Syllogism In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince is a book of philosophy that suggests or condemns various methods to ascend as a prince and ways to rule newly acquired principalities. In order to convince the readers, Machiavelli integrates different forms of logical arguments, including syllogism and enthymeme.

In chapter 3, Machiavelli explains about ways to control provinces that are foreign in both language and customs. He suggests establishing colonies in new principalities and strengthen his assertion with syllogism. The first premise of his syllogism is people who are offended by the prince would remain poor and dispersed. The first premise can be considered true because according to Machiavelli, colonization involves taking away some old …show more content…

He argues that since barons consider themselves powerful and independent, a prince with barons would have less authority than a prince with ministers. Throughout the chapter, Machiavelli shows how ministers are loyal to their prince because they are dependent on him (51). Nevertheless, Machiavelli does not directly states that nobles are not loyal enough to their prince, which can be seen as his implied premise. Barons are independent of their prince because their power and wealth are inherited from their ancestors rather than the prince. Consequently, readers can assume that, for their own benefits, barons can overthrow their prince at anytime. Thus, Machiavelli’s enthymeme makes a logical sense. Machiavelli further adds credibility to his enthymeme with an example from comparison between Turkish and French government. Unlike Turkish government which consists of one lords and servants, French government had many nobles who possessed their own privileges of the government. According to Machiavelli, French government was not only hard to control the nobles but also prone to invasion because nobles are not obligated to the prince (52). Machiavelli’s example illustrates that his enthymeme is also

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