter how immoral—justify the means for preserving political authority. While some may agree with this mindset of thinking many today dismiss Machiavelli as a cynic. The book shows rulers how it is that they should act to survive in the real world to maintain authority. While Niccolo Machiavelli’s ideas can be radical, they helped to spark a revolution in political philosophy. Although his ideas might have not been completely original, they were very different and unheard of at the time, The Prince, was published. Machiavelli uses many methods to convey his messages including biblical comparisons and of course metaphors. This character can be viewed in several manners. He is almighty and powerful, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals or have his ways. While this quality does qualify him to be a might leader it also raises the question of immorality. How far will one go to maintain order? Would you stop at nothing to achieve this task? Machiavelli shows this by saying, “it is
In The Prince, originally written in 1513 and later published in 1532, Florentine administrator and diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli argues that a ruler must take appropriate action based upon pragmatism and independence in order to seize and hold power. Based on the circumstances, a ruler must be able to select between contrasting influences: liberality and parsimony, virtue and immorality, prudence and recklessness. The book was very controversial when first published because it contended the Christian ideals that rulers should always be good and just, but the novel is highly acclaimed today. Machiavelli not only proposes a series of revolutionary political ideas in The Prince but also offers a persuasive and masterful defense of them.
Machiavelli has another argument “concerning those who become princes by evil means.”# He believes that cruelty can also be used to benefit the prince but only in modesty. If a prince frequently relies on cruel acts then he will not live in power for long. Proper use of cruelty is only achieved when it is done “out of the need for safety” and when it is done swiftly as to make sure that the act is quickly forgotten, and the people can return to a feeling of safety.# His idea that cruelty should be swift is excellent, this way the citizens will feel more at ease with there prince, because if he were to drag out the atrocities then the people may feel the need to revolt to protect their personal freedoms and civil rights. Many people may think these are evil ideas, but it is completely practical, during Machiavelli’s era (and even today) a prince will always face a moment in this rule that he will have to act in a cruel manner, in no way is this statement cruel it is just a practical way of dealing with a inevitable situation. He also believes that “benefits ought to be given little by little, so that the flavour of them may last longer.”# As much as people may be discusted by this
Machiavelli has long been required reading for everyone intrested in politics and power. In The Prince Niccolo M
Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince discusses the ideal characteristics of an imperial ruler. I chose this particular book because many of Machiavelli’s recommendations tend to reflect political values from which today’s society would benefit. Writing to his king, Machiavelli implores his ruler never to lose the trust and support of his people, a principle that currently appears to be lacking in present-day leadership across the globe.
Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince” attempts to explain the necessary tactics and required knowledge a ruler must attain in order to gain and maintain a successful reign. The novel serves as an abstract manual, addressing the definition of a good/bad ruler by placing emphasis on the required military organization, the character a ruler must posses, and the success that could be attained if a ruler should follow the guide. The scope in which the book is written is that of a scholarly observant. Machiavelli places his findings and observations of history, as well as the needs of the people so the information may serve the prince as a tool, that once implemented will create and maintain a powerful state.
Machiavelli is all about war and being fit with the mind and with the body. Machiavelli was an aristocrat with unbalanced luck that eventually planned to support himself over his writing career. His best work, “The Prince”, is a simple study on the makings of a prince or a leader, on what he must have in order to retain his power and
Richelieu’s section regarding the power of the prince was particularly reminiscent of 15th century Italian political strategist Niccoló Machiavelli’s seminal work, The Prince. The Prince also deals with the management of one’s people, and argued
In the book, The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli thoroughly explains the lifestyle a proper prince should uphold and the skills/actions he should keep in his arsenal, if the time ever comes. I’ve chosen chapters 15, 16, and 17 to further my claims on whether or not these ideas should be used in today’s government. Chapter 15 mainly focuses on the things for which men, but mainly princes, are praised or blamed for in an everyday society. Chapter 16 touches on how often one should be generous and liberal. Finally, chapter 17, the most controversial chapter of Machiavelli’s book discussed among many, tells the famous line of whether it is better to be loved
Machiavelli goes on in Chapters Fifteen through Twenty Three to discuss his advice to the reader in the ideal behavior and characteristics of a prince. He mentions that doing good would only lead to the ruin of a prince’s kingdom. He claims that a prince should be stingy and cruel as opposed to generous and merciful. He then, of course, adds in examples of successful rulers who were both moral and immoral alike. A prince should break promises more than he keeps them, according to the author. He also suggests that, while behaving in the aforementioned ways, a prince should do his best to avoid being despised by leaving his subjects’ land and women alone and by undertaking great projects to boost his reputation. As suggested at the beginning of Chapter Nineteen, a prince should not be “fickle, frivolous, effeminate, cowardly, [or] irresolute,” (70). ¬¬¬He should also choose wise, as opposed to flattering, advisors.
When reading Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, one can’t help but grasp Machiavelli’s argument that morality and politics can not exist in the same forum. However, when examining Machiavelli’s various concepts in depth, one can conclude that perhaps his suggested violence and evil is fueled by a moral end of sorts. First and foremost, one must have the understanding that this book is aimed solely at the Prince or Emperor with the express purpose of aiding him in maintaining power. Therefore, it is essential to grasp his concepts of fortune and virtue. These two contrary concepts reflect the manner in which a Prince should govern while minimizing all chance and uncertainty. This kind of governing demands violence to be taken, however this