ncern himself with metaphysical realms like the world of the Forms. He deals with the reality of this life, which is the one with which all leaders must deal. The Prince is a guidebook for these leaders. In fact Machiavelli addressed this book to a prince, Lorenzo de Medici, in order to win his favor: “Wishing now myself to offer to your Magnificence some proof of my devotion, I have found nothing among all I possess that I hold more dear or esteem more highly than the knowledge of the actions of great men, which I have acquired by long experience of modern affairs, and a continued study of ancient history” (Machiavelli 11).
So who is this evil genius who wrote the blue print for tyranny? Recently this view of Machiavelli has been repudiated and scholars have become free to analyze the work without having to cast moral judgments on a man who believed he was merely recording the reality of political life. Machiavelli states that the prince must at all times act according to the dictates of necessity. There is no room for idealism and altruism, in fact these are mendacious in the face of the realities of politics: “But as my aim is to write something that may be useful to him for whom it is intended, it seems to me proper to pursue the real truth of the matter, rather than to indulge in mere speculation on the same; for many have imagined republics and principalities such as have never been known to exist in reality. For the manner in which men live is so different from the way in which they ought to live, that he who leaves the common course for that which he ought to follow wil
...