Machiavelli's Utilitarianism

Machiavelli’s The Prince is a comprehensive guide on how a prince should govern. Written in 1513, it addresses a multitude of topics, including whether one should be feared or loved, how to avoid hatred, and how a prince should spend his money. While the advice was more applicable in the Renaissance, when most rulers governed with absolute power, either in their city state or their country, it does not apply well to today, when institutions such as parliaments and congresses exist to check the power of nation’s rulers. This is easily seen through Machiavelli’s advice on cruelty and being feared versus being loved. Machiavelli wrote that to be cruel was better than to be kind, as being kind ran the risk of appearing weak and ruining one’s empire. Machiavelli uses the anecdotes of Agathocles, who took over Syracuse through murder and cunning, and Oliverotto da Fermo, who did much the same. However, Agathocles succeeded, and da Fermo failed, which Machiavelli writes is because da Fermo was repeatedly cruel, whereas Agathocles was cruel once in grand measure before his actual ruling began. “...in seizing a state, the usurper ought to examine closely into
“And that prince who, relying entirely on their promises, has neglected other precautions, is ruined; because friendships that are obtained by payments, and not by greatness or nobility of mind, may indeed be earned, but they are not secured, and...cannot be relied upon; and men have less scruple in offending one who is beloved than one who is feared, for love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity...; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.” (The Prince, p. 79-80) Just before writing The Prince, Machiavelli had been tortured by the de’Medicis as they accused him of conspiring against