Machiavelli’s view of human nature. Machiavelli has long been required reading for everyone intrested in politics and power. In The Prince Niccolo M achiavelli presents a unique view on governing a state. Machiavelli believes the ruling Prince should be the only authority that should determine every aspect of the state and put in effect a policy which would serve his best interests. These interests were gaining, maintaining, and expanding his political power. (Machiavelli,5). His understanding of human nature was a complete contradiction of what everyone believed and taught. Machiavelli strongly promoted a physical society and felt morality was not necessary but in fact stood in the way of an effectively governed principality. (Machiavelli,5). Although in some cases Machiavelli's suggestions seem harsh and immoral one must remember that these views were derived from his concern for the welfare of his country. At Machiavelli's time everyone believed that an individual had much to offer to the well being of the state, Machiavelli was quick to mock human nature. He truly believed that humans are not ready to serve their country unless there is a special benefit to them as individuals. Machiavelli further goes on to question the loyalty of the citizens and advises the Prince that men never keep their word to you so you should never keep youre word to them. (Machiavelli,6). However, Machiavelli did not feel that a Prince should mistreat the citizens. This suggestion is only to serve the Prince's best interests. If a prince can not be both feared and loved, Machiavelli suggests, it would be better for him to be feared by the citizens within his own principality. He makes the generalization that men are, "ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers they shun danger and greedy for profit”.(Machiavelli, 54). He characterizes men as being self centered and not willing to act in the best interest of the state. When the ruler is in danger they turn against him. Machiavelli reinforces the prince's need to be feared by stating: “ Men worry less about doing an injusry to one who makes himself loved than to one who makes himself feard. For love is secured by a bond of gratitude which men, wretched creatures that they are, break when it is to their advantage to do so; but fear is strengthened by a dread of punishement which is always effective.”... ... middle of paper ... ...w Italy beseeches God to send someone to save her from those barbarous cruelties and outrages; see how eager and willing the country is to follow a banner, if someone will raise it.18 Although Italy had become the center of intellectual, artistic and cultural development, Machiavelli did not feel these qualities would help in securing Italy's political future. His opinion was that Italy required a leader who could have complete control over Italy's citizens and institutions. One way of maintaining control of was to institute a secular form of government. This would allow the prince to govern without being morally bound. Machiavelli's view of human nature was not in accord to that of humanists who felt that an individual could greatly contribute to the well being of the society. Machiavelli, however felt that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little obligation to the well being of the state. Although Machiavelli doubted that this form of government could ever be established it did appear several years after he wrote The Prince. Machiavelli has become to be regarded as "the founder of modern day, secular politics."
A prince should not concern himself with living virtuously, but rather with acting so as to achieve the most practical benefit. Such vices are truly evil if they endanger the state, but when vices are employed in the proper interests of the state, a prince must not be influenced by condemnation from other men. Machiavelli argues that a prince should always try to appear virtuous, but that acting virtuously for virtue’s sake can prove detrimental. Every action the prince takes must be considered in light of its effect on the state, not in terms of its intrinsic moral value. Machiavelli criticizes the concept of a “good life” reflected in the Aristotelian doctrine that demands virtuous actions in all types of behavior. But, a prince must break his promises when they put him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made the promises no longer exist. In any case, promises are never something on which a prince can rely, since men are by nature wretched and deceitful. A prince should be a master of deception. Machiavelli does not argue that a prince should actively avoid doing what is good but that, if necessary, a prince must be prepared to act
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
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.
Machiavelli says that “If a ruler who wants always to act honorably is surrounded by many unscrupulous men his downfall is inevitable” and if a ruler want to remains his power must be prepared to act immorally.
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.
Machiavelli’s The Prince was written more than 500 years ago and it is “one of the most influential and controversial books published in Western literature.” (Article A) It was about Machiavelli’s political philosophies and the basic principles of what he believes a politician or “prince” should be. The three main ideas of the Prince were “Liberality and Stinginess”, “Cruelty and Mercy: Is It Better to Be Loved Than Feared, or the Reverse?”, and “How a Prince Should Keep Their Promises” and for the most part many of his concepts should or are already instilled in our government.
Job 4:16 says, “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” Kindness is shown in a person’s character. Many people are afraid to display it because they are worried of what the outcome may be or what people would think of them for trying to be kind. In Love Kindness, by Barry H. Corey, we learn that “kindness needs to be rediscovered” (Corey xiii). It is easily seen by the way one person acts or speaks towards someone that we can tell if kindness is being radiated off of them or not. Within my reflection, I will be comparing niceness and kindness and the major difference between the two of those, as well as how we can keep our “firm center” and “soft edges”.
Machiavelli’s “The Prince” brought up some controversial characteristics on what a Machiavellian ruler is. The characteristic that was most stressed was that “A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war.”(Machiavelli 37). With a main focus on the art of war a ruler can protect the state he governs from attacks against him and his state. Machiavelli offers us an analogy to prove the importance of war. He speaks of two men: one armed and one unarmed. He tells us how it would be unrealistic to believe that the armed man would obey the unarmed man. It would also be unreasonable to expect that the unarmed man would feel safe and secure if is servant held a weapon that could cause death. The unarmed man would feel suspicious of the armed man and the armed man would feel contempt for the unarmed man ruling him, so cooperation would be unattainable. He brings the analogy at an end when he speaks of a prince who does not understand the art of war is like an unarmed man attempting to lead the armed man. Another important characteristic of a prince is to be feared rather than loved. This is because with fear comes respect and less chance for a revolt. Anyone who does not agree with the ruling style of the prince will stand idly by because they fear the wrath of the prince should they be caught before they succeed. Though fear is a great emotion to invoke in the people, one must be sure not to go so far as to be hated because that could cause severe implications. Love is a great tool in ruling a state, but in times of war people are likely to go against their prince because they are angered by the effects of the war. Since the prince is not feared they are susceptible to an attack becaus...
Some may take this to mean a completely different thing, such as thinking that Machiavelli 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 ruler’s 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.
Her integrity is so strong that others are willing to stand up with her and help her tackle hard obstacles. When Maggie had to fight for her groups haven in Alexandria, she didn’t give up and the others knew they needed to be strong with her and fight for what they wanted. Her level-headedness helps her stay strong and aware during hard times for her, especially when she lost the love of her life, Glenn, who was also the father to her unborn child, to an evil man named Negan. Negan is on Maggie’s revenge list for not only herself, but the group. Maggie stays so positive, even while being pregnant in a world that no one would ever want to face with a child. Maggie’s level-headedness and positivity combined help her take over a community called The Hilltop, and she becomes more powerful than ever by leading the group to join together as one army and take on the walkers, and Negan’s community of brainwashed people. Maggie’s warrior like skills she gained will lead her straight into a war that she, and her group are ready for because Maggie has become their best role model.
Before father had found out about Christopher reading the letters, Christopher was sneaking the letters into his room to read. When father came up stairs and was being very considerate towards Christopher giving him a warning of the racket about to happen down stairs. Father states, " I am going to put those shelves up in the living room, if that's alright with you. I'll make a bit of a racket, I'm afraid, so if you want to watch television we're going to have to shift it upstairs."(Haddon 96) This quote states that father is patient and considerate with Christopher by telling him that if he would like to watch some tv he might have to go into the other room due to all the racket. This quote is also important towards his father's actions on Christopher before Christopher knew the truth about his father's recent background. To recap on his father being considerate towards Christopher is very good especially when dealing with child like Christopher. Christopher is lucky to be able to have these people in his life that are considerate, patient, encouraging, and thoughtful people that can help him and give him warnings on what might worry him and tell him not to panic. Christopher had just finished his big adventure through London to find his mother. When he gets back home from school he has to go to his father's house 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
Throughout the years many rulers and princes have strived to be the best. The book some believe set the standards for a prince is Niccolo Machiavelli's "The Morals of a Prince." Machiavelli states "Hence it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity" proving that he believes it vital for a prince to know wrong in order to thrive and flourish (Machiavelli 331). Machiavelli undoubtedly has key points that reveal his feelings about being a successful, wrong prince. However, at times his ideology can be rather harsh.
The evolution of mass media have impacted american culture in many ways. Technology advances played a role in mass media changes. Traditional media and emerging media are sourcecs people depend on to get information such as the latest news and events. Mass media consists of all means of communication intended to reach a genral, public audience. Some examples of mass media include; newspapers, magazines, flyers, bill boards, automated telemarketing, radio broadcast, televison broadcst, articles on the internet and social media post. Mass media indirectly affects cultures. Different cultures are affected by the evolution of mass media due to a number of factors.