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Machiavelli's political theory
Machiavelli's political theory
Relevance of Machiavelli views on human nature in today's time
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“Although one should not reason about Moses, as he was a mere executor of things that had been ordered for him by God, nonetheless he should be admired if only for that grace which made him so deserving of speaking with God” (22). In the context of The Prince, this statement proves to be duplicitous because Machiavelli claims that he will not reason about Moses, but then uses the following pages to do precisely that. Furthermore, Machiavelli draws extensively from the actions of Moses and the Old Testament God, although Machiavelli is often regarded as an antagonist of the Church. Machiavelli’s handbook for princes consists of concrete advice for rulers that directly reflect the more abstracted stories in Exodus. For instance, Machiavelli’s description of human nature in The Prince mirrors Moses’ experiences as the leader of the Israelites in Exodus.
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.
Why did Niccolo Machiavelli believe princedoms where the best form of power? What do hereditary, civic, and ecclesiastical principalities have in common? How do they differ?
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.
In “The Prince,” Machiavelli discusses the terms and procedures he believes a prince should take to govern his society. Many perceive his views on human nature and leadership as evil and cruel towards his people. He justifies his views on human nature as he draws examples from the tactics and traits of successful leaders from the past. His ideas are comprised from justifying the means of his actions by its ends. Machiavelli selects the aspects of admirable historical figures to produce and describe his ideal prince.
It is crucial when trying to understand the arguments of Descartes to carefully analyze the likely mistaken presuppositions that he brings to them. One of Descartes’ likely mistaken presuppositions is his claim that he can and will put aside all presuppositions that he brings to his philosophical thinking. Descartes claims, “Regarding the opinions to which I had hitherto given credence, I thought that I could not do better than undertake to get rid of them, all at one go…” (Principles of Philosophy 117) Descartes’ assumption that he could put aside all of his presuppositions is a presupposition itself. He claims to put aside all presuppositions, yet makes a presupposition in assuming that he is capable of this.
Machiavelli did not take kindness as a virtue, he believed it only showed weakness as a leader. His guidelines show the absolute opposite and emphasize the use of force, deception, and manipulation to maintain power. Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli conveys the tone of a realist who believes power is the ultimate goal of politics, and that a ruler must do whatever it takes to maintain it. He also supports his points with examples in history as he saw failures and created his own set of rules to follow to be the supreme ruler that does not make the same mistakes as a weak leader would. He emphasizes that rulers should be feared rather than worshiped, and that kindness is the foe of political
BP is a British-based multinational oil company, and is currently the third largest energy company in the world. BP contribute £7.7 billion to the UK economy on jobs alone, and contribute £8.4 billion into the UK GDP. They employ 85,000 people worldwide, 18,000 of which are in the UK. From June 2014 to June 2015, BP͛s total revenue was $283 billion - $44 billion of which was profit. The majority of this profit comes from producing and selling fossil fuels worldwide.
In the support of that thesis, Machiavelli advices rulers to always ask themselves whether such a policy is helpful to fulfill their objective of sustaining power. According to him, it does not matter for the ruler to be considered as cruel by his subjects. As long as the effect is to retain the state power and prevent the downfall of his reign; such kind of consideration does not have any impact in itself. Thus no ruler should mind being called cruel for what he does to keep his subjects united and to keep control of the state. A wise ruler chooses to be feared rather than loved since the need to be loved makes him dependent on others as opposed to the fundamental rule, to achieve independence from the favor and recourses of anyone else
The contemporary world has been referred to by many names. The modern age is considered to be the age of information or the age of technology. Though these different names do not define the Zeitgeist of today’s world, they all point to main cultural functions that can be observed and seen. The spirit of the times of today’s world is the idea of selfish individualism, or ego. Machiavelli states that human nature is cruel and self-interested.
Renaissance means rebirth. The Renaissance was a time of renewal as well as of chaos in Europe since it was still recovering. More and more ideas of the ideal prince emerged, as there are many different city-states. One of the most noteworthy political philosophers of the sixteenth century was Niccólo Machiavelli whose book, The Prince, a political handbook for rulers, has brought him recognition. It can be seen that his ideas on politics and overall inspiration for the book mainly came from his views of the political problems that were taking place.
The Freedom of a Christian by Martin Luther and the Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli are quite distinct in their goals of development and human nature, even though both are in agreement on an individuals’ tendency to indulge in self-gain (McNally, 1967, 439). Machiavelli believes that fear last longer than generosity and that it is stronger and powerful. Moreover, he believes that love and generosity come and goes and is never forever. He asserts that fear never fades away. The author believes that it is acceptable for a prince to be considered generous but only to some extent.
What does it mean to be a Prince? According to Niccolo Machiavelli there is various qualities that are needed to be a Prince. In the chapter, “The Qualities of the Prince,” Machiavelli list qualities a Prince must uphold to be considered a good Prince. In order to be a Prince one must know how to protect his state and people. Some qualities that he mentions are: being feared rather than being loved, being hated, being cruel, being generous, and being deceitful.
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.
I. Machiavelli In his famous work the Prince Niccolo Machiavelli exposes what it takes to be a good prince and how only this good price and keep control over his state. There are many different qualities that make a man a good ruler but there are some that are more essential than others. In this work Machiavelli stresses the importance of being a warrior prince, a wise prince, and knowing how to navigate the duality of virtù and vices. Without these attributes there was no way that a prince could hold together their state and their people.
