Machiavelli The Prince Essay

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The ideal Prince in the eyes of Machiavelli is one that displays compassion over cruelty. With this being said, he makes it clear that compassion must not be used in the wrong way. Machiavellian also stated that a Prince must not be considered whether or not his approach is viewed a cruel. He must be consider with keeping order amongst his subject. This ideal Prince that he describes can be viewed as one that is a true ruler. A leader who is both feared and loved by his subjects respectfully.

According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared than loved. He elaborated on this point in a few ways. One point he makes is that fear with keep the Prince from being hated. This is because fear and the absence of hatred is compatible. I agree with Machiavelli on this topic. When one is in leadership, respect is key to things working properly. More often than not, respect is gained out of fear rather than love. While love can be important, an element of fear must be in play to receive the proper respect. …show more content…

He finds it necessary when in a state of war. According to him, these elements are what keep a sense of order. In an effort to add validity to this point, he uses the leader Hannibal as an example. Machiavellian states that Hannibal’s cruelty was the key to his rule being so prosperous. I do not agree with Machiavelli on this point. While I agree with his previous point about fear breeding respect, I do not believe that cruelty is the avenue to garner it. In my opinion cruelty has the potential to send things astray. I also believe that the use of cruelty is the way to gain respect from

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