Comparing Machiavelli And Immanuel Kant

1089 Words3 Pages

Today, everyone is subject to criticism and that is because we are being scrutinized in everything that we do. However, the one that takes most of the heat are the ones that are in charge. In the reading selections by Niccolo Machiavelli and Immanuel Kant, these two details on how an ideal ruler should lead and behave. To begin with, Machiavelli explains that all men, especially princes have different qualities and that these characteristics are how the outsiders judge them. “Some, for example, are held to be generous, and others miserly…some are held to be benefactors, others are called grasping; some cruel, some compassionate; one man faithless, another faithful; one man effeminate and cowardly, another fierce and courageous… and so forth” (Trials of Modernity, 9). In addition to that, Machiavelli says that as much as everyone desires a prince or any man to have these qualities, he cannot have these characteristics or observe them completely. Although he points out that the criticisms that the prince …show more content…

Machiavelli then goes on to compare if the prince should either be feared or loved or vice versa. He starts out by giving an introduction saying that a prince may want to have an image of compassion rather than for cruelty; none the less, he must be careful that he does not make a bad use of compassion. Which turns to this point, if someone goes down a path, he must not put in too much effort that will tip the scale. Machiavelli then states that even though one wants to have both,

Show More
Related

  • The Qualities Of A Prince Rhetorical Analysis

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Niccolò Machiavelli was a man who lived during the fourteen and fifteen hundreds in Florence, Italy, and spent part of his life imprisoned after the Medici princes returned to power. He believed that he should express his feelings on how a prince should be through writing and became the author of “The Qualities of a Prince.” In his essay, he discusses many points on how a prince should act based on military matters, reputation, giving back to the people, punishment, and keeping promises. When writing his essay, he follows his points with examples to back up his beliefs. In summary, Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of a Prince,” provides us with what actions and behaviors that a prince should have in order to maintain power and respect.

    Read More

  • Comparing Machiavelli's The Prince And Leviathan

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bravery and strength of the lion will not be enough to empower the ruler to escape the snares set by his enemies for and the slyness of the fox is also needed. “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.” (The Prince) It is not possible for the citizens to love and fear a prince, but being feared is much safer than being loved.“Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved” (The Prince) Everything a prince says must be filled with these five qualities: being merciful,being trustworthy, religious,kind, honest. Machiavelli defines virtues as qualities that are praised by others, such as generosity, compassion, and piety. He argues that a prince should always try to appear virtuous, but it is more important for the prince to be practical than it is for him to be morally good. The government that is built of this foundation it

    Read More

  • Machiavelli vs. Lao-Tzu

    284 Words  | 1 Pages

    Machiavelli believes that a government should be very structured, controlled, and powerful. He makes it known that the only priorities of a prince are war, the institutions, and discipline. His writings describes how it is more important for a prince to be practical than moral. This is shown where he writes, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (47). In addition, Machiavelli argues that a prince may have to be cunning and deceitful in order to maintain political power. He takes the stance that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. His view of how a government should run and his unethical conduct are both early signs of dictatorship.

    Read More

  • The Enlightenment And The Enlightenment

    1540 Words  | 4 Pages

    This movement was influenced by increased literacy and scientific revolution. During that time scientist developed the scientific method, this new technique helped them make improvements in testing new scientific theories. The enlightenment era introduced reason, social sciences, and natural sciences in the world. The enlightenment thinkers’ belief in progress, human behavior can improve through the ability of educating their minds, people can change from immaturity, uneducated begins to mature, open minded, and knowledge begins. In addition, to their beliefs they have hope that people will understand universal truths about human nature that we can progress and improve. The thinkers goal is to challenge our minds to rebel against the norm, and question authority, in the church, and in the military. Last but not least, these thinkers aimed to make the country’s secular from religion, meaning separating the church and the government. Their outlook was very different from the rest of the population. Martin Luther, a rebel of his time said,” Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God,”(Luther). In other words, he is trying to express his feelings towards

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Machiavelli's The Prince

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout The Prince Machiavelli gives definite instructions as to how a prince should and should not behave which often conforms to the traditional image of men as being tough

    Read More

  • Enlightenment Essay

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kant’s definition of Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred nonage (immaturity). Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the external guidance. This immaturity is self-incurred by an individual and it is not because of lack of understanding, but rather lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. So the motto of enlightenment is Sapere aude (Latin word which means ‘dare to know’ or ‘dare to be wise’) or in other words it is to have courage to use your own understanding. Reasons for the large proportion of people to be immature are laziness and cowardice. And it is convenient to immature as it is an easier option available. Suppose I have a book which understands me, a spiritual adviser to have a conscience for me, a physician to judge my diet for me and so on then I don’t need to make any efforts at all and I need not think as long as I can pay, others will take up my tiresome job and this is an easier choice than to do all the work by myself. Naturally lot of people prefer easier things instead of taking a chal...

    Read More

  • Gilgamesh Leadership Essay

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Machiavelli in his famous book “The Prince” describes the necessary characteristics for a strong and successful leader. He believes that one of the most important characteristics is to rule in favor of his government and to hold power in his hands. Power is an essential aspect of Machiavelli’s theory, and a leader should do whatever it takes to keep it for the safety of his country because “the ends justifies the means.” To attain and preserve the power, a leader should rather be feared than loved by his people, but it is vital not to be hated. As he states, “anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” If a leader is feared, the people are less likely to revolt, and in the end, only a threat of punishment can guarantee obedienc...

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Plato Machiavelli And Lao Tzu

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    He says “For everyone can see but few can feel” (Machiavelli 24), meaning that people can see the “good” but not know that it is really an appearance. People are easily accepting of what they are shown and believe these things to be truths. Machiavelli’s point of view is; if people are easily fooled into believing things, then why must a leader truly be good if he can simply appear to be good. Machiavelli says in verse 24 of The Prince, “Ordinary people are always deceived by appearances and by the outcome of anything.” According to Machiavelli, it is very important to not be hated by the people, it is much better to be feared than hated. He gives three points of instruction to avoid being hated and prevent conspiracy against him: “You do not deprive them of their property or their honor,” do not be considered “ changeable, frivolous, effeminate, cowardly, or irresolute,” and “he should maintain himself in such a way that no man could imagine that he can deceive or cheat him” (Machiavelli

    Read More

  • The Prince by Machiavelli

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    Living in a tumultuous era, filled with political and religious conflicts, warring city-states, and a continent ruled by a government who used the church to control and conquer, an exiled Machiavelli wrote the book The Prince to give politicians a basis on how to rule a nation and as a way to continue to make a statement in Florence’s politics. The book itself was unlike the regular “mirrors for princes”, in a sense that instead of telling the prince how to be morally sound it told him how to be effective as a ruler. Within the book there were three characteristics that were expressed that can be considered of high importance for every prince/ruler. These three were every prince should rather be feared than to be loved, study war and always be ready for it, and that in the case of two states in war always pick a side and never stray away from it. These characteristics were present in a strong and merciless ruler who used the three features above to govern over an entire country. Joseph Stalin might be seen as a mass murder, but his achievements and contributions to Russia proved that by being feared rather than loved, studying war and perfecting it, and his ability to choose his allies in war, would ultimately lead to the prosperity of his nation.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast John Locke And Machiavelli

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Machiavelli believed that, ethics and morality were considered in other categories than those generally known. He does not deny the existence of, but did not see how they can be useful in its traditional sense as in politics and in the government of the people. According to Machiavelli, a man is by nature a political angry and fearful. Machiavelli had no high opinion of the people. It is assumed that a person is forced to be good and can get into the number of positive features, such as prudence and courage. The prince can only proceed gently and with love, because that would undermine the naivety of his rule, and hence and the well-being of the state. He thought that, the Lord must act morally as far as possible, immorally to the extent to

    Read More

  • Comparing The Prince By Machiavelli And Utopia By Thomas More

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    (652) and those who do realize what the Prince is, dare not tell, for the Prince has the power of the masses to protect him. Machiavelli, in a sense, describes how to live, successfully and prosperously, by dealing with the human?s nature. He details how one is to manipulate

    Read More

  • Niccoló Machiavelli's The Qualities Of The Prince

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    Niccoló Machiavelli claims in “The Qualities of the Prince” that a prince must have certain qualities that will allow him to seize and maintain his power as a ruler. Machiavelli asserts that these qualities will guarantee the ruler to be able to govern his subjects effectively. According to him, a prince must study the art of war, must understand generosity and to what extent he must be generous to be effective, must choose to either be loved or feared, and be able to keep his word to his citizens according to the situation. These qualities can still apply in today’s politics, and will be useful for a modern time politician as long as they are used carefully.

    Read More

  • What is Enlightenment? Emmanuel Kant

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the context of enlightenment Kant believes that freedom is the best way to achieve enlightenment. Freedom accord...

    Read More

  • Human Nature In Plato's The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Machiavelli’s advice to princes directly correlated to his view on human nature. He believed that every common man was born evil and selfish. That did not stop him, however, from saying that humans many show instances when they exhibit generosity and wholeheartedness. He does tell princes, however, not to count on the few occurrences that may happen, and he says, “It is necessary to be a prince to know thoroughly the nature of the people, and one of the populace to know the nature of princes”. He is saying is that it is imperative that a prince knows the natural human nature, that each and every human will become more self-interested than interested in the good of the state. If he is ignorant to that fact, his kingdom/area of rule will deteriorate simply because he believes in the citizens that occupy it. He does believe, however, that with the right training, a human being can be molded (with the help of the state, of course) and he says, “Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many.” Although he believes that people cannot change themselves for the good, he does think that the state and military can shape humans for the better, but there will always be

    Read More

  • Machiavelli's list of virtues

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through his many years of experience with Italian politics Machiavelli wrote “The Prince”; a how-to guide for new rulers. We are given descriptions of what a leader should do to effectively lead his country. A leader should be the only authority determining every aspect of the state and put in effect a policy to serve his best interests. These interests are gaining, maintaining, and expanding his political power. Machiavelli’s idea is that a ruler should use a variety of strategies (virtues) to secure his power. Machiavelli lists five virtues that a ruler should appear to have; being compassionate, trustworthy, generous, honest and religious. A ruler should possess all the qualities considered good by other people.

    Read More

More about Comparing Machiavelli And Immanuel Kant

Open Document