Preview

Machiavelli And Utilitarianism

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
253 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Machiavelli And Utilitarianism
There is only one reason that human history is filled with violence and controversy. This is because people were inherently evil. Machiavelli’s view of humanity is of a society full of selfish individuals who would choose success for themselves over the success of someone they love. His society however, was much different from the society we live in today. In his era, most regions were rule by single individuals or family lines which used cruelty and fear to keep their people in line. In our current era the use of democratic forms of government have become a symbol of political evolution and progress for human rights. Democratic systems of government did not rise in popularity until after Machavelli’s time, and so this is why he denied their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli is not a diabolic political figure in search of power. He is instead an astute politician who uses his extensive knowledge of politics to analyze various princes and principalities in order to educate future…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Machiavelli was a Florentine man of many skills. He was a renowned politician, author, and philosopher during the Renaissance, whose views and opinions affect the way people still think today. The Prince is his most famous work and in it he essentially states that humans are “ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving”. For that reason, a leader should rule through fear rather than love. However, what Europeans needed during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries were compassionate rulers. They were already frightened and disunited during the middle ages, thus adding a fearful leader to the mix would not help citizens feel safer.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli thought human nature was two-dimensional. He saw humans as predictable, foreseeing their responses to the princes’ actions. Because humans are so unsophisticated in Machiavelli’s eye, they can only love or hate their prince, making them unable to see an intermediate to the good and bad in their ruler. Humans’…

    • 1205 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When concerning the idea of the overall purpose of war, Castiglione and Machiavelli would unquestionably have a response to the advice of one another. In The Book of the Courtier, Castiglione states,?It is wrong to always be at war and not to seek to attain peace as the objective?some rulers suppose that their principal aim must be to subjugate their neighbours...? (Castiglione, 303) What this statement basically means is that a leader should not intend to destroy their opposition in war, but that they should fight until peace can be realized. Castiglione gives an example of a society that did not agree with the same mentality which he did. He explained of the Scythians; a group of people who would ?not allow anyone who had not slain an enemy to drink from the cup?at their solemn feasts.? This attitude toward war would cause people to ?become bellicose and aggressive,? according to Castiglione. On the contrary to the view of…

    • 988 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he tackles of issues in society and the government as a whole. Machiavelli believed a good ruler is one that could give justice and provide some type of order to his citizens. He believed that a good ruler should focus more on the present rather than what could be. Machiavelli used several examples to demonstrate his way of thinking in a humanistic way and running a government. He used the fox and the lion for an example. A good ruler should be able to use cunningness and brute force per situation in which it is called for. Machiavelli believes that there are two ways of fighting something, that is by law or by force and he believed those are…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, Machiavelli shows that in order to be an effective prince, one must disregard the morality of one’s actions in certain times for the welfare of the state. This strong belief shows that Machiavelli’s best interests are in the state and not in the general population. Because he…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Machiavelli's philosophy was that "The end justifies the means." This meant that the end result is the most important, and how you got there was of no importance. The Prince was a book of advice to rules on how to found a state and how to stay in power. Machiavelli explained in his book the many different ways to gain power. One way was to acquire land. The four methods that he discusses to acquire more land is: Your own arms and virtue, fortune, others' arms, and inequity. To Machiavelli, the word virtue meant manliness and strength. Machiavelli also advocates the use of evil to achieve any goals. He gives an example of Agathocles of Syracuse as a proof that this works and will enable the prince to rule the land peacefully through fear. "Born of a potter, this one always had an iniquitous life throughout his years: nonetheless, he accomplished his iniquities with such virtue of spirit and of body that, having joined the militia, he rose through its ranks to become praetor of Syracuse. Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and to keep with violence and without obligation to others what had been conceded him by agreement... ...one morning he convened the people and the senate of Syracuse, as if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at a preordained nod…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    (Strength of argument): For Machiavelli, he believes that a prince should be feared than loved by the people and he specifies, “..a wise prince should build his foundation upon that which belongs to him, not upon that which belongs to others; he must strive only to avoid hatred, as has been said” (Jacobus 47). However, in this case, his argument can be flawed and turned against him. (Tempering the Position): Although Machiavelli does a really great significant job of using logic, reason, and history to convince his readers the proper way a prince should rule; however, he didn’t imply support to show how a prince to avoid being hated by his people because, he too knows, that there will be some people who will learn to hate one from their actions they perform. (Conversation): As a matter of fact, I have experienced a situation similar to what Machiavelli doesn’t want to happen. I am not at all a prince, but I have had people hate me for my beliefs, my attitude, or my actions. There was this one time where this girl began to grow this hatred towards me just because I kicked a pit-bull so he wouldn’t bite this little 6-year old I baby sat. My intention wasn’t to harm the dog, but it was the only way to buy me some time to be able carry the boy back inside my house safely. Even though this act I committed was considered animal cruelty, I had to do it to save the child. However, the girl still went against me on this action, so there goes to show that people can hate someone else because of how they see and…

    • 2621 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Machiavelli believed in the idea of a strong leader. The leader should be feared more than he is loved, if he is even loved at all. A leader shouldn 't be hated, a hated leader will be rebelled and possibly killed, but a leader can not be loved at all. He believes that if a leader is loved, he wouldn 't be feared and no one will listen to him or what he wants to do. Machiavelli believed that war was needed and a nation should keep a strong military at all times. War shouldn 't be high on taxes though, because taxes have a possibility to cause a rebellion. A rebellion is an act of hatred and could possibly lead to death of the…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Human nature has been the discussion of many of philosophical works. There are some who believe human beings are inherently bad, individualistic and greedy. There are those who believe humans are inherently good and seek the best possible outcomes for society as a whole. Upon reading Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, and John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government the audience may begin to understand how those ideas of human nature can have an effect on an individual’s political ideology. Machiavelli, Marx, and Locke all expressed in their works how they viewed human nature and gave historical background and evidence of how their opinions of human nature directly affected their political ideology and how…

    • 1869 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli's Cruelty

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages

    According to Hobbes, causing harm without a cause creates an environment where a certain type of war thrives: cruelty (Hobbes 1996, 101)…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Utilitarianism theory supports individual capability to foresee the costs of an act. A Utilitarian considers the decision of giving the best profit to a large number of people; this is known to be ethically correct.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Machiavelli attempted to gain the favor of a local leader by advising the prince through the use of tactful deductive reasoning, vivid perspective, and plentiful historical references, to convey the important skills required to be an effective prince.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Classical Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy, which was developed in 19th century England by Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick. The essential feature a utilitarian reside in, is the notion that an action is right if it produces the most amount of happiness well limiting suffering. Utilitarianism focuses solely on the consequences of the action, in an attempt to bring about the most happiness from each situation, well ensuring everybody’s happiness is equally considered.…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Both St. Augustine and Machiavelli believed that in order to understand the true nature of society you must see men for what they truly were. Augustine and Machiavelli are similar in their pessimistic views toward human nature, looking at human self-love and self-interest and believed it to be full of evil, cruelty, betrayal, violence and tied that relationship into the creation of war. For both philosophers a good society is actually something that for almost all men is an unreachable attribute that can only be written about and not actually fully experienced in my view. For Augustine I feel it is a truly heavenly earth where all men are divine and are as close to the city of Heaven as you can be on earth. For Machiavelli it is a state of complete acceptance of each man’s role and how that role fits into society like a puzzle piece. In order to examine each philosopher’s view further, we must break their thoughts into three separate categories which are: human nature, political authority, and religious beliefs. This essay will take an in-depth look at both St. Augustine and Machiavelli, compare and contrast their views, and provide evidence that on some level the two thinkers were very similar in their ideology.…

    • 2815 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays