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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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.
Pearl’s ever-changing moods and temperaments secure her as Hawthorne’s most prominent symbol in The Scarlet Letter. Pearl, the impish girlish creature, symbolizes many elements in Hawthorne’s book. Hester’s love for Pearl is never misplaced in the tale, but the reader gains a sense of contempt. Hester believes that without Pearl, she would not have survived the seven long years of exile from the Puritan society. Her daughter’s varying personality traits brings about a sense of joy and a change in her monotonous life.
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.
First, Machiavelli’s method attempts to discard discussion of the “imaginary” political world and instead focuses on “real life” (Machiavelli 48). His end goal is to construct rubric for leaders to follow either to rule and unite (in this case Italy) in the Prince or create a powerful republic in the Discourses. His method is derived from comparing contemporary and historical events to illustrate and substantiate his argument. He is critical of how people interpret history (Machiavelli 83). He still believes that his ability to interpret and compare history is superior. Arguing that his methodological approach doesn’t just “chew” on history but actually “tastes” it (Machiavelli 83). Therefore we can understand that he justifies his method approach as not being akin to most because he possesses a much deeper understanding of history. Throughout his two books using ...
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...
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.
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.
Transcendentalism is a philosophy that has been passed down through the ages. Just like the world and the people that inhabit it, transcendentalism has changed over time. Since technology has advanced over time, people have thought differently about things. Even though many people have changed their thinking, many others haven’t. There are some people who have slight transcendentalist features. Others have strong transcendentalist features and like to spread the word as often as possible.
Transcendentalism is a religious, philosophical, literary, and social movement of the nineteenth century. Essentially, this movement was based upon the ideals of the “sixth sense,” nature, and non-conformity, as well as individualism, intuition, idealism, imagination, and inspiration. A few of the works and writings featured in the transcendental unit include Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, The Beatification of Chris McCandless: From Thieving Poacher into Saint by Craig Medred, and Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The primary focus of this essay is to provide an opinion on a strikingly debatable topic; Whether or not Christopher McCandless, hero of Krakauer’s Into the Wild, was a true transcendentalist. Despite the bold actions of Chris McCandless on his daring Alaskan odyssey, he turned out to be far from a true transcendentalist, failing to meet the definition of transcendentalism, being solely concerned with himself, and acting out of revenge rather than seeking self discovery - nothing more than a childish suicidal rebel.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel that shows the Puritanical way of life. Society does not accept the fact that Hester has committed the sin of adultery so they cast her out by making her wear a scarlet letter 'A' across her chest. Pearl is the product of Hester's sin, the scarlet letter is the product of society. This idea shows that Pearl is the scarlet letter and the scarlet letter is Pearl. There are many ways in which Pearl is shown to be as the scarlet letter because she is considered to be a part of nature, she is the physical connection between Dimmesdale and Hester, and Pearl is the reason that makes Dimmesdale and Hester to finally accept their sin and make their confession in front of society and the people within society. The reasons are listed in this manner because in the first one nature is a stronger force that human force, then comes her connection between Dimmesdale and Hester because she is the natural connection which is a link from the first one to the second and also her being the reason Dimmesdale and Hester accepting the sin is last because there is a stronger connection between the child and the parents here which is linked from the previous reason.
Eva’s lack of value for motherhood shaped the lives of her family as well as her own. Because of her negative feelings toward motherhood, many of the people surrounding her have similar values. Eva reflects her community’s negative perception of motherhood by being straightforward about it and passing it down through her family
After five hundred years, Niccolo Machiavelli the man has ceased to exist. In his place is merely an entity, one that is human, but also something that is far above one. The debate over his political ideologies and theories has elevated him to a mythical status summed up in one word: Machiavelli. His family name has evolved into an adjective in the English language in its various forms. Writers and pundit’s bandy about this new adjective in such ways as, “He is a Machiavelli,” “They are Machiavelli’s,” “This is suitable for a Machiavelli.” These phrases are almost always the words of a person that understands more about Niccolo’s reputation than the man himself. Forgotten is that Machiavelli is not an adequate example of the ruler he is credited with describing; a more accurate statement would be to call someone a “Borgia” or a “Valentino.” Most of the time they are grossly mistaken in their references. All these words accomplish is to add to the legend, and the misinterpretation, of the true nature of Niccolo Machiavelli.
Also in Roman Mythology the difference between history and myths was almost indistinguishable. The names for which was changed was Zeus was changed to Jupiter whereas Hades and Poseidon became Pluto and Neptune. Ares the God of War became Mars and Hermes the messenger god became Mercury and Hercules renamed as the hero the Romans and what we know today as Hercules. Also Aphrodite became Venus but also the Romans believe that their Gods were associated with the Greek gods which they explain in some of their
Niccolo Machiavelli was a political philosopher from Florence, Italy. The period that Machiavelli lived in was the "rebirth" of art in Italy and rediscovery of ancient philosophy, literature and science. He wrote The Prince, in which he discusses the proper way of living as a prince. His ideas, which were not viewed as beneficial at the time, were incredibly cynical and took time for the rest of the population to really catch onto the ideas. Machiavelli’s view of human nature was that humans are born evil, and while they can show good traits, and the common man is not to be trusted. Unlike Confucius, Machiavelli believes that human nature cannot be changed, and unlike Plato, where Plato believes in humans as social beings. Each respected view
During the time 1469, a child by the name of Niccolo Di Bernardo Del Machiavelli was born. Some may know him as an Italian philosopher, humanist, or an evil minded fellow associated with the corruptness of totalitarian government. In Machiavelli’s home state of Florence, he introduces the modern political theory. Hoping to gain influence with the ruling Medici family, Niccolo wrote a pamphlet called The Prince (Prezzolini). Niccolo lived a nondescript childhood and his main political experience in his youth was watching Savonarola from afar.