The Italian Renaissance is known for its birth of many notable philosophers, including the famous Niccolo Machiavelli. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest political thinkers to have ever existed, and his ideas and beliefs have been an inspiration and motivation for many famous leaders. Although he has known to have been a positive influence on mankind, Machiavelli has also distinguished a bad reputation that has been unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding in his views on politics. Since rulers like Hitler and Mussolini have followed his teachings for obtaining power, society has unfortunately looked down upon this great philosopher, despite the many things he introduced to mankind. Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. Brought up in a relatively poor family, his parents could not afford to send him to school. Instead, he was educated at home by his mother, a religious poet, and his father, an attorney. Since little is known about his early life, not a lot can be found in references about his childhood and teenage years. It is only known that his family did their best to obtain a respectable and prominent image, and Niccolo grew up to be a fine, educated, and well-known man. He attended the University of Florence and studied logic, mathematics, music, astronomy, and philosophical debate. Machiavelli’s political career took off in 1498 when he was offered a government position in Florence. He became the secretary and second chancellor of the Florentine Republic. During this time, he was a civil servant who had many diplomatic and administrative responsibilities. From 1499 to 1508, he went on many missions where he met many powerful political figures including Louis XII, the Pope, and Cesar Borgia, a solider and aristocrat in central Italy. A lot of Machiavelli’s philosophy was highly influenced by other people; meanwhile his own ideas were created about political power and maintaining government control. One of his major contributions to the city of Florence was persuading the people to raise its own militia instead of using a mercenary. He was entirely devoted to the Florentine Republic, and the city was his object of patriotism. In 1512, the Medici, a Florentine family, reclaimed power in Florence and the republic was thrown over. Niccolo lost his position as chancellor and was imprisoned after being accused of a par...
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... disgraceful, seems worthy of praise to me, because we imitate nature, which herself is various, and anyone who imitates nature cannot be criticizes.” Niccolo Machiavelli made a statement in history. The Italian Renaissance was an era in history that was full of change. It was full of philosophers and people exploding with new ideas and ready to revolutionize. Niccolo Machiavelli started a philiosophy that not only influenced Italy, but influenced the world and leaders everywhere. Whether people were frightened of him or not, he created a different form of political philosophy that I used today. Even tough he has been dead for over 450 years, his teachings are still around, and his name is still in today’s society. WORKS CITED 1. Prezzolini, Giuseppe. Machiavelli. New York; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1967. 2. Collinson, Diane. Fifty Major Philosophers, A Reference Guide. London; Croom Helm Ltd, 1987. 3. Geerars, M. “Rick’s Hideout.” www.rick_machiavelli.html 4. Scherl, Jimmy. “Machiavelli.” www.killenroos.com 5. “Niccolo Machiavelli: Power for Good or Evil.” www.letsfindout,com 6. Sloan, John. “Machiavelli On War.” www.members.aol.com/johns426/machessy.htm
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Chris McCandless was a young man from Washington, D.C.. In an effort to live closer to nature, he abandoned his life and education at university studying. He gave his life savings to a charity and started hitchhiking and traveling for almost two years. He eventually finds himself in Alaska, where he lived for four months before he unfortunately died due to starvation. McCandless’ journey was in tune with the movement of transcendentalism, a movement in which its founders were a strong inspiration to Chris. Chris McCandless was very in tune with his surrounding and the nature within it and his connection with it. A turning
In the film Into the Wild directed by Sean Penn, viewers may have gathered enough evidence to back up their thoughts on Christopher McCandless being a transcendentalist or a non-transcendentalist. Chris portrayed the effort of being a transcendentalist just as Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Thoreau did. He abandoned his nice life to hitchhike all over North America and he was happy about it. McCandless unfortunately died in the wilderness of Alaska after he had eaten moldy seeds. Sooner or later, that mistake was enough to end his life. He shows behavior of being a Transcendentalist by the ways that he despised society, burned his money after he abandoned his car, and went out to Alaska on his own.
The film, The Graduate, tells a story about a new college graduate and his experience upon returning home to expectations of his peers and a fear of his own future. Produced in the 1960’s, The Graduate, depicts topics such as isolationism and alienation through the protagonist, Benjamin Braddock. The main theme of the movie is the idea of Benjamin’s isolation being caused by the pressure from expectations that the older generations lay upon him; he does not know what he wants to do with his future, yet his father and peers continues to hound him and question him on his future plans. A common fear for most college students and newly college graduates, many college students are unsure of where their lives will lead them and without a certain answer, can be nerve racking. Benjamin’s father and peers make this idea apparent to Ben when they often ask him “What are you gonna do now?”. Our protagonist does not seem to have a positive answer for them almost every time. Mr. Braddock also parades Benjamin to his friends by buying him extravagant gifts
Transcendentalism plays a key role in all of our lives. Many commonly shared values are rooted from the transcendental keys. Some devote their entire lives to try and live as transcendental as possible. For example, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were huge undertakers in these ideas and virtues. Chris McCandless looked up to these great thinkers and many others to find an outline for his life. McCandless dedicated his entire life to following many transcendental keys such as non-conformity, reducing dependence on property, and self-reliance.
Transcendentalism is living and communicating simply and in nature to find yourself. Chris McCandless can been seen as a transcendentalist in the book Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer tells the story of Christopher McCandless, who in June of 1990, set out on an adventure around the continent. After traveling all over and living on his own for two years, Chris decides to hitchhike up north to live off the Alaskan land, 4 months later, Christopher was found dead. Though Chris’s adventure was fatal, his beliefs and actions throughout the book were undoubtable those of a transcendentalist.
Billie and Walt McCandless quietly shed tears concerning their twenty-four year old son, Chris McCandless, who had not talked to them for over two years and was found dead in the Alaskan woods. They question why their son had left society, left his own parents nevertheless, and risked his life which ended in his fatality. The transcendental principles which include rejection of society, intuition, and searching for a purpose of life may have guided the aforesaid experience-seeking individual. Chris McCandless’s identification as a transcendentalist is confirmed through his nonconformist actions, his human relationships, and his quest for a higher truth.
Pearl is first introduced as the young babe clutched to Hester's chest, as she stands before a crowd of puritans beholding her humiliation. Embarrassed of the glaring letter on her chest, Hester thinks to hold little Pearl in front of her scarlet mark; however, she resolves that “one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another” (P.37). It is here that we see for the first time that Pearl has been reduced to nothing more than a symbol of Hester's sin, synonymous with the scarlet letter. As Pearl grows, so does the obvious nature with which Hawthorne portrays her as the scarlet letter. Throughout the book, we see Pearl dressed in bright clothes,
Throughout life people encounter a numerous amount of obstacles, some of these obstacles can be tougher than others. These obstacles don’t define who you are, how the situation is handled does. In the book The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, Jessica encounters a tremendous obstacle that life could throw at her. Jessica has had to learn to adjust her life from the way that she used to live. Her life is changing and she has to decide if this accident defines who she is going to be while being surrounded by the love and comfort of her family.
Throughout life you encounter a numerous amount of obstacles. These obstacles don’t define you, how you handle them does. In the book “The Running Dream” by Wendelin Van Draanen, Jessica encounters the biggest obstacle that life could throw at her. Jessica has had to learn to adjust her life from what it was. Her life is changing and she has to decide if this accident defines who she is going to be while being surrounded by the love and comfort of her family.
Niccolo Machiavelli lived in Florence, Italy in the 1400’s. The country of Italy was divided into city-states that had their own leaders, but all pledged alliance to their king. In time in which 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.
In Florence, Italy on May 3rd, 1469, a boy who would grow up to be one of the most hated people in history was born. His name was Niccolo Machiavelli and though many believe he was a malicious, diabolical person, others believe he was a political realist, genius and someone who dared to say the truth. He was most famous for his book, Il principe (The Prince) which regards the topic of how rulers can acquire and maintain their power. Despite the harshness of his writings, Niccolo Machiavelli was simply showing his interest and care for the amelioration of government in Italy.
Beliefs are what define humans not as a society, but as individuals. Individualism is a large part of Transcendentalism, which was a movement started in the mid-nineteenth century led by figures such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Into the Wild, written in 1997 by Jon Krakauer, is a modern novel that examines a transcendentalist young adult. That young man is Chris McCandless, who leaves his family at the age of 23 to live the Transcendentalist dream. He hitchhikes and travels through many rivers and cities to get to Alaska, the place where he believes he can finally experience that dream. Transcendentalism is the idea that humans are innately one with nature, and therefore God, and that nature is the only place where humans belong because society is poisonous. By enjoying himself and connecting with god through the environment in an isolated location, Chris McCandless demonstrates that he is a faithful Transcendentalist.
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
Machiavelli’s views were drastically different from other humanists at his time. He strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but stood in the way of a successfully governed state. He stated that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little thought to the well being of the state. He distrusted citizens saying, “In time of adversity, when a state is in need of its citizens, there are few to be found.” In his writings in The Prince, he constantly questioned the citizens’ loyalty and warned for the leaders to be wary in trusting citizens. His radical and distrusting thoughts on human nature were derived out of concern for Italy’s then unstable government. Machiavelli also had a s...
In today’s world, Niccolo Machiavelli’s teachings on how one must lead would not work because the world is not as chaotic as it was in his time. Italy, d...