The Art of Being a Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
Discuss the nature of Machiavelli’s new political morality in relation to being a Prince.
Niccolo Machiavelli was born on 3 May 1469 in Florence, Italy and at the age of twenty-nine he became a public servant in the service of his city. He was one of most pre-eminent political characters in Florence during the Renaissance although major recognition of his works came after his death. The Renaissance represented a period of changing social and technological evolution for Western civilization as it helped to revive the rational, secular scientific spirit that had lain dormant through many centuries of medieval encasement. Machiavelli is recognized for being a political realist but most famously for being an amoral political thinker of his period who shocked imagination. He counsels a prince who is exempt from moral standards to achieve his ends by whatever means necessary. Machiavelli’s subtle conception of politics even embraces deception by lying and cruelty, but the prince is not necessarily without understanding of justice. Good and evil become superfluous when Machiavelli introduces the concept of political statecraft and the notion of ‘just political action’ to preserve the country.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince (1513) in troubled times when Italy was constantly being invaded and looted by foreigners while Italian city-states failed to unite in defense the country. The Prince, considered as Machiavelli’s most influential work is considered by some as a masterpiece because it depicts the “real human beings” and how a prince (or leader) ought to govern his subjects. Contrarily, others find in Machiavelli an unparalleled wickedness and perversion for a ruthless leader to achieve his ends by any means possible: ‘In the action of rulers, the end justifies the means’. The term Machiavellian is commonly associated to a cold-blooded, crafty, unscrupulous and amoral person ready to do whatever it takes in order to succeed in anything he is involved and ultimately
Niccolo Machiavelli was born on 3 May 1469 in Florence, Italy and at the age of twenty-nine he became a public servant in the service of his city. He was one of most pre-eminent political characters in Florence during the Renaissance although major recognition of his works came after his death. The Renaissance represented a period of changing social and technological evolution for Western civilization as it helped to revive the rational, secular scientific spirit that had lain dormant through many centuries of medieval encasement. Machiavelli is recognized for being a political realist but most famously for being an amoral political thinker of his period who shocked imagination. He counsels a prince who is exempt from moral standards to achieve his ends by whatever means necessary. Machiavelli’s subtle conception of politics even embraces deception by lying and cruelty, but the prince is not necessarily without understanding of justice. Good and evil become superfluous when Machiavelli introduces the concept of political statecraft and the notion of ‘just political action’ to preserve the country.
Machiavelli wrote The Prince (1513) in troubled times when Italy was constantly being invaded and looted by foreigners while Italian city-states failed to unite in defense the country. The Prince, considered as Machiavelli’s most influential work is considered by some as a masterpiece because it depicts the “real human beings” and how a prince (or leader) ought to govern his subjects. Contrarily, others find in Machiavelli an unparalleled wickedness and perversion for a ruthless leader to achieve his ends by any means possible: ‘In the action of rulers, the end justifies the means’. The term Machiavellian is commonly associated to a cold-blooded, crafty, unscrupulous and amoral person ready to do whatever it takes in order to succeed in anything he is involved and ultimately
Bibliography: Ebenstein, A, ‘Introduction to Political Thinkers’, 2nd edn, Thomsom Wadsworth, USA, 2002. [ 13 ]. A Ebenstein, Introduction to Political Thinkers, 2nd edition, Thomson Wadsworth, USA, 2002, p. 19 [ 14 ]