In chapter 17 of The Prince, On Cruelty and Mercy, and Whether It Is Better to Be Loved Than to be Feared or the Contrary, Machiavelli continues his discussion of virtues that the modern reader might not consider as virtues. He considers mercy and cruelty as with generosity and ungenerosity. Machiavelli’s dark view of human nature is displayed in this chapter – a warning about those who tell you they love you in good times but desert you in bad times. He talks about how a prince should rather be feared than loved, if he cannot manage to be both loved and feared, but never hated. The text type is like a guide that he writes to instruct the reader on how to become a better prince. The purpose of this chapter is to convince the reader in a way which depicts how it is no use to be merciful, if by doing so, the prince allows disorder in the state to get out of control. The reader is the person who wants to rule a principality based on Machiavelli’s instructions.
Machiavelli clearly explains how there’s a difference between the misuse of mercy and cruelty. “Every prince must desire to be considered merciful and not cruel; nevertheless, he must take care not to misuse this mercy.” This implies that there’s a fine line between what is considered cruel and the “misuse of mercy” according to Machiavelli. He then gives an example of Cesare Borgia, who was seen as cruel but at the same time “brought order to Romagna, united it, restored it to peace and obedience” – he points out the good things that cruelty brings, even if the modern reader doesn’t parallelize his views. Some measure of cruelty is necessary to maintain order. Men will be scared to be punished if the prince is feared, therefore they will maintain their respects toward the pri...
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... “inhuman cruelty…made him always respected and terrifying in the eyes of his soldiers”, and this is also evidence that being feared brings a prince respect and maintains his dignity.
In conclusion, the idea of fear overcoming love in a prince is supported by evidence and examples that Machiavelli suggested. Furthermore, cruelty is a key to respect, and to be feared is a key to loyalty and order, even though compassion is an integral part since it may bring some benefits too. Machiavelli boldly warned us that men are not to be trusted, and that a prince should always set his own rules based on human morality and not what others contemplate. The modern reader will not always approve of Machiavelli’s point of view because of the word “cruelty” since it has the effect of violence, harm, destruction and cold-bloodedness.
Works Cited
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Another topic he covers is cruelty, if cruelty is used in the right way the prince will gain much respect and it will preserve a prince’s safety or will help secure the state; it is safer for a prince to be feared than it is for him to be loved because no one will listen or respect a leader who they take to be a joke. Men fear punishment, and this can be used to a prince’s advantage. Men will not disobey if there is a chance of them being killed or thrown in
The Prince by Machiavelli believed the best of both worlds should be, to be feared and loved by others. Unfortunately this isn’t the conventional way that things happen. If a choice was made, Machiavelli believed it was better to be feared as a leader, than to be loved as a leader. That does not mean he should be merciless or cruel, but that he should be ready to formulate a decision or resolution to almost any situation. It is better to be feared rather than be loved. This point is proven thought the novel The Prince by Machiavelli and “A Bronx Tale”.
In the time of Renaissance, which has been characterized by the age of reawakening of humanism. The prince plays one of the most important role in the dramatic developing of political in the Renaissance period and still hold an universal impact on today's politicians. However its views points has been debating over time. Machiavelli maintain the thoughts which is the essential for the cruel to a successful leader. To those of view points according to Machiavelli's thoughts are the arguments that a prince is to be clement or cruel, to be feared or loved. Those significance are appeared in his written and plays the main role in his viewpoints.
However, the prince himself must resist from the temptation of greed that power brings. If he becomes too self-obsessed, his subjects will no longer value and adore him. In terms of political power, the theorist believes a successful ruler to be sly and secretive while avoiding hatred and accepting criticisms. He outlines the dangers of liberality, stating that far too much kindness can only end in disaster. Instead, Machiavelli suggests the importance of a fierce and successful ruler to be feared rather than loved. A leader cannot allow a poor reputation to interfere with his judgement, instead he should embrace it and focus on the protection and security of his land and his people. He argues that *great things* have yet to be accomplished by a ruler who has let his compassion for his people cloud his judgement and deter him from taking risks. Through his perspective, a prince should not live virtuously, but instead live wanting to achieve the most practical benefit for his subjects. However, a prince must guard himself from being despised and hated. Machiavelli's beliefs served to bring
Power is usually divided into two relating forces, consensual and coercive. These two defining dividends of power define the different types of leadership of which to truly define a leader as well as to manage and to maintain the subjugated as a factor of a primal exemplar of being the locus power. This study of power over another exemplifies the existence of The Prince. Machiavelli showcased the means of having power through the comparison of various leaders, which he called the "Prince", individually, of course. These princes are the exemplars of power where one holds and other to take. More so, The Prince shows the cycle of power being lost and gained through the actions of every prince. With that, princes are the main actors to attain power or to lose power. In this paper, Machiavelli's The Prince will be examined to study the actors, or princes,
The subject of human nature has great emphasis in “The Prince”. Human beings are viewed as rational decision makers who try to maximize their self-interest. They are inclined to help whoever will give them the most benefits and by definition, may easily betray someone to whom they were previously loyal seeing a better opportunity. A large part of being a prince or a politician is being able to lead people, and therefore it is of utter importance in how to deal with their behavior. “Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will fin...
In The Prince, Machiavelli attempts to completely decouple the actions of a good ruler from personal ethics. Machiavelli begins to do this by first establishing what he believes human nature to be Machiavelli argues that numerous traits that are innate among humans. Among these, Machiavelli argues that people are generally self-interested, but that their affections for others can be won and lost. They tend to remain happy so long they avoid affliction or oppression. He also argues that they might be trustworthy in prosperous times, but they can turn selfish, deceitful, and profit-driven in adverse times. They admire honor, generosity, courage, and piety in others, but most do not pursue these virtues in their own life. Finally, Machiavelli argues that ambition is found in those who have achieved some power, but most common people are satisfied with the way things are and therefore do not yearn to improve on the status quo. People will naturally feel obligated after receiving a favor or service, and this bond is usually not broken capriciously. Nevertheless, loyalties are won and lost, and goodwil...
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 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...
the state. When the ruler is in danger they turn against him. Machiavelli reinforces the prince's need to be feared by stating: “
Although Machiavelli gives numerous points on what it takes to excel as a prince, he also shows some raw examples of how he feels a prince should act in order to achieve maximum supremacy. First, when he says, "ought to hold of little account a reputation for being mean, for it is one of those vices which will enable him to govern" proves Machiavelli feels mighty adamant about his view that being mean will help a prince achieve success (332). It is absurd to imagine the meanest prince as the most successful. Also, when Machiavelli states, "our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft" revealing his attitude to manipulate people into fearing and respecting the prince (335). Also, Machiavelli shows that for a prince to be successful, he must not think about good faith.
Machiavelli believes that it is important for a prince maintain a respectful relationship with his people. If the people are abused or otherwise mistreated, the prince will not have a strong following and the people will not obey his orders. Machiavelli states, “Therefore, one who becomes prince through the support of the people should keep them friendly to him, which should be easy for him because they ask of him only that they not be oppressed” (40). Through interpretation of this statement, without
The most astounding aspect of The Prince is Machiavelli’s view that princes may indeed, be cruel and dishonest if their ultimate aim is for the good of the state. It is not only acceptable but necessary to lie, to use torture, and to walk over other states and cities. Machiavellianism is defined as “A political doctrine of Machiavelli, which denies the relevance of morality in political affairs and holds that craft and deceit are justified in pursuing and maintaining political power (Def.)” This implies that in the conquest for power, the ends justify the means. This is the basis of Machiavellianism. The priority for the power holder is to keep the security of the state regardless of the morality of the means. He accepts that these things are in and of themselves morally wrong, but he points out that the consequences of failure, the ruin of states and the destruction of cities, can be far worse. Machiavelli strongly emphasizes that princes should not hesitate to use immoral methods to achieve power, if power is necessary for security and survival.
A ruler cannot show any weakness, or else he will no longer be feared enough to keep him in power, and he will be overthrown. In The Prince, Machiavelli asserts that it is best for a ruler to be both feared and loved, but if he cannot be both, it is much better to be feared. People are unlikely to overthrow a ruler that they fear, because they fear the punishments for failure.
Machiavelli writes, “that man has qualities that will bring him either praise or blame” and because a prince is a man; therefore, he will also exhibit these qualities. A prince should put his good qualities on public display and be clever enough to hide his immoral failings from his subjects; but, if these vices are necessary to maintain his state, he should embrace them; because this appearance of a strong state by his subjects gives them a false sense of security.