Essay On Machiavelli's The Prince

In machiavelli’s The Prince, Machiavelli discusses many of the traits and requirements a leader needs to rule properly. Machiavelli discusses many ideas and requirements a rule must do one of which is if you can’t be both loved and feared it is better to be feared than loved. In: machiavelli’s view being feared brings more loyalty from his people than being loved, he bases this on his view of people as a whole, which in my opinion is a strong argument that was definitely true in his time and still has influence today. Is it better to be loved or feared? This is the question posed to us by Machiavelli in The Prince. It brings to mind many strong feelings because you want to say loved, but as a leader of a state fear can be a powerful tool to both control your people and defend them. In The prince chapter 17 machiavelli states “The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved” . Here is when machiavelli makes a great show of his thoughts on leading a state, the ideas of The Prince are hugely controversial. Yet we often feel that his ideas are
These ideas led to him saying that a leader should be feared rather than loved to keep the loyalty of his people. If a leader is feared the number of people willing to betray him goes down because they are fearful. A loved leader may be betrayed by a heartless subject who cares only for his own personal gain. Fear is a deeply unifying characteristic of human nature and one we all share this makes it a good candidate for keeping the loyalty of a prince’s people. In foreign policy, as long as fear doesn't lead to a state being attacked out of blind desperation, fear can be a powerful defense if other nations fear you that can be taken advantage of in the complex world of international