Machiavelli The Prince Research Paper

Niccolò Machiavelli lived 1469 – 1527 in Florence and has been recognized as one of the important figures of the Italian Renaissance. In 1498 he bacame the secretary to the Chancery of Florence. When the Medici regained power in 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed and jailed. In his later life he wrote The Prince, which is based on his personal experiences. He recommends political leaders the use of ruthless and self-serving cunning. His writing became one of the most quoted leadership writings of all time. However, this essay will demonstrate that Machiavellian manager are not always successful by considering morals and ethics, the focus on materialism and the employer image

According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term Machiavellianism

A generic definition refers to having achieved an aim or purpose or rather fame, wealth, or social status QUOTE. Whereas Machiavelli had an explicit idea of what is success means to him: Success equals virtù plus Fortuna. Virtù constitutes his main visions of the preconditions for political power. ”In particular, Machiavelli employs the concept of virtù to refer to the range of personal qualities that the prince will find it necessary to acquire in order to “maintain his state” and to “achieve great things,” the two standard markers of power for him“ QUOTE. Acting virtù implies that the ruler must set any Christian ethic aside because it makes you weak and submissive. Further more a prince cannot be loved and be feared simultaneously because he will be taken for granted if he wants to be loved. He should rather act courageous, strong, feared and just in order to rule sustainable and being respected. The link between virtù and political power is Fortuna which “is the enemy of political order, the ultimate threat to the safety and security of the state“ QUOTE . The dimension of Fortuna is never constant and needs to be tamed. It is the disorder, chaos and in in other words a woman who is seen alongside a man that is to say virtù. The mere appearance of virtù is enough for achieving certain goals and overcome the unpredicatble random elements of