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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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The Prince is a world famous political treatise written by the renowned Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli who also is considered one of the earliest representatives of the political philosophy. The book presents thorough considerations about the role of the prince in the life of his country and about the ways to keep the authority. The book allows the readers to build an image of an ideal ruler who reflects the most essential features of the character that Machiavelli believed to be necessary for a prince acquire and to maintain the political power. The book suggests to the readers an in-depth analysis of the human nature and builds on their basis the principles according to which a successful prince could rule over his country. The book appeared to be of the immense importance in the history of political thought. It was rather innovative in terms of rejecting the principles of ethics in the politics that existed before Machiavelli. He managed to divide the politics from ethics, establishing the principles of the modern political world. This is also evident from the Chapter 14 where the …show more content…

Therefore, the shift in paradigm from how people would like to see the republic and how it is in reality created shock in the society. Machiavelli points at the important issues in ruling the country and pays much attention to the topic of the military power of the prince. According to Machiavelli, one needs to have highly developed skills of the commander who can take control over the people subjected to him. However, the prince needs not only physical, but also mental skills to keep the authority in his hands. Nevertheless, such a rapid transformation of the view of the problem and the emphasis made on military issues tends to reveal the real situation, but it differs strongly from what people were accustomed

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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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Machiavelli’s arguments in his work The Prince, surrounding ruling and the concept of dirty hands, were utilised in Michael Walzer’s political piece titled, Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands. Walzer uses Machiavelli’s commentary to advance many of his central points. Throughout his comprehensive article, Walzer effectively utilizes Machiavelli’s arguments that consistently stays true those in The Prince and provides a persuasive reading. In order to understand Walzer’s commentary, it is first important to have an understanding of Machiavelli’s The Prince.

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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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850 Words | 4 Pages

The first half of his life was spent in the Golden Age of Florence, the heyday of the Renaissance, and the second half in a period of war between France and Spain and other powers competing in Italy. 《 The prince》was written during the period of Machiavelli's dismissal from office, and he makes it clear that his purpose in writing the book was to offer it to the Florentine authorities for reappointment. In this book, he strives to demonstrate the political wisdom he has acquired through his long political practice, limiting his subject matter to the analysis of the monarchy, which is central to his discussion of how monarchs can retain their states. Machiavelli’s political ideology was shaped by his belief in the importance of power and the need for a strong, centralized government.

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1690 Words | 7 Pages

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.

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The Prince, written by Machiavelli, is a candid outline of how he believes leaders gain and keep power. Machiavelli uses examples of past leaders to determine traits that are necessary to rule successfully. Leaders such as the King of Naples and the Duke of Milan lacked military power, made their subjects hate them, or did not know how to protect themselves from the elite, causing them to lose power. He says that these rulers should blame laziness, not luck, for their failures. By looking at these historical successes and failures, Machiavelli is able to develop his own thoughts on how politics and leaders should be in the future.

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Machiavelli viewed the nobility also as a crucial piece of maintaining political power and creating stability. Machiavelli believed the nobility was more rational and stable, with a sense of responsibility to their states. He also acknowledged that the noble class was more likely to act THE PRINCE 3 out of tradition for the state's interest rather than their own needs, thus more suitable for leadership roles. Still, the nobles remained extremely dangerous if their interests did not align with their rulers. Because of this, Machiavelli thought it essential to have the backing of the nobility but warned that they should be carefully managed and not given too much power so

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The Italian Renaissance was an interesting time for scientist, artists and writers alike, and one figure that stuck out and displayed a mental capacity for deeper thinking was Niccolo Machiavelli. One of his famous pieces was The Prince. Though he wrote many others this one was important because it introduced a new idea, a new image to the people. Power was important, and the institutions that control various social aspects must be closely watched and a careful balance between aggression and reason must be found. Your average Prince was a ruler that believed in the importance of the people, not only the importance, but the subject as a whole.

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According to Machiavelli, a prince who keeps his promises is generally praised. But history demonstrates that most success is achieved when princes are crafty, tricky and able to deceive others. A prince can fight or succeed by using law or by using force. The use of law comes naturally to men and the use of force comes naturally to beasts. Hence, to achieve success, the prince must learn to fight with a balance between both law and force.

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1284 Words | 6 Pages

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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Machiavelli has the most correct ideas on both controlling the people as a ruler and on being remembered as a great one. These two viewpoints had great influence during their time and for centuries to come, both with modern ideas and correct ideas even though they had a lot of contrast. Machiavelli’s The Prince may be thought of the more recognizable of the two in the present, but people in the present day have many of the same ideas that

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1238 Words | 5 Pages

Probably one of the most infamous and controversial ideologies of the 16th century, the prince by Machiavelli has been a reference for many great leaders and academicians since it was published. The book provides historically tested and proven principles of leadership. The prince has been described as a manual for those who want to win and retain power. While some may argue that leadership is an inherent trait in human, leaders are made, not born. Making a great leader out of a person is not just a matter of identifying the leadership traits, skill and talents of the individual, but harnessing the traits, develop them and eventually mastering how to be leader.

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CHEERLEADING A lot of people think that cheerleaders are just there to be pretty. That is not true, though. There are a lot of things to do just to get on the team like being in shape. In my paper I will explain that.

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1526 Words | 7 Pages

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.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

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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