A successful ruler, contending with indifferent to moral and religious considerations. Machiavelli asserted that kings or princes should only be concerned with preserving and strengthen the states power and must ignore the question of good and evil, morality and immorality. The way he gave political advice can defiantly help and hurt politician in a modern democratic society. He states "Thus it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, religious and also to be so: but you must have the mind so disposed that when it is needful to be otherwise you may be able to change to the opposite qualities." I personally think that Machiavelli prince would be a great at all the things he states in the reading. Being merciful, many of the people …show more content…
Sincere, he can’t keep something a secret or hide something that needs to be kept private. Lastly if he is going to be religious he is pretty much the subject to the people of the church. Therefore, I think it is not really necessary for the prince to have all of the named qualities but you could say its good to seem to have them. Although he states that a prince must take great care that nothing comes out of his mouth which isn’t from the above named five qualities. You can observe all the things which are considered good in men when becoming a new prince. Machiavelli’s advice to princes was so ground breaking at that era. It gave the princes a break from the other teachings of medieval political and more philosophers. With all the rules he told them to do and all of the requirements he pretty much told them to do whatever it was to gain and maintain the power. No one was ever bold like he was to tell rulers to lie to others to keep their place of power or get into one. At that time, it was really important because most of the people were extremely religious. The people just wanted to maintain a good moral …show more content…
“To ignore good, evil, religion, morality and immortality”. Machiavelli said you have to adjust to his actions in order to strengthen his state One thing that stood out to me was the question weather it is better to be loved more then feared. That is a great question he bought up. I think every politician wants to to be loved more then feared but, it is much safer for a leader to be feared then loved. As he talked about rather being feared he knows what decisions are going to be okay to make and not decide to harsh on one. The prince talks about how easily it is to be feared and also being hated at the same time. I think if anyone is running for something or plays an important role in society there is always going to be a greater chance in love you will get taken advantage of to a certain extent as if you are feared. If you are very loved by the people that are going to be voting for you or supporting you, its easier to make the wrong decision and your people can turn their backs against you. If that happens, you can then go from loved to hated. Then again it is important to be loved as a leader, the people will trust you more and I think you will have a batter chance at getting people doing more fulfilling
Machiavelli’s advice to a prince who wanted to hold power is that they have to instill fear into the people. He believes fear is important because it restrains men, as they fear being punished. Love will never help you hold power because it attaches people to promises. Machiavelli believes that since humans are wicked, they will break these promises whenever their interests is at stake. Men will devote everything to you if you serve their interests, but as soon as you need help, they turn on you. Therefore, creating fear in them is the perfect strategy. I feel like Machiavelli is being sarcastic and did this to get attention. He knew his way of thinking was different and would get the attention of the people.
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.
Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.” While he argues that politicians who try to be good in defiance of the good of the state are not successful politicians, he also acknowledges the importance of necessity in immoral actions. He never argues that immoral actions can ever be considered right, only that they may be required as a politician. Machiavelli states that the ends can justify the means, however he never encourages violence. He also argues against excessive or prolonged violence, emphasizing necessity. He argues against excessive violence in that it can be detrimental to the state. Machiavelli advises that a prince should carefully calculate all the wicked deeds he needs to do to secure his power, and then execute them all in one stroke, such that he need not commit any more wickedness for the rest of his reign. In this way, his subjects will slowly forget his cruel deeds and his reputation can recover. Princes who fail to do this, who hesitate in their ruthlessness, find that their problems mushroom over time and they are forced to commit wicked deeds throughout their reign. Thus they continuously mar their reputations and alienate their people. He states that it is better to be feared than loved, but not at the price of the politician’s reputations or relationship with their people. He also refers to violence as criminal virtue and stresses the need to utilize it only when necessary. While he advocates for the use of violence rather than a course of nonviolence, he specifies that it is for the greater good. If violence is withheld, then the politician is forced to do more wicked deeds. Even though he acknowledges the necessity to commit bad deeds, he is in consensus Plato that ideally the politician should be
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...
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.
... to the times of kings and princess, however it must be noted that the underlying human emotions and their motivations can only be dealt with decisiveness and deep plotting. The concepts discussed are applicable to all leaders and politicians holding offices. Bottom line is, some things never changes. Even though a lot has changed, principles of Machiavelli’s Prince are adapted and used widely yet secretly in a complex world of growth and prosperity with a greater demography and geography.
For all of Machiavelli’s ruthlessness and espousal of deceit, he knew the value of authenticity and relying on his administration. A true leader cannot achieve greatness alone. Machiavelli says that the prince is the state, and the state is the prince. This means that whatever vision and principles the leader holds in the highest regard, they must be known to the state so that they can be realized. He believed that no matter how a prince was elected, his success would depend largely on his ministers. Collaboration between a prince and ministers would create an atmosphere of harmony and camaraderie, highly reducing the chances of rebellion. Without the support and cooperation of the people, military action is not possible, expansion is not possible and most importantly, governance is not possible. If a leader does not satisfy the needs of the people, they have the power to overthrow him through strength in numbers. Thus, a leader depends just as much on the people as they do on him. A leader must be able to convince the people to buy into his visio...
Additionally, The Prince states that secular forms of government are more realistic than pious ones because a pious government would be bound by morals. In the Prince, Machiavelli tries to convey that the end justifies the means, which means any thing goes. He claims that it would be ideal for a prince to possess all the qualities that are deemed good by other men, but states that no leader can accomplish that. He also states that the security of the state should be the prince’s first priority and it must be protected by any means necessary. Although, this can be true in certain cases, Machiavelli uses it as an excuse to use evil and cruel tactics.
Niccolo Machiavelli stressed that “one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved…for love is held by a chain of obligation which, men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose; but fear is maintained by a dread of punishment which never fails.” He felt that a true leader must be cunning and deceptive, winning the hearts of his people through power and influence. If he could not be liked, he could at least get by knowing he has intimidated these below him into submission. However rash or cruel this may seem, Machiavelli’s argument is not one to be countered easily.
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...
Machiavelli’s, The Prince, discusses topics with great importance. He has knowledge that is very useful to people in power. He also has a specific way of thinking when it comes to certain ideals. He had a different way of viewing things during his time which has made his knowledge so great. Machiavelli has exclusive outlooks on human nature, people, and
(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
“The Prince”, by Niccolo Machiavelli, is a series of letters written to the current ruler of Italy, Lorenzo de’ Medici. These letters are a “how-to” guide on what to do and what not to do. He uses examples to further express his views on the subject. The main purpose was to inform the reader how to effectively rule and be an acceptable Prince. Any ruler who wishes to keep absolute control of his principality must use not only wisdom and skill, but cunning and cruelness through fear rather than love. Machiavelli writes this book as his summary of all the deeds of great men.
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
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.