Machiavelli's Political Impact

Consider the impact of political and cultural change in Italy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in shaping the view of human nature presented in Machiavelli's The Prince. What are the inherent problems a ruler faces in governing human beings, what are Machiavelli's solutions to those problems, and how do they correspond with the prevailing intellectual ideas of the period?

The fourteenth and fifteen century saw rapid political and cultural change on the Italian peninsula and across the European continent. Imperial monarchies and the Catholic Church still dominated, but their grip on power was being undermined by growing religious secularism, the protestant reformation and rising nationalism. Italy was fractured into many city-states;

He was perhaps the first philosopher to identify that politics and ethics can be distinct from one another. For a leader to attain and maintain power he must separate or even discard morality and ethics all together from how he rules. Machiavelli contends that the action of a ruler must be dictated purely by the practical consequences of his actions. For centuries before, ideas of how individuals should conduct themselves was guided by abstract notion of how men ought to behave and what was natural, especially in light of the ultimate judgment they faced before god. This is something Machiavelli wholly ignores and is a glaring, almost heretical omission considering the context of the time. Instead he grounds his political philosophy in short stories about his experience of what works in governing and what does not, often resulting in the death of the individual who does loses the game. Machiavelli believed a great deal in the efficacy of free will and self-determination to be able to shape events to ones own advantage, again ignoring Christian principles, namely divine

Chapter XVII on “Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared” is a prime example of Machiavelli laying out this insight. Machiavelli understands that it is best for a ruler to be loved and feared but when given the choice between the two, it is always better to be feared. Someone can stop loving you whenever they feel like it but they will not stop fearing you, so long as you have the means to make them fear you. Fear and brutality for Machiavelli were one of many tools used to succeed in affairs of state. “.. So long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those executions which originate with a prince offend the individual only.” A leader could come into office with high ideals and lofty moral pronouncements but if he cannot survive in the game of power he will achieve nothing. One can do either good or ill in power but maintaining power is all that matters. All actors must be accounted and “… it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves” . Machiavelli recognized that leaders must do whatever is necessary to achieve the survival of the