Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince

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Recommended: The prince and its relation to politics

Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince examines the ideas of morality and virtue, as well as how they interact with politics. Although this work is often reduced to sayings such as “the ends justify the means,” and “ it is far better to be feared than loved,” such phrases are often taken out of context. Machiavelli presents an intricate examination of what morality and virtue mean in the scope of princes, as well as how they ought to conduct themselves in order to be deemed “virtuous.” In this context, a virtuous prince is a successful and self-reliant one. Machiavelli’s tenants of morality and virtue are far more nuanced than they are often made out to be, and aim to guide leaders to achieve balance and prosperity in their both their reign and their …show more content…

The goodwill of the people can serve as a protection against the threats of both rebellion from within the state and war from external forces, as in either situation, the people would ideally want to retain the prince as their leader, and wouldn’t rally to the cause of the challenger. He should, however, ought to be careful to not put the desires of the people above the good of the state, but should instead focus on avoiding their ire. Guarding against hatred is more important than actually being liked by the people, and the prince should be sure to not be needlessly violent or cruel to the people so as to keep them from hating him to the point of violence. In this area, a virtuous prince would be one who would know how to appease the people and keep their opinions of him either generally neural or positive.
Another instance in which Machiavelli’s definition of virtue diverges from the common one is in regards to how a prince acquires his state and power. Here, a virtuous prince would use his own troops, skill and resources, rather than depending on fortune, and the arms and talents of others. In order for Machiavelli to describe him as virtuous, a prince should be independent, as a prince who can support and defend himself, and who is not disliked by his people, would be seen as stronger than one who relied on the arms and assistance of

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