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Machiavelli's view of leadership
Machiavelli's views on leadership
Niccolo Machiavelli on leadership
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1) Introduction – The bible and the prince are supposed to be texts to guide you. However they include a ton of violence which makes them seem bad but infact they are good
a) The Hebrew Bible and The prince by Machiavelli are guidebooks centered around important historical events. On the one hand, the Hebrew Bible is about the history and religion of the people of Israel. Its historical accounts functions as models of religious and moral conduct. On the other hand, The Prince is centered around the political history of France and Italy around the time of the Italian Renaissance. This text also serves as a guide, but with a very specified purpose. Rather than a moral guide, Machiavelli wrote a clear and practical guide on how be a great leader.
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According to Machiavelli, violence is unjust when used with malicious or no specific intent; but violence can be justified if it is used to defend one from things that are detrimental to society as a whole. Accor ding to this statement, we can extrapolate that violence in itself cannot be classified as inherently good or bad, should instead be classified as something that can be used to achieve a desired purpose or simply a tool. For example, a knife can be used productively to cut things, but can be also used to arbitrarily commit murder. Similarly, violence is a tool because it has the ability to be used for whatever function is desired by the …show more content…
Throughout Exodus, he shows his consistent love for the Israelites when he continues to help them after they have disobeyed. Because God is both eternal and good this is the best thing anyone could possibly want. Therefore anyone who doesn’t want god doesn’t really know what the good life is. His use of violence to correct those who are falling of the straight and narrow line is in no way to hurt them. But is used to remind them of how to get to the good life they desire. It seems as if god posits that if you love me and do what I tell you, everything will be fine and I 'll give you eternal life. But if you don 't, I 'll have to destroy you. However, it should be seen as I will do whatever I can do in my power to guide you to the good
In the many sections Niccolo Machiavelli writes he constantly compares to extreme qualities, one of which is ideal, the other real. These extremes include love(ideal) vs fear, clemency(ideal) vs cruelty, generous(ideal) vs stingy, and integrity(ideal) vs lying. In comparing these different traits Machiavelli highlights the merits of opposing characteristics and (specifically)when it is effective to act in certain ways. He argues that a balance of both are vital as to prevent a prince from dipping too far into a pool of inescapable extremism. The following excerpts display the author’s contrast-centered style: “ Thus, it's much wiser to put up with the reputation of being a miser, which brings you shame without hate, than to be forced—just
Machiavelli’s, “The Prince” is the ideal book for individuals intending to both govern and maintain a strong nation. Filled with practical advice, he includes numerous religious references to support his claims. He devotes a chapter within the book to speak about the ancient founders of states. In the chapter called, “On new principalities that are acquired by one’s own arms and by virtue”, Machiavelli discussed the importance of a prince to have their own talent in governing a nation, rather than having relied on fortune to rule. The latter is a risk no leader should take and he cited past leaders as a guide for both the current and future princes.
The Bible teaches love, compassion, and generosity. Niccolo Machiavelli found the Bible’s lessons idealistic and unrealistic for leaders. Machiavelli wrote his book, The Prince, to show the ruling Meddici family that the world is not a fairy tale. Prior to Machiavelli writing The Prince, the majority of books depicted people as virtuous and ethical. However, The Prince is not the only work of literature that manifests Machiavellian techniques.
The fourteenth century was an exciting time in Italy. Liberation from old traditions brought about a new interest in the arts and literature. The church's doctrine was no longer the sole basis of scholarly work. New ideas and concepts started to emerge which were unlike anything heard since the fall of Rome. Amongst the great thinkers of this time was a man by the name of Niccolo Machiavelli. (C4. and Wood, p.510) His most famous work was entitled, The Prince. The book is a compilation of historical examples past and present ( present being the sixteenth century), that were intended to guide a prince on the correct way to control his state. It advocated the use of any means necessary to survive in the political world, even if they were not particularly pleasant. (Strathern, p.6)
Niccolo Machiavelli lived in Florence, Italy in the 1400’s. The country of Italy was divided into city-states that had their own leaders, but all pledged alliance to their king. In time in which great leaders were needed in order to help the development of a city-state and country, Machiavelli had a theory that man needed a leader to control them. In his book The Prince, he speaks of the perfect leader.
Morality is the single most controversial and mind-boggling train of thought currently known to human-kind, and no particular individual more so exemplifies this conflict (or better summarizes my own personal beliefs) than Niccolò Machiavelli. Few writers in the whole of the human history have inspired the kind of personal hatred that Machiavelli has in the last 500 years, and few works have been as vilified, (or as popular) as The Prince. Machiavelli has been slandered and portrayed as a defender of tyrannical government, an atheistic promoter of immorality, and a manipulator whose interests were all self-serving. Today, the Oxford dictionary still characterizes "Machiavellian" as "of, like, or characterized by the political principles and methods of expediency, craftiness, and duplicity set forth in Machiavelli's book, The Prince; crafty, deceitful, and so on." Folk legend holds that "Old Nick," a slang term for the Devil, is derived from Machiavelli's first name, Niccolò. With that context kept in mind, isn’t morality founded on a specific set of core ideas? Isn’t it always defined by the acknowledgement of a central moral allegiance dominating all the others? From individualism to families, from tribalism to racism, from nationalism to religious fundamentalism or the allegiance to a totalitarian party what we see is the drawing of different “circles” centered on a basic, paramount moral norm. And Machiavelli is definitely not isolated in positing the interest of the nation as the foundation of his moral thinking. At the beginning of the 21st century we are still living within that same ideal nationalist realism. What could be more “Machiavellian” than the saying “My nation right or wrong”, which seems to be a still very popul...
“The Prince”, by Niccolo Machiavelli, is a series of letters written to the current ruler of Italy, Lorenzo de’ Medici. These letters are a “how-to” guide on what to do and what not to do. He uses examples to further express his views on the subject. The main purpose was to inform the reader how to effectively rule and be an acceptable Prince. Any ruler who wishes to keep absolute control of his principality must use not only wisdom and skill, but cunning and cruelness through fear rather than love. Machiavelli writes this book as his summary of all the deeds of great men.
Machiavelli is undisputedly one of the most influential political philosophers of all time. In The Prince, his most well-known work, he relates clearly and precisely how a decisive, intelligent man can gain and maintain power in a region. This work is revolutionary because it flies in the face of the Christian morality which let the Roman Catholic Church hold onto Europe for centuries. Machiavelli's work not only ignores the medieval world's ethics: The Prince suggests actions which oppose the four most basic of Christianity's Ten Commandments.
Possibly the most controversial book ever written, The Prince by Machiavelli, focuses on how a Prince or leader should rule. Many of the techniques that are stated in the text have caused many debates ever since it’s publication. When Machiavelli composed the Prince, his contemporaries were shocked at the ideas and themes presented. The Prince introduced a whole new way of thinking that was almost completely contrary to present beliefs. For that reason, in 1559 the Pope banned the printing of the Prince and the rest of Machiavelli’s writings.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Robert M. Adams, trans., ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977. pp. vii.-75.
Although, Machiavelli argues that an ideal ruler must be cruel, feared and unjust in order to maintain power in his paper, "The Prince", this is not necessary true. An ideal ruler must be assertive, just and filled with integrity to maintain power, prestige, and the loyalty of those he governs.
According to Machiavelli, there is no moral foundation that can be reference to determine whether the state's actions are legitimate or illegitimate outside of the state itself. For Machiavelli, authority and power are two concepts that cannot fall apart. Securing the state's power is just because it secures its citizens. Therefore, the state is justified in its actions, so long as it is projected towards this end goal in...
In the sixteenth century, there were three sets of socioeconomic statuses that one could acquire or be a part of, the clergy, the nobility, and the peasantry. The divide between these three generalized classes was far more complicated in reality that it seems, as socioeconomic classes consist of multiple branches. Nonetheless, it all essentially came down to two undeniable factions, the oppressors and the oppressed. Niccolo Machiavelli, being a mixture of the two due to his living situation while writing the book, gained a middle-ground which allowed him to achieve omnipotent intelligence that so many rulers normally lack, first hand experience of what it like to live both lives, one as a peasant and the other as a nobleman. This omnipotent
Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Robert Martin Adams. "Chapter 17." The Prince: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations, Marginalia. New York: Norton, 1992. 46. Print.
Machiavelli’s The Prince was written more than 500 years ago and it is “one of the most influential and controversial books published in Western literature.” (Article A) It was about Machiavelli’s political philosophies and the basic principles of what he believes a politician or “prince” should be. The three main ideas of the Prince were “Liberality and Stinginess”, “Cruelty and Mercy: Is It Better to Be Loved Than Feared, or the Reverse?”, and “How a Prince Should Keep Their Promises” and for the most part many of his concepts should or are already instilled in our government.