Machiavelli's The Prince

Humanism was an important aspect of the Renaissance, because changed the way people were learning, studying, and examining their culture. It brought about a drastic change in scholars’ focus from science and logic to arts and literature. During this time of change, Niccolo Machiavelli’s writing embodied aspects of both the old, medieval way of study and the newly formed humanistic school. By examining The Prince it is clear that Machiavelli was a humanist because of his understanding of moral philosophy and his broad studies of both modern and antique literature One aspect of humanism that is prevalent in Machiavelli’s work is the focus on history as a way to understand the present. According to Julia Conaway Bondanella, “humanists…studied both modern and ancient literature in order to cull the best from both traditions.” (XV) This method of study was a way for humanists to examine literature from, what they considered to be, a better time, and attempt to discover what made that period in history successful. The ultimate goal was to learn from this different time period, and try to apply the knowledge to the modern age in an attempt to regain a society similar to those golden ages. It is evident that this is exactly

Moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that focuses on ethics and how humans ought to behave to live good lives. (Free Dictionary) While many humanist were using moral philosophy to determine how the average human should live Machiavelli narrowed his focus and applied the idea of ethics to how a leader should rule. In The Prince, he discusses the balances between generosity and miserliness, cruelty and mercy, and the integrity of honesty. Since these ethics proved important enough for Machiavelli to include them in writings that were meant to help a Prince become a great ruler it is obvious that moral philosophy was a focus in his