...The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli Who was Machiavelli? Nicclolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born May 3, 1469 and died June 21 1527 in Florence, Italy. He was a controversial man who wore many “hats”. He was a historian, diplomat, politician, philosopher, and writer. He is widely accepted as the framer of modern political science and political ethics. Machiavelli made many contributions to his country Italy, but he is mostly acclaimed for his literary masterpiece “The Prince.” Machiavelli was able to formulate his theories presented in his masterpiece because of the considerable traveling and engagements with various world leaders his fourteen year career span as a diplomat. His many positions held, such as Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and assistant to Soderini who was elected chief magistrate of the Republic, allowed him to acquire wealth and govern regions. He lost his post as the Secretary of the Second Chancery when the Medici family was reinstated back to power after Spain overthrew the Florentine government. He was accused of plotting to overthrow the Medici government and was incarcerated and tormented. Upon his release after his innocence was favorably proven, he moved to a farm near San Casciano where his boredom allotted him time to write “The Prince.” “The Prince” has been portrayed by analyzers and supporters as one of the most vivid pieces of political theorization published centuries ago and is believed...
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...Machiavelli’s ideas from ‘The Prince’, overall, says that a leader should be there in order to make decisions and shouldn’t strive to be loved, but to be feared and respected by subjects and his suggestions are not relevant to our present day lives. In chapter 16, he writes about how someone who is looked up to, should not exercise liberality, since ‘even whilst you exercise it you lose to power to do so, and so become poor or despised’, and later states that liberality would lead the person to being both despised and hated. Although this may have been the ideal for anyone who wanted to be impactful to people, it isn’t relevant to our lives. If a person acted the way Machiavelli is suggesting, it would cause them to be hated. If a person is not open to new ideas and chooses to remain close minded, they might gain supporters for people who share the same ideas, but risk the possibility of being disliked and even hated by many others. Machiavelli states ‘it is wiser to have a reputation for meanness which brings reproach without hatred’, is...
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...Machiavelli’s The Prince and God’s Word both give advice on how to rule. Two main similarities between the two manuscripts are that a leader must be kind and that he should not abuse his power. In Machiavelli’s time, Italy was not a united country but was divided into multiple city-states. Attempting to help Italian rulers, he wrote his magnum opus The Prince. Machiavelli wrote that a leader needed to have a balance between clemency, or kindness, and cruelty. He knew that a ruler needed to be kind to earn the respect and love of his people, but not kind to the extent of becoming weak. He also knew that cruelty brought a respectful fear and obedience. Machiavelli’s ideal ruler should strive to be merciful and kind, Machiavelli taught...
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...The subject matter: new princedoms (chapters 1 and 2) The Prince starts by describing the subject matter it will handle. In the first sentence Machiavelli uses the word "state" (Italian stato which could also mean "status") in order to neutrally cover "all forms of organization of supreme political power, whether republican or princely". The way in which the word state came to acquire this modern type of meaning during the Renaissance has been the subject of many academic discussions, with this sentence and similar ones in the works of Machiavelli being considered particularly important. Machiavelli said that The Prince would be about princedoms, mentioning that he has written about republics elsewhere (possibly referring to the Discourses on Livy although this is debated), but in fact he mixes discussion of republics into this in many places, effectively treating republics as a type of princedom also, and one with many strengths. More importantly, and less traditionally, he distinguishes new princedoms from hereditary established princedoms. He deals with hereditary princedoms quickly in Chapter 2, saying that they are much easier to rule. For such a prince, "unless extraordinary vices cause him to be hated, it is reasonable to expect that his subjects will be naturally well disposed towards him". Gilbert (1938:19–23), comparing to traditional presentations of advice for princes, stated that the novelty in chapters 1 and 2 is the "deliberate purpose of dealing with a new ruler...
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...Neil Adams Professor Cara Chang Humanities 300 07 September 2012 Exploring The Major Themes of Machiavelli's "The Prince" To find out what motivated Machiavelli to write “The Prince”, it is necessary to look at the Italy that he lived in at the time and where he gained his insights into governance. He grew up in a time where Popes had their own armies and went to war with Italian city-states in hopes of gaining more territory. Power held by the rulers was tumultuous at best; people and cities might fall at any time. The Popes weren’t the only forces that major cities such as Venice and Florence had to deal with. Foreign countries such as France, Spain, the Catholic Church, and Switzerland also were engaged in battles for control and influence in the region. Most of these major cities relied heavily upon mercenaries to help fight their battles. These Condottieri, or mercenary leaders, were very fickle and changed sides without warning which made political and military alliances very weak, which in turn made Italy as a whole weak ("Niccolò Machiavelli"). Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, was a founder of modern political science who lived in Florence during the Renaissance period. He was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. Niccolò was the first son and third child of attorney, Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. At a young age became a pupil of a renowned Latin teacher, Paolo da Ronciglione, where he was taught history...
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...anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as [my grade]… ” (Machiavelli 3). The Machiavellian Code of Conduct is based upon The Prince, a controversial non-fiction written by Machiavelli in a desperate attempt to find a place of security within a new principality. To find this security, Machiavelli presents a plethora of crucial rules to the prince, leading the prince to believe that he is in need of...
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...Plato’s Republic and Machiavelli’s The Prince are each hugely important texts in the history of philosophy. Even though they were written approximately 1900 years apart, they represent two of the most valuable commentaries on political philosophy. They are of course, very different in their discussions of philosophy, yet some similarities are evident. Plato writes about philosophy through the mouth of Socrates, illustrating indirectly through a lengthy dialogue his own ideas and opinions. As a contrast to this method of narration, Machiavelli writes The Prince as a letter of personal advice to Lorenzo Medici. Within his work, Machiavelli makes numerous recommendations that have earned him the label of a heartless and cruel man. Plato, on the other hand, makes much of his discussion about the true nature of philosophy and the just treatment of all citizens. Despite numerous differences, Plato and Machiavelli each desire the rule of philosophers in their states, but while Plato approaches this with direct rule and education of philosopher-kings, Machiavelli appeals to manipulation and deceit in order to secure the rule of philosophers. Plato’s aim in his political state is for the greatest good of all people, through the best balancing of the natural elements on an individual and political scale. According to Plato, the human soul is comprised of the reasoning part, the spirited part and the appetites. The parallel elements within a city are the rulers, warriors and artisans...
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...Bernardo dei Machiavelli (I3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. A founder of modern political science, he was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. Strauss (1958:11) notes that "even if we were forced to grant that Machiavelli was essentially a patriot or a scientist, we would not be forced to deny that he was a teacher of evil" He wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, after the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility in Florence. Believing that people were motivated by self-interest, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513 as advice for the city of Florence, Italy. Machiavelli recommended that leaders use fear—but not hatred—to maintain control. Machiavelli’s best-known book, "The Principe," contains a number of maxims concerning politics, but rather than the more traditional subject of a hereditary prince, it concentrates on the possibility of a "new prince." To retain power, the hereditary prince must carefully maintain the socio-political institutions to which the people are accustomed; whereas a new prince has the more difficult task in ruling, since he must first stabilize his new-found power in order to build an enduring political structure. The Prince is sometimes...
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...Italian author, Niccolò Machiavelli introduced his way of thinking by writing The Prince, which is often interpreted as a way to rule, or not to rule. He uses humanism to back up his views on how governing should be handled. Of course, the book was rejected by the Catholic Church, which believed in divine authority. In The Prince, Machiavelli expresses that people are actually responsible for their own actions rather than supernatural forces. This form of humanism was the beginning of the breaking away from the dogma of the Catholic Church. According to (Hunt, Martin and Rosenwein 459), Humanism originated during The Renaissance in Italy amongst highly educated individuals attached to the personal households of prominent rulers. It is defined as “a system of...
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...NT1 The Prince: Machiavelli’s Methodology on Leadership Niccolo Machiavelli, the first modern thinker, dedicated The Prince to Lorenzo De Medici and the De Medici family as a “how to guide” on becoming a successful ruler and more importantly, how not to be a successful ruler. As in any philosopher’s works, there are many components that are comprised into one common theme. Machiavelli presents a strong methodology and main concept which is to act in your own self-interest if you want to become a leader, and to do so by any means necessary. In The Price, one of his most famous works, Machiavelli establishes his leadership guidelines on specific categories such as virtue, goodwill, hatred, and reputation, just to name a few. Machiavelli’s goal in The Prince is to distinguish why human nature is the leading cause of a princes’ ultimate success or failure. Machiavelli strongly feels that the idea of politics is not a natural, innate part of humankind. It is crucial for a prince to reflect on the actions of great men that came before him and the history surrounding them. Within the text, Machiavelli does not focus on unity nor does he focus on the virtuous soul. He strictly concentrates on consequences because they are facts which we can verify. Due to this belief, Machiavelli’s ideas represent the consequentialist approach to morality. Meaning, consequences are driven purely by an individual’s actions. Therefore, the means by which individuals go about taking those actions...
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...comparison could be made between Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. However many of the theories of leadership put forward in 1513 in The Prince can be found in Animal Farm. Those same ideas and theories can be applied to educational leaders and educational leadership to examine the morality of Machiavelli’s practices in education. This paper will compare and contrast leadership elements in both The Prince and Animal Farm. Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513. The purpose of The Prince was to record the knowledge that Machiavelli held in regards to leadership and power. Machiavelli lays out in details the ways in which a prince can come to power and how to maintain that power. The principles that Machiavelli put forth are straight forward with no sugar coating and often considered immoral. Orwell’s Animal Farm is in stark contrast to The Prince’s fiction. The novel is set on an English farm where the animals have taken over the farm from humans to rule it for themselves. The animals start out believing that the product of their labor will benefit only them and that all animals are to be treated equally. Over time one of the animals comes to power and emanates the human habits that lead to the overthrow of the humans in the first place. The work is satirical of the Communist Revolution and Stalinism. Orwell and Machiavelli present a united front in the portrayal of the non-ruling class. Machiavelli makes no apologies when he states “Men are so simple...
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...Niccolò Machiavelli and Martin Luther: Shaping Modern Political Theory By: Andrew Plotnikov Hist 151-001 I pledge that I received no unauthorized assistance in the completion of this work _____________________________________ Martin Luther and Niccolò Macchiavelli were two European figures in the early sixteenth century who recognized crises of leadership and authority in Europe. Machiavelli and Martin Luther were arguably two of the greatest reformist minds of early 1500s, and their reactions to the crises of leadership present in their countries through their writings led to tremendous political and religious advancements; through their analyses of legitimate rule in The Prince (Machiavelli), and On Christian Freedom and Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (Luther), Machiavelli essentially shaped modern political thought, and Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation that shocked Europe in the early 1500s. Though their responses were based on different groundwork, they each detected and sought to resolve their respective crises, and in doing so aligned their political theories. In analyzing the greatness of the two monumental European figures and their abilities to catalyze change in so many people, comparisons between the writings of both begin to emerge. In particular, Luther and Machiavelli shared innovative perspectives in their analyses on legitimate rule, and in doing so they revealed the pillars on which they built their cases: through...
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...The great political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli has often been regarded as the person who first thought of and spread the idea of using deception, manipulation and cruelty to be successful in politics. While his famous book, The Prince, definitely supports this thinking, there are many other books written by Machiavelli, such as Discourses on Livy, that don’t seem to agree with this viewpoint. I believe that Machiavelli doesn’t actually think the way he sounded in The Prince and was simply writing what needed to be written in order to gain favor with Lorenzo de' Medici, governor of Florence. In The Prince, Machiavelli writes to then ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de’ Medici. He essentially gives him a guide on how to rule his people. This way...
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...What are the components of good leadership? To be a good leader one must have all the components of a good leader; but what makes a good leader? Socrates in “The Republic” and Machiavelli in “The Prince” both discuss what it takes to make a good leader. One interesting topic discussed by them is the corruption of the people in charge and whether or not in affects the leadership role in a negative or positive way. Another determining factor in leadership skill is whether a woman would be a good leader and whether it matters that the image of a man in charge is what best for society or can women do just as much as men can based on their natural skills. Machiavelli speaks about how “Fortune is a woman” and men must take advantage before they get taken advantage of. One of the other components that make a good leader with good leadership skills is deception and whether to have it or not. Deception in leaders can either be helpful or hurtful to whomever is in charge. While Machiavelli has the perspective of a person being a leader that will do anything by any means necessary to stay in charge is how the Prince should run what he is in charge of. Socrates believes in doing what is right by the people. From what Socrates speaks about, he doesn’t feel like people should be corrupt in being a leader. Justice plays a big role in leadership in his opinion which is why he tries to find out from a few people what their definition of justice is and does a good job in trying to get...
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...Machiavelli’sThe Prince Niccolo Machiavelli lived in Florence, Italy in the 1400’s. The country of Italy was divided into city-states that had their own leaders, so it was a time where great leaders were needed in order to help the development of a city-state and country. Machiavelli had a theory that man needed a leader to control them. In his book The Prince, he speaks of the perfect leader, where he basically gives the reader a how-to guide to become a successful leader. However, to understand Machiavelli’s ideas, we need to know about his beliefs and background. When asking Machiavelli weather he believed man was born good or evil, he would say that man was naturally an evil being, one that needed control. Machiavelli seems to have the idea of preparing for the worst and thinking in terms of the worst. Only a person who thinks that man is evil would think of such ways to run a government in the way that Machiavelli thought a government should be run. Machiavelli illustrates several key points, that are necessary to take to become a "successful" ruler. He explains his ideas on taking over a "free" state or republic and how to conquer and rule with the peoples loyalty and respect. In chapter six, Machiavelli gives us some insight on what he feels leadership is. A leader who really wants to achieve glory, does so by his own means and talent. Chapter seven explains that a leader should not try to buy his subjects. If a prince buys his subjects they will only temporarily...
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