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Machiavelli The Prince Research Paper

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Widely vilified and secretly admired, Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 and died on June 21, 1527 in Florence, Italy. He was an Italian statesman and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. While he authored many books he is probably best known for The Prince, and is perhaps thought of as the “father of modern political theory.” In his book The Prince he attempted to teach the rulers of his time how to obtain power and hold on to it. Machiavelli illustrated many key points in what it took to be a "successful" Prince. During his career he was able to study the science of politics and thought about its fundamental principles. Furthermore, he observed men and his view on humanity was not cheerful. Indeed, the pessimistic notion that humanity is evil is not so much Machiavelli’s conclusion about human nature as his premise for the course a ruler should follow. A prudent ruler…cannot and should not observe faith when such observance is to disadvantage and the causes that made him give his promise have vanished. If men were all good, this advice would not be good, but since men are wicked and do not keep their promises to you, you likewise do not have to keep yours to them. …show more content…

His underlying point was that a ruler should have a certain amount of liberality and stinginess, it was his idea that it was better for a prince to be thought stingy, he explains, than for him to grow poor through lavishness and then be forced to rob his subjects. As well as, when the use of force deemed necessary, he advised the prince to lead a military force consisting of citizens of the domain who will fight for their country, instead of untrustworthy foreign mercenaries. Another aspect was whether or not it is better to be feared than to be

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The Prince: A Decidedly unMedieval Piece of Work The Prince, written by Niccolo Machiavelli, was a secular handbook that dealt with modern statecraft and leadership. In fact, this was the first modern book that discussed political science. This book has influenced many well-known leaders, such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. This essay will discuss the past behaviours of Machiavelli to prove that this book, The Prince, is a decidedly unMedieval piece of work which does not follow the idea of living life so that it is worthy of respect and honour, as stated in the Medieval Code of Chivalry.

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Bossuet taught that royal power is absolute, and the will of the people is united in the king. He stated that “without his absolute authority, the king could neither do good, nor prevent evil.” This showed that Bossuet believed that the absolute power of the king led to the well-being of his subjects (D-2). Similarly, much of Machiavelli’s beliefs coincided with Bossuet’s teachings. In his book, The Prince, Machiavelli offered his opinion on how an effective ruler should govern over his or her subjects.

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In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

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In his novel, the prince, nicolo machiavelli guides us to be a fruitful ruler. He clarifies the best routes for any ruler or sovereign to govern a region, bring prosper to the society, and keep up their position. This book can be read by anyone to get a few pointers on political issues. Most of the thoughts held by machivelli were linked to mercilessness and evil, hence they raised a considerable number of eyebrows. He maintains that the ruler 's primary goal should be conquering, staying in control of the general public and to always have the idea of war in mind.

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