Machiavelli
And as I speak here of mixed bodies, such as republics or religious sects, I
say that those changes are beneficial that bring them back to their original
principles. And those are the best-constituted bodies, and have the longest
existence, which possess the intrinsic means of frequently renewing
themselves, or such as obtain this renovation in consequence of some
extrinsic accidents. And it is a truth clearer than light that, without such
renovation, these bodies cannot continue to exist; and the means of renewing
them is to bring them back to their original principles.
Machiavelli, The Discourses
Introduction. Communitarian theorists, following Machiavelli, have argued
that patriotic sentiment—a deep emotional identification with one’s fellow
citizens—is vitally necessary to support, defend, and sustain liberal
democratic institutions.[1] Without patriotic virtue, the institutions of
liberal democracy are likely to decay under the weight of self-interest,
greed, and corruption. Theorists rooted in the tradition of liberal
individualism, however, have been a good deal more skeptical about the moral
value of patriotic feeling. Strong emotional attachment to the community
tends to overshadow and eclipse the independence and freedom of individuals.
As George Kateb argues, "If groups are imagined too vividly, individuals lose
sight of themselves and are lost sight of."[2]
There is, no doubt, some justification for the liberal's
skepticism: patriotism too often results in the exclusion and repression of
people in the name of preserving group integrity. On the other hand, it is
likely true that some sort of civic obligation needs to be observed in order
to sust...
... middle of paper ...
...es," op. cit., p. 165.
[6] Ibid., p. 165.
[7] Tocqueville, op. cit., in note 4, p. 103.
[8] Taylor, "Cross-Purposes," p. 175.
[9] Ibid., p. 170 (emphasis added).
[10] MacIntyre, "Is Patriotism a Virtue?," op. cit., p. 16.
[11] Ibid., p. 13.
[12] This is not to say that this is necessarily MacIntyre's personal
conception of "the nation." This is simply his account of the way that strong
nationalists conceive of the nation with which he may or may not himself
identify.
[13] Ibid., p. 19.
[14] See, ibid., pp. 10-11.
[15] Charles Taylor, "Why Do Nations Have to Become States?," Guy Laforest,
ed., Reconciling the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism
(Montreal: McGill-Queems University Press, 1993), p. 45.
[16] Michael Walzer, "The Idea of Civil Society: A Path to Social
Reconstruction," Dissent (1991), p. 300.
The fourteenth century was an exciting time in Italy. Liberation from old traditions brought about a new interest in the arts and literature. The church's doctrine was no longer the sole basis of scholarly work. New ideas and concepts started to emerge which were unlike anything heard since the fall of Rome. Amongst the great thinkers of this time was a man by the name of Niccolo Machiavelli. (C4. and Wood, p.510) His most famous work was entitled, The Prince. The book is a compilation of historical examples past and present ( present being the sixteenth century), that were intended to guide a prince on the correct way to control his state. It advocated the use of any means necessary to survive in the political world, even if they were not particularly pleasant. (Strathern, p.6)
By the turn of the sixteenth century, the Italian Renaissance had produced writers such as Danté, Petrarch, Boccaccio and Castiglione, each with ideas rooted in the revival of Greek and Roman Classics, localization of the Christian traditions, idealistic opinions of women and individualism. From these authors spread the growth of the humanistic movement which encompassed the entirety of the Italian rebirth of arts and literature. One among many skeptics, including Lorenzo Valla, who had challenged the Catholic Church fifty years earlier in proving the falsity of the Donation of Constantine, Niccolò Machiavelli projected his ideas of fraudulence into sixteenth century Italian society by suggesting that rulers could only maintain power through propaganda, as seen with the success of Ferdinand of Aragon in Spain circa 1490. Today, the coined term Machiavellian refers to duplicity in either politics or self-advancement. Unlike most philosophers of the sixteenth century, Machiavelli wrote from the perspective of an anti-Humanist; he criticized not only the Classics and the Catholic Church, but also encouraged the deceitful use of religion and hated the humanist concepts of liberty, peace and individualism.1
Machiavelli writes in The Qualities of the Prince, that it is better to be a miser and slightly disliked for a while than to be generous and be liked for a while than hated. If you’re a generous prince you can only be so for a short time before having to raise taxes and having people realize that you’re not that generous in all reality. Once a prince gets a reputation for being hated he will feel any slight unrest of his people. On the other hand if a prince is miserly from the get go he will be received gratefully when he decides to be generous. Using this quality of miserliness he has the ability to expand and defend his kingdom and be ready for any unforeseen events without having to burden his people, which, in turn leads to economic growth.
Nowadays, it is politically impossible to commit to paper a “training guide” for leaders. There are innumerable detractors to any possible stance or strategy a leader might adopt. As a result of this, all “training” must take place behind closed doors, far from the prying eyes and ears of the news media or the public. But this has not always been the case.
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.
Often referred to as the founder of modern political science, Niccolo Machiavelli is best known for his extremely controversial theories that redefined the Renaissance thinker and initiated the break from the rather barbaric structure of society. During the medieval times, citizens were constantly exposed to harsh and public brutality, believing to be ruled by the church and the will of god. No one dared rebel against the church in fear of complete excommunication, and those who deviated were often punished. Machiavelli's pieces proposed a society governed by structure to avoid chaos. More specifically, his work entitled The Prince, challenged an individual's beliefs and generated heavy conversation regarding their current state of government.
Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. He eventually became a man who lived his life for politics and patriotism. Right now, however, he is associated with corrupt, totalitarian government. The reason for this is a small pamphlet he wrote called The Prince to gain influence with the ruling Medici family in Florence. The political genius of Niccolo Machiavelli was overshadowed by the reputation that was unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding of his views on politics.
Machiavelli gave good advice for Renaissance rulers and for leaders today. Furthermore, it is important for a leader/ ruler to be able to get involved with the people that they rule. If they become involved the ruler will be seen as respected and even trustworthy. It is important to gain the trust of the people that you are in charge in, they expect you to make the right decision. It is necessary for a leader to put aside irrelevant matters and focus on the bigger situations, they should focus on the bigger picture that could eventually affect their peoples life. A good leader knows when he has done wrong and made a mistake, a great leaders knows that they did wrong and they also fix the problem to insure that it will not happen again. That
Machiavelli has long been required reading for everyone intrested in politics and power. In The Prince Niccolo M
Machiavelli’s supposed government manual title The Prince, written 1513, though not published until 1532 a few years later, after his death, created controversies for an ideal leader to conduct its reign. It has been debated that perhaps The Prince may have been a satire on the ruthless and selfish behaviour of political leaders. Nonetheless, it did make a change for political thoughts. Medieval political ideas were that the standards of all governments should be judged as derived from moral principles established by God. Machiavelli argued that governments should be secular and be judged by how well they provided security, order, and safety to their people.
Machiavelli believes that men respect power, but they will take advantage of kindness. He does not trust man’s intent and views human nature to be corrupt and evil filled with selfish goals. He believes that when given the opportunity one must destroy completely, because if one does not then he will be destroyed. Machiavelli appeal to the facts which are undeniable. He deals with sitiuations as they are and not what people want them to be. His look on human beings is driven from the historical evediance of how huamn beings have treated one another. The end of prserving the state justifies any taking immoral means to reach the end because it is what is required for you to have power and to be able to lead lead. The end justifys the means and
Arguably, the most Machiavellian leader to ever exist would be Joseph Stalin. He abided by three major Machiavellian methods that were stated in the Prince: the ends justifies the means, crush any opposition, and displaying a false character. Stalin had a plan for Russia and did everything in his power to achieve that plan. He wanted to transform Russia into a industrial superpower, a military superpower, and a political superpower. To achieve his goals he committed many horrible crimes against humanity. To be more specific, Stalin killed more than sixty million people during his reign. He was a selfish cold-blooded, heart less, and evil leader; human life was nothing to him. What caused him to develop such evil traits? It all started from his childhood. Born in Georgia in 1879 to a poor and highly chaotic family, Joseph Stalin did not have a easy childhood. Throughout his childhood, Stalin always felt inferior to other educated people; as a result, he grew a hate towards them. Surprisingly, at a young age Stalin was given a opportunity to study to be a priest, but later was expelled and joined a variety of radical revolutionary circles, particularly Marxist groups. Stalin then joined the central committee in 1912. After the October Revolution of 1917, Stalin entered the Soviet cabinet as a people’s commissar. Displaying excellent leadership skill, Stalin was elected general secretary of the committee. Lenin, the current leader at the time, died, which presented a great opportunity for Stalin. As Stalin started to build momentum, he allied with Bukharin and betrayed his past friends Kamenev and Zinoviev. They attempted to derail Stalin’s rise to power but failed miserably. To strengthen his power, Stalin did what The Prince taugh...
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.
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 a evil minded fellow associated with the corruptness of totalitarian government. In Machiavelli’s home state Florence, he introduces the modern political theory. Hoping to gain influence with the ruling Medici family Niccolo wrote a pamphlet call The Prince (Prezzolini).
Niccolo Machiavelli was a political philosopher from Florence Italy. He lived during the Italian Renaissance from May 1469 to 1527. This period in time that Machiavelli lived was the "rebirth" of art in Italy and rediscovery of ancient philosophy, literature and science.