Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
human nature of Machiavelli
human nature of Machiavelli
Machiavelli's thought on government
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: human nature of Machiavelli
Machiavelli was a Florentine diplomat, statesman, and political philosopher in the early sixteenth century. He authored The Prince, a set of rules for new princes to follow in order to maintain control of their domains, emphasizing the use of power without regard to morality. Machiavelli published The Prince in 1513 and dedicated it to the Medicis with the goal of convincing them to unite Italy and end the Italian Wars, which took place from 1494 to 1559. Machiavelli’s philosophies have been criticized as contradictory to traditional humanist views, but this conclusion fails to consider the ideas set forth in The Prince in the context of other political philosophies and humanism at the time. Machiavelli’s political ethics meet the four characteristics of humanism: Classicism, realism, individualism, and active virtue. These factors combine to depict civic humanism in line with the humanist philosophies of Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruno, two of Machiavelli’s predecessors.
Classicism is a defining characteristic of humanism displayed by Machiavelli. Humanist Classicism is characterized by the reference of classical sources and history (mainly Greek and Roman) not with nostalgia, but as a basis for argument. Machiavelli derives several of the arguments in The Prince from classical history and philosophy. For example, he first defines a type of state known as mixed principalities. These have two characteristics: first, they are ruled dynastically by a prince; second, they conquer new territories that differ in language, laws, and customs from themselves. Machiavelli explains that these states tend to come into difficulties while expanding because of the natural difficulty of ruling over peoples of different language, laws, and...
... middle of paper ...
...toc>.
Loughlin, James. "Pope Alexander VI." Catholic Encyclopedia. New Advent, 1 Mar. 1907. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. .
Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince and Other Writings. Trans. Wayne A. Rebhorn. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.
Mansfield, Harvey C. Machiavelli's Virtue. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1998. Print.
Nederman, Carry. "Niccolò Machiavelli." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, 13 Sept. 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. .
Skinner, Quentin. "The State." Contemporary Political Philosophy. Ed. Robert E. Goodin and Philip Pettit. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1997. 6-9. Print.
Strauss, Leo, and Joseph Corpsey. History of Political Philosophy. 3rd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987. Print.
Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli's God. Princeton: Princeton University, 2010. Print.
Machiavelli, Nicolo (1532) The Prince. In Peter Bondanella’s and Mark Musa’s (eds) The Portable Machiavelli. (pp. 77-166) New York, New York: Penguin Books.
5. Niccolo Machiavelli, Selected Political Writings: The Prince and The Discourses on Livy, Hackett Publishing Company, 1994.
Ridolfi, Roberto. The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli. Trans. Cecil Grayson. 1954. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Print.
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.
Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Robert Martin Adams. "Chapter 18." The Prince: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Interpretations, Marginalia. New York: Norton, 1992. 49. Print.
Machiavelli, Niccolo. “The Prince and The Discourses” McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; 1 edition (August 1, 1950)
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...
Machiavelli has long been required reading for everyone intrested in politics and power. In The Prince Niccolo M
The time of the Renaissance is one filled with growth of intellect, beauty of nature, the dignity of mankind, and the rising of artists. It is characterized from the move of scholasticism, a devotion specifically for the theological and philosophical teachings of the Church to humanism, a devotion to the humanities of rhetoric, arithmetic, and other subjects. One example of this movement can be seen in Machiavelli’s The Prince in which describes Niccolo Machiavelli’s ideal ruler and how to obtain stability, which was lacking as during the time of his writing this, there was a power shift from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe. How Machiavelli describes his ideal prince and his leadership is one that in which he is
“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.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli isn't about one man's ways to feed his power hungry mindset through gluttony, nor is it just explaining altercations between a nation's states. This writing is regarding to how one's self-confidence can make them become powerful in a society and also, the way morals and politics differ and can be separate in a government. Originally, Machiavelli wrote The Prince to gain support from Lorenzo de' Medici, who during the era, was governor of Florence. As meant as writing for how a society should be run, this book has been read by many peoples around the world who want to have better knowledge of the perfect stability of beliefs and politics required to run a good civilization.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince. Robert M. Adams, trans., ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977. pp. vii.-75.
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...
Strauss, Leo. Machiavelli’s Intention: The Prince . Ed. Leo Strauss. N.p., 1958. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. .
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.