Machiavelli's The Prince

Essentially, Machiavelli's political philosophy is scientific and empirical. It is founded on his own experience in the political arena in Florence during the 15th and 16th centuries. When all the idealism is stripped away from the behavior of the human animal, ethics and morals do not appear to be particularly honored. Machiavelli's viewpoint is not for hypocrites or the faint hearted.

Such intellectual honesty, on the part of Machiavelli, concerning political dishonesty would probably not have been possible in any other era or in any other country. Machiavelli looked to such historical figures as Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus as examples of great leadership.

Certainly, Machiavelli's methods have enormous utilitarian value regardless of their moral worth. So he says: "This follows from another common and natural necessity: a prince is always compelled to injure those who have made him the new ruler, subjecting them to the troops and imposing the endless other hardships which his new conquest entails" (35). In modern times, we have seen these concepts in action in Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, Castro's Cuba, and the Third World countries of Africa.

The Prince is dedicated to a younger member of

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incipalities are won, both from historical and contemporary situations. Fifteenth-century Italy contained a notable number of examples. A minority of rulers were legitimate. In many instances, even the popes obtained election by devious tactics. The regulations for attaining success were not quite the same as they became when the situation in government acquired a more stable condition. Few persons were shocked by brutalities and treacheries which would have disqualified an individual in later centuries. Machiavelli praises Cesare Borgia as a perfect example of how to use power: "Cesare Borgia was accounted cruel; nevertheless, this cruelty of his reformed the Romagna, brought it unity, and restored order and obedience . . . So a prince must not worry if he incurs reproach for his cruelty so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal" (95). Machiavelli reached the conclusion that it is better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved. It would seem Machiavelli only admired Cesare Borgia for his skill and not for his goals. During the Renaissance, the admiration of skill and of the behavior leading to fame and high office was a reflection of how esteemed these qualities were. Consequently, Machiavelli was able to t
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Approximate Word count = 1460
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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