Assessment of a Statement Niccollo Machiavelli, born on May 3, 1469, lived during a period of
turmoil and constant war in Europe. Machiavelli believed that
political life cannot and should not be governed by a set of moral or
religious absolutes. He also believed that in the interest of securing
the state, acts of violence and deception that would be unethical and
indefensible were permissible. This essay will seek to prove that the
statement “the end justifies the means” is not morally defensible. It
will explore the implications of the statement itself, the rudiments
of the social contract, the principles of Machiavelli and solid
empirical evidence.
The belief that the end entirely justifies the means is merely an
extreme version of the commonly held belief that moral considerations
cannot apply to the means except in relation to ends, or that the
latter have a moral priority. Gandhi wrote, “The means may be likened
to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable
connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed
and the tree.”[1] Thus, one cannot have an end entirely independent
from its means. If any worthwhile end can justify the means to attain
it, a true ethical foundation is lost. But the end does not justify
the means. If that were so, then Hitler could justify the Holocaust
because the end was to purify the human race. Stalin could justify his
slaughter of millions because he was trying to achieve a...
... middle of paper ...
...t individual among us is
basically the only excuse the government has for even existing”
Bibliography
Forsyth and Keens-Soper (1992) “The Political Classics”
New York; Oxford University Press
Machiavelli, N (1998) “The Prince”, (Harvey C. Mansfield, Ed) (2nd
Edition)
London; University of Chicago press
Jeremy Bentham (1988) “The Principles of Morals and Legislation”
New York; Prometheus Books
Raghawan, N. Iyer (Means And Ends In Politics)
Http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.htm
Antiwar.com
Http://AllAfrica.com/stories/200502140552.html
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[1] Means And Ends in Politics, Chapter 28
[2] Http://AllAfrica.com/stories/200502140552.html
[3] The Political Classics, Pg 99
[4] The Price, Chapter 16
Machiavelli’s views were drastically different from other humanists at his time. He strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but stood in the way of a successfully governed state. He stated that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little thought to the well being of the state. He distrusted citizens saying, “In time of adversity, when a state is in need of its citizens, there are few to be found.” In his writings in The Prince, he constantly questioned the citizens’ loyalty and warned for the leaders to be wary in trusting citizens. His radical and distrusting thoughts on human nature were derived out of concern for Italy’s then unstable government. Machiavelli also had a s...
After five hundred years, Niccolo Machiavelli the man has ceased to exist. In his place is merely an entity, one that is human, but also something that is far above one. The debate over his political ideologies and theories has elevated him to a mythical status summed up in one word: Machiavelli. His family name has evolved into an adjective in the English language in its various forms. Writers and pundit’s bandy about this new adjective in such ways as, “He is a Machiavelli,” “They are Machiavelli’s,” “This is suitable for a Machiavelli.” These phrases are almost always the words of a person that understands more about Niccolo’s reputation than the man himself. Forgotten is that Machiavelli is not an adequate example of the ruler he is credited with describing; a more accurate statement would be to call someone a “Borgia” or a “Valentino.” Most of the time they are grossly mistaken in their references. All these words accomplish is to add to the legend, and the misinterpretation, of the true nature of Niccolo Machiavelli.
Machiavelli was a Florentine Statesman. In 1512, the Florentine Republic collapsed and the Medico's came back into power. Machiavelli was labeled a traitor and was sent to prison where he was tortured and threatened with execution.1 He was subsequently released into exile. He went to the country and wrote “The Prince”. He had wanted to present it to Lorenzo Medici as a show of his loyalty but it did not have the effect that Machiavelli had envisioned.
Born in 1469 to an economically limited family under the parents of Bernardo di Niccolò di Buoninsegna and Bartolomea de’Nelli, Niccolò de Bernardo Machiavelli was exposed to numerous books covering law and Classical texts in his youth, which he consequently learned to reject even before entering in Florentine politics.2 A self-taught intellectual like his father Bernardo, Machiavelli began studies in Latin at age seven. Although he was well-learned in the language by his young adulthood, he quickly refused to write his treatises ...
Self-Analysis Assignment For this self-analysis assignment, I chose the assessment tools that addressed the skills approach, the behavioral approach and transformational style of a leader, which I perceived to be significant in shaping my leadership style. These tools will provide significant insight to my primarily leadership style as well as the component areas of leadership improvement. The first leader assessment focused on distinguishing the various skills of my leadership type, specifically concerning technical, human and conceptual skill.
Written in 1848 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, The Declaration of Sentiments has changed the world of women’s rights, changing it into what it is today. This document was written as a declaration, and as a petition. It was written for the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19-20 1848. This convention was for the purpose of women discussing their rights and desires to be free of the oppression that they faced. On the second day of the convention, men were invited to come and show support to the women. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, and died on October 26, 1902. She was born number eight of eleven children to parents Daniel Cady, and Margaret Livingston Cady. Her mother was
kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.” And it came to be
I think there is a fair amount of work to do before this work would be suitable for publication. But the core structure and voice of the story is definitely interesting and engaging. I’d stick with it, sort out the mechanical errors and trim the prose to a concise, hard-hitting final copy. I enjoyed reading editing this story very
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I believe it is important for any student who wants to do their best in a class to take a moment to evaluate their own work to determine the rate their writing is progressing and how they can continue to advance their writing. When I looked through my own work I asked myself “what have I learned this semester?” and “what do I still need to learn in order to improve my writing?”. Answering both these questions will help me with my last step of my self-evaluation, developing a plan to learn new skills.
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To understand the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, it is necessary to understand the world of Niccolò Machiavelli, Renaissance Italy. The region was not one nation as it is today, rather a collection of several city-states, which contained internal fighting between powerful families, fighting with each other. This era differed from the preceding middle ages in many respects, the pope's power was weakened, money controlled power instead of noble birth, and there was a revival of ancient Greek and Roman literature, architecture and art by a new breed of people, the humanists. These changes created the environment in which Machiavelli lived. He saw how the quarrelling was weakeni...
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