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Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince 'Written For Lorenzo De' Medici

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Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, written for Lorenzo de’ Medici, demonstrates several different aspects of governance with various historical examples in order to portray the essential attributes of a prince. The Prince depicts different forms of governmental structures by describing the many types of principalities that can be present within a state. Throughout the book, Machiavelli specifically discusses many thematic subjects such as power, virtue, ethics, and human nature in order to depict the manner in which a prince should behave towards his citizens, especially as it pertains to effectively maintaining order within his jurisdiction. Human nature is a prominent thematic idea presented in the The Prince as Machiavelli describes numerous …show more content…

One essential quality that a prince must develop due to the unfavorable qualities of men is the ability to be feared rather than loved as this quality is most beneficial for the power of the prince. Machiavelli states, “Since it is difficult to be both together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved, when one of two must be lacking. For one can generally say this about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, and greedy for gain” (58). Because men are generally selfish in nature and their actions are based on their own personal gains, it is risky for a prince to be loved by his citizens since it may potentially have negative consequences, especially because “men are less hesitant about injuring someone who makes themselves loved than one who makes himself feared” (58). Machiavelli demonstrates how due to the deceivious nature of men, it is essential for a prince to be feared by his citizens are men are less likely to be compelled to engage in mischievous behavior towards a leader whom they fear. It is also integral that a prince does not completely trust and rely on the word of his citizens as it is possible that they may turn to deception and other negative actions when they are no longer benefiting within a jurisdiction. Machiavelli describes specifically how “While you work for their benefit they are completely yours...but when it draws nearer to you, they turn away. A prince who relies entirely upon their words comes to ruin, finding himself stripped naked of other preparations” (58). A prince should never trust his people in all subject matters as their nature compels them to act in a greedy and selfish manner, and therefore, a prince who does not adapt to these

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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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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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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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Instead of following the traditional virtues of moral standards, this is deemed practical. By stating that being a “good man in all circumstances will bring about his own ruin” (48), Machiavelli suggests that it is virtuous and necessary to push morals aside to be effective leaders. Virtu is parallel to being skillful; using strategic techniques to reach one’s goals. In the same way, it is suggested politicians should overlook morals to act prudently, bringing stability to the state. Here, the notion of a manipulative and dishonest behavior becomes present, as it is suggested that princes should build crafty political orders to maintain stability.

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1 903134j Western International High School Topic 1 The Prince 1.20.15 Although many have argued their beliefs as to why Machiavelli wrote The Prince, I believe that his intent was to show the common man the mindset that rulers have when they are operating. The common mistake others have made throughout the past is not realizing that what Machiavelli wrote and taught was for the greater good. Machiavelli did not want to tell those who ruled over kingdoms how to rule, but rather show how his beliefs could better the kingdom for everyone within.

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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 was forced to withdraw from politics, but he continued to evaluate the meaning of his fifteen years of political experiences and their relationship to the solution of contemporary problems and to the universal flow of history,” (Ruffo-Fiore). Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince in response to his political career coming to an end. In this he inserted many ideas about man, politics, leadership, thought, and much more, each and every concept still be grasped by the modern day man. Furthermore, he inserted his largely ideas about what a good political leader is. This is important, as this was not the only work of this time that discusses political leadership.

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Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian writer whose most writings were based on politics. The prince is one of the political books that he had presented as a gift to Lorenzo di Piero De’ Medici. In The Prince, Machiavelli explains qualities of an ideal political leader a prince must acquire by high war skills and great knowledge. One of the main qualities that a prince should have in order to obtain power is to know about the war-craft.

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As modeled by Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince, a great leader should hold an even amount of love and fear over his citizens. In today’s day and age, many principles from this work have been disproven but as we take a look at contemporary art, such as television, it is seen that many ideas have found their way in. In the story told by the show Game of Thrones many characters embody traits Machiavelli describes in The Prince, some more rather than others.

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General Critique, Analysis & Synthesis with Class Materials According to SparkNotes Editors (2002), „The Prince“ was created by Machiavelli in Florence, betweern 1513 and 1514, and only published after his death in 1532 (Key Facts section, para.1). During this period Italy was dusiunited and plagued by constant power struggle and wars among numerous Italian city-states and even the Roman Catholic Church. These conflicts were supported and sometimes initiated by foreign powers (Spain, France and Holy Roman Empire), which seeked to further their own interests and weaken each other. It is during these tough and dangerous times that Machiavelli decided to write a kind of a manual for rulers (princes) of Italy, which will help them to restore

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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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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.

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