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Machiavelli Good Vs Evil

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The word “Machiavelli" has bad connotations of evil and betrayal. According to Merriam Webster, “Machiavellian” means using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something. To those unfamiliar with his works, they picture a scheming and murderous villain with no sense of justice for the common good. However, to those who do understand his works, there is much more to Niccolò Machiavelli than being evil.

Machiavelli categorizes politics as neither good nor bad but as amoral. Amoral defined is lying outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply. In “The Prince”, Machiavelli does not talk about a leader needing to have good ethics. He, instead, says that a leader should act in accordance to what is necessary and logical even
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716 Words | 3 Pages

The main point made by Machiavelli was that men are inherently bad, so a leader must rule in a way that takes this into account. He taught that because of man’s ungratefulness, it is safer to be feared than loved (D-4). This shows that Machiavelli believed that the power and success of a country will lead to the prosperity of its inhabitants. Both influential people believed that a country prospers the most under absolute power.

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" GoWyld. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016). Michael Ledeen wrote a book and talked a lot about the way Machiavelli talked and he says, "Machiavelli expands the earlier paradox: just as the quest for peace at any price invites war and, worse than war, defeat and domination, so good acts sometimes advance the triumph of evil, as there are circumstances when only doing evil ensures the victory of a good cause."

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Machiavelli argues the perfect prince will be both feared and loved by his people, and if unable to be both he will make himself feared and not hated. Machiavelli believes it is much safer to be feared than to be loved because people are less likely to offend and stand up against strong characters, also people are less concerned in offending a prince who has made himself loved. Accordingly, Machiavelli believes generosity is harmful to your reputation and the choice between being generous or stingy, merciful or cruel, honest or deceitful, should only be important if it aids the prince in political power. All in all, Machiavelli believes the ruler must be a great deceiver and do what is essential to uphold power over the

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248 Words | 1 Pages

To give one’s evil side continuing hold indicates that there is a possibility the person in question would continue to make poor choices inasmuch as he feels he is limited to the label of evil awarded to him. In other words, forgiveness should be granted to a sinner in order to give him the opportunity to change, to ensure his wellbeing in the future. What if, however, the deed has been so enmeshed in the past that the future has already been altered forever? What if the situation has reached beyond the point of repair? The Jewish nation could have progressed into something so much bigger and greater had these families not been eradicated.

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Machiavelli wrote about a fictitious prince, describing how he is a terrible being who has no respect for people who have a lower status than him. He is described as being selfish and untrustworthy. His writing about this prince was supposed to replicate princes and kings that were ruling and open he reader’s eyes to real issues occuring. In Document 1 there is an excerpt from The Prince, written by Machiavelli, telling about how terrible the Prince of England. Document 1 states, “For all men in general this observation may be made: they are ungrateful, fickle, and deceitful, eager to avoid dangers, and avid for gain, and while you are useful to them they are all with you, but when it [danger] approaches they turn on you”.

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673 Words | 3 Pages

Niccolo Machiavelli was a person who believed in a strong state. One who believed in the greater good of the state as a whole, not for the great good of the individual. Machiavelli would see the election of President Donald J. Trump as one of good and possible bad. It is hard to say how a political philosopher who lived in a different time, and different place could view a politician like Donald Trump. To be able to do this one would have to look at the philosophies that Machiavelli believed how a state should act.

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The narrator from a novel named Montresor builds up his plan along the story to kill his enemy, Fortunato. In the end, he successfully killed Fortunato, but can the reader trust Montresor that he had accurately portrayed the events of the story? In the story, A Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor is the narrator who talked about his plan along the story to kill his enemy, Fortunato. Montresor stated that Fortunato had given him a "thousand" injuries physically and mentally. The rest of the novel talked about what he did to Fortunato to kill him.

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Machiavellians are people who completely disregard morality to deceive and manipulate others in the interest of their own personal gain. Machiavellianism is an ideal thought to be the most effective way to become a powerful and successful leader by many. Leaders throughout history have followed this ideal to come into power. Famous dictators such as Adolf Hitler of Germany, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Pol Pot of Cambodia are each Machiavellians who barged their way into power through corrupt methods. However, the longevity of this method is questionable.

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Niccolo Machiavelli and his influence on the Enlightenment Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, also known as the father of “Modern Political Theory” was a well-known Italian diplomat, politician, humanist, historian, philosopher and writer from the era of renaissance philosophy. He belonged to several schools of thought, namely: Renaissance humanism, Political realism, Classical republicanism. His claim to fame was his popular book, “The Prince”, which was a handbook for politicians on the use of ruthless, self-serving, cunning inspiring the term “Machiavellian.” Before he wrote his book, Machiavelli was a diplomat for 14 years in Italy’s Florence Republic during the Medici family’s exile.

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He believes anyone can rule a polis if they have virtu. Once a ruler, a simple rule to follow to maintain power and not to be hated by the people, is to “not take away a man’s possession or woman”, Machiavelli believes the people will not feel threaten by following this rule, thus maintaining a stable polis. He expresses how “human nature never changes”, and that people are self-interested and they can turn against you once you are not profiting them. A good ruler must have the strength to do whatever it takes to obtain and maintain power, which essentially means that even if they have to hurt some of the people for the benefit of the popular mass, then they shall do so for the greater cause. Both Plato and Machiavelli believe that there must be a government in order for human kind to survive.

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954 Words | 4 Pages

One aspect of Machiavelli’s theory which significantly contributes to his reputation as the “philosopher of evil,” is his advice to the prince on keeping their word to the public. In chapter eighteen, Machiavelli states, “a wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when doing so is to his disadvantage, and when the reasons that led him to promise to do so no longer apply” (pg. 37). To simplify, Machiavelli says princes are obligated to lie in certain circumstances. He also states that while it is unnecessary for the prince to have positive qualities, such as honesty, trustworthiness, sympathy, compassion, or be religious, it is essential for the prince to be viewed so by the public (pg. 37). While many people argue that Machiavelli’s legitimization of lying and deception in politics is immoral, I argue the opposite.

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1012 Words | 5 Pages

To Machiavelli, there is no morality in politics, only political virtue (Prudence). Prudence means knowing when to exhibit virtue or vice. As long as the Prince understands the role of Prudence, they will be successful. However, Machiavelli made an oversight.

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In Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, he maintains a harsh perspective on reality. His advice on how to maintain power leaves no room for compassion or generousity. While some may believe that these are qualities of a good person, Machiavelli believes these qualities lead to the downfall of rulers. He acknowledges that, in reality, it is impossible for someone to have qualities of a good person and simultaneously a good ruler. Machiavelli’s realistic outlook causes him to emphasize that it is better to maintain power through fear, rather than compassion.

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Being a prince is not as easy as it may seem. There are good and bad decisions a prince can make. Machiavelli has his own standards on how a prince should behave. According to Machiavelli, a prince could be considered a lion, a fox, or a wolf. The lion is fierce but doesn’t have the smarts, while a fox has the smarts but isn 't fierce.

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1034 Words | 5 Pages

Both of these highly influential authors had different opinions on ruling that would shape how people would rule during their time and for rulers to come. One of Machiavelli’s major points in The Prince was that it was better to be feared than to be loved. He said this was because while both ways can be useful tools to help one rule, men are less likely to turn a ruler if they were afraid of punishment. Machiavelli had little faith in the common man and had this to say about them, “They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of dangers, eager to gain”(pg.353).

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