TYBA SEMESTER V- CIA 2 5.02 Political Thinkers The Political Thought of Machiavelli and An Overview of ‘The Prince’ Prajakta Sawant Roll No. 292, UID No. 131106 Contents: The Political Thought of Machiavelli and analysis of The Prince TOPIC PAGE NO. 1. Introduction 01 2. Life and Times of Machiavelli 02 3. Literary Works 03 4. Political Thought and Philosophy of Machiavelli: 4.1. Concept of the State 4.2. The Psychology of rulers and the ruled 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 4.6. 5. An overview of The Prince 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. 6. Critical Evaluation Introduction: Machiavelli is often dismissed as a cynic and shrewd philosopher for his notorious and unsystematic writings. He is widely known as a man of corrupt morality who supposedly considers …show more content…
He explicitly claims through the book that he is not interested in talking about ideal republics or utopias. He says, “There is such a gap between how one lives and how one should live that he who neglects what is being done for what should be done will learn his destruction rather than his preservation.” The Prince has a great impact and is significant even today after 500 years because of the pragmatic and simple things that it teaches. The Chapter wise distribution of The Prince is as follows: The first two chapters describe the scope of the book. The first chapter defines the various types of principalities and the third chapter describes how to maintain composite principalities—that is, principalities that are newly created or annexed from another power. Chapter III also introduces power politics, war craft, and popular goodwill which are the main aspects of the book. Chapters IV to XIV constitute the heart of the book. Machiavelli offers practical advice on how to acquire and hold new states, how to deal with internal insurrection, how to make alliances, and how to maintain a strong military. Machiavelli’s views regarding free will, human nature, and ethics are covered in these
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.
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
Miserliness will be looked down upon at first for the prince but soon his subjects will come to appreciate the prince’s miserliness, his ability to expand the kingdom and to protect them without putting any strain on them.
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.
Machiavelli is undisputedly one of the most influential political philosophers of all time. In The Prince, his most well-known work, he relates clearly and precisely how a decisive, intelligent man can gain and maintain power in a region. This work is revolutionary because it flies in the face of the Christian morality which let the Roman Catholic Church hold onto Europe for centuries. Machiavelli's work not only ignores the medieval world's ethics: The Prince suggests actions which oppose the four most basic of Christianity's Ten Commandments.
Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Robert Martin Adams. "Chapter 17." The Prince: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations, Marginalia. New York: Norton, 1992. 46. Print.
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 has long been required reading for everyone intrested in politics and power. In The Prince Niccolo M
Although, Machiavelli argues that an ideal ruler must be cruel, feared and unjust in order to maintain power in his paper, "The Prince", this is not necessary true. An ideal ruler must be assertive, just and filled with integrity to maintain power, prestige, and the loyalty of those he governs.
“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.
...an be understood by just any person, but it also targets the history student's perspective as well. Machiavelli composed The Prince as a practical guide for ruling. He takes the time to explain the way a country is ruled. He also manages to tell the reader how a country should be run, the way it would be in a utopian type society. It will definitely present the reader with quite a bit more understanding of a nation's government. Machiavelli greatly explains what results from a citizen's failure to act upon an issue. Also, he does a tremendous job of presenting the reader with examples of what comes from what one may establish in life. The Prince is not hypothetical or abstract; its writing style is simple and its logic straightforward. This writing was, honestly, an excellent read and anybody who can read should pick it up to bury their head into it and enjoy.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Robert M. Adams, trans., ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977. pp. vii.-75.
To understand the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, it is necessary to understand the world of Niccolò Machiavelli, Renaissance Italy. The region was not one nation as it is today, rather a collection of several city-states, which contained internal fighting between powerful families, fighting with each other. This era differed from the preceding middle ages in many respects, the pope's power was weakened, money controlled power instead of noble birth, and there was a revival of ancient Greek and Roman literature, architecture and art by a new breed of people, the humanists. These changes created the environment in which Machiavelli lived. He saw how the quarrelling was weakeni...
Machiavelli's views have been misinterpreted since his book was first written, people take him in the wrong way, and are offended by what he says. Careless readers take him in a completely wrong way, such as they think that he believes that the end justifies the means, that a leader should lie to the people, and that a ruler has to rule with force. In actuality, Machiavelli means no such thing, he says that there are times when the common good outweighs the means, and the morality of a rulers actions. He also says that you cannot be loved by everyone, so try to be loved and feared at the same time, but of the two, choose to be feared. The Prince is considered to be one of the most important of nonfiction literature written in the history of mankind. It gave an accurate and truthful description of the method of governing.
The book The Prince was a book of advice to politicians regarding how gain power and keep that power. The title The Prince is not about someone who has inherited land and a decedent to a king. In Machiavelli’s perspective a prince was a man of the citizens....