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Machiavelli Research Paper

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To evaluate Machiavelli in terms of political philosophy we don’t need to look very further since he goes by the name ‘thinker who founded the modern political philosophy’. When I look at him through political theories I see a true realist. He clearly denies morality in political action. This thought opposes another thinker’s ideas. Kant believed that the intentions were more important than the results where Machiavelli basically says end justifies the means. Machiavelli also believes in the great importance of power. He says that who has the power, has the right to command. Only through the use of power , peace and stability of a state can be achieved . Interestingly , opposed to realism he criticized the concept of authority by saying that …show more content…

The reason why he cant think of anarchy as separated from coercive power is his way of seeing human nature. To sum up this discussion ; He believes that humans are selfish and evil in nature . They cannot be trusted . Only way to keep them in line and keep the peace is general is power . Power matters the most and the other concepts like anarchy , law and legitimacy are existing thanks to power. This though of human nature of course opposes many other thinkers like Locke , but supported by some like Hobbes .Similar to Machiavelli , Hobbes believed that people by nature are selfish and brutal , so he came to the conclusion that; to avoid disorder, everyone must surrender their freedom and be ruled. As we can see they have some very similar theories about the human nature and how they should be ruled. The reason to this can possibly be the environment they were living in .Machiavelli was living in a diffused and conflicted Italy which was lacking authority and needed a strong leadership .Basically the there were chaos and in these time you can see the ugliest faces of humans because they will do what they need to do to survive . And for Hobbes the situation was not very different …show more content…

As the least harsh description we have Quentin Skinner’s ideas. He explained Machiavelli’s thoughts about the human nature and his advices of cruelty to the princes by saying acts can be seen reasonable through seeing them as a “last best” option. By his words ‘ Machiavelli prefers conformity to moral virtue ceteris

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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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In addition, Machiavelli didn 't take the traditional route for supporting his argument of advice. He didn 't bother using any ethical or philosophical principles as the base for his advice he was trying to give. Instead, he used his own political program on real-life examples as his foundation to his treatise. Which is probably one of the reasons why "The Prince" got so much negative criticism. Machiavelli is practically stepping out of line by explaining what a prince should or should not do in pursuit of his

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When comparing Machiavelli and Rousseau’s presentation on human nature, one can see that Machiavelli’s idea of human nature was completely opposite compared to Rousseau’s idea of human nature. Machiavelli was a realist, and had a rather negative view on human nature. He assumed that men by nature are evil, and are driven by their own selfish wants and needs. In a society where they are free, everything becomes unorganized and confusing. In Machiavelli’s, The Prince, he states that, “Men never do good except out of necessity, but when they have the freedom to choose and can do as they please, everything becomes confused and disorderly (182).”

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We find traces of his philosophy in modern politics by how people running for seats of power make many promises in their campaign and once the people elect them, they may fall short in accomplishing their promises. Where Machiavelli mentioned using cruelty, one can say this applied to the rise of Hitler’s reign by how he punished the Jew’s and other minorities all the while maintaining a merciful appearance for those who supported

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He writes about the importance of national unity which comes about with a common language, culture and economy. 3. He discusses the necessity of maintaining national unity through the state’s focus on and exercise of power. Machiavelli suggests that a successful prince will maintain his power from within and take an offensive military posture rather than

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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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Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance writer and diplomat. He wrote “The Prince”, and he expresses several characteristics which he believes are important to be a successful leader. Such as, being feared rather than loved, not revealing the entire and/or real reason they’re doing something unless it’s somehow advantageous to them, being duplicitous, and being narcissistic. I disagree with these opinions. First of all, Machiavelli claims it is better to be feared rather than loved.

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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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When he spoke about those who came to power through wicked actions and gave the example of Agathocles, Machiavelli says that although Agathocles committed cruel actions in order to rule, he still demonstrated bravery and strength of character (29). Machiavelli says that “If you take control of a state, you should make a list of all the crimes you have to commit and do them all at once” (30). That way, you will not have to keep repeating your evil deeds, which will “reassure your subjects and win their support by treating them well” (31). Contrary to Plato, who believes that morality is a part of politics, Machiavelli believes that morality and politics are two separate things, and says that a ruler has to know when their duty is more important than their moral

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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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Machiavelli believes that you have to balance mercy and cruelty, because if you are too merciful then your people will not respect you or have

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A leader’s cruelty enables him to make the decisions necessary for the kingdom, while also being miserly to keep the people happy. I think that Machiavelli’s advice provides a sound basis on how leaders today can lead. On other hand, others may argue that Machiavelli’s advice leads rulers astray and rather rulers should be kind and generous because morally that is the right thing to do. No matter the interpretation of how a ruler should lead, Machiavelli's analyst of a leaders provides insight into everyday life and causes leaders today to think about how they

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Machiavelli believed that men will follow a ruler as long as the ruler serves their interests, and a quick to turn against the ruler unless they fear great punishment. Machiavelli would say that it is best to be feared rather than loved as long as the fear does not cause hate, which he believed to be perfectly possible.

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