Comparison Between Machiavelli And Lao Tzu Politics Essay

Leadership qualities play a vital role in the success or failure of a society. Leaders with virtues help a nation to succeed in periods of peril. Effective leadership allows the country to be successful and the leaders to fulfill the country’s mission. Leadership qualities offer an effective environment for subjects to become productive people towards their leaders and country. The absence of effective leadership qualities results to severe effects towards the country. The manner in which problems can be implemented is an issue that can be determined by the influence of the leaders qualities, which in return change the course the events take and how they can overcome any kind of resistance. On the other hand, leadership qualities in a leader are vital in determining how effectively and successfully decisions can be implemented. Every person recognizes the significance of leadership qualities when they vote their political leaders. This topic is extremely significant in making people realize that it matters in voting, choosing, and contesting for a person to be their leader. This essay compares the views of two authors in regard to leadership: Machiavelli and Lao-Tzu. Machiavelli was an historian in Italy, a diplomat, a philosopher, politician, a writer and humanist during the era of Renaissance. On the other hand, Lao-Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher during the 6th century. After a careful reading of Machiavelli and Lao-Tzu, it is clear that Machiavelli has the best and most relevant advice for a modern day society.

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Advice on War
Machiavelli believes that a leader must have no any other thought or aim for learning than war, its rules, as well as discipline since it is the solitary art that rulers should uphold. On the other hand, it has such force that not only sustains leaders, but also often makes it possible for ordinary men to ascend to such a rank. The neglect of the art result to the loss of a state. Therefore, to be able to acquire a state, the ruler must first be a master of the art of war. Machiavelli further argues that there lacks proportion among the unarmed and the armed, and therefore, it is unreasonable for the armed to yield willingly obedience to the unarmed since it is impossible for both to work jointly. As a result, a leader who fails to be a master of war and understand what the war art entails will be not respected, nor rely on by his soldiers. Therefore, a leader can achieve this by action or by study. Machiavelli regards war as strategy and activity thus, the necessities needed are unity, induced order and fealty incited and projected by the fear of leadership or the leader (37-39).
When compared to Machiavelli, Lao Tzu holds different views on war. He believes that war should be the last resort and not the immediate option since it results to numerous loss and sufferings, both in defeat and victory. He believed weapons to be violence tools and therefore, every man must detest them except when necessity arises, and if forced, exercise them with topmost restraint. Human beings must never find pleasure in war; instead, they must choose to avoid war (25-27).
Advice on Human nature
Machiavelli believes that the rules that govern the conduct of a leader towards friends, as well as subjects are of utmost importance. The majority of leaders tend to picture principalities, as well as republics that they have never seen or known. The manner in which people live is distant from the way that they must live. That is to say, people who aspire to entirely act according to their virtue professions soon meet what destroys them. Therefore, it is vital for leaders who wish to hold their own to be aware how to commit wrongs, as well as to apply them in accordance to necessity. The qualities that leaders exhibit brings them praise or blame: one can be reputed miserly another liberal; generous or rapacious; cruel or compassionate; faithless or faithful; cowardly and effeminate or brave and bold; affable or haughty; lascivious or chaste; sincere or cunning; hard or easy; grave or frivolous; religious or unbelieving (40-42)
Machiavelli further deems that leaders who exercise qualities that fail to bring them reputation end up hurting themselves. For instance, when leaders exercise virtues in a manner that can be recognized, then they can see to it that the revenues of the nation are enough, that they can defend themselves from any attack, and can engage in various enterprises exclusive of burdening their own people. The best example is Pope Julius II who got assisted to reach papacy through liberality reputation. The other example is the king of Spain who managed to conquer several enterprises since he was reputed to be liberal. This simply implies that if leaders prevent themselves from robbing their subjects, defend themselves, prevent themselves from becoming abject and poor, and not be compelled to be rapacious and hold a little repute of being strict, they will acquire the vices that will enable them to govern. Consequently, as long as leaders keep their subjects loyal and united, then they do not have to mind a reproach since by using few examples, they can be reputed that through vices, they allow the rise of disorders from which pursues robberies and murders. On the other hand, all men are ungrateful, they are covetous, cowardly, false, and fickle, and provided that leaders succeed, they are theirs entirely. They will offer the leaders their property, blood, children and life in instances when the need becomes distant. Leaders who depend on the promises of their subjects are ruined since friendship gained from payments and not through the nobility and greatness of mind can be earned, but they are unsecured, and therefore during the time of need, they fail to be relied upon (44-46).
When compared to Machiavelli, Lao-Tzu’s views are quite different, he believes that there exist an ideal way that a ruler can use to govern a country. The government of any given country ought to have minimum involvement in its people’s lives. This is because virtues tend to come naturally to people in instances when they desert their endeavors to seek formally these values and their desires. On the other hand, rulers ought to be humble and tolerant by taking care of the needs of their people and focusing in matters that are affecting the country rather than snooping on other countries. A ruler who is ideal should try to avoid any kind of war with other countries. The minimal government concept by Lao-Tzu can be considered to be reasonable to some extent. For instance, Lao-Tzu states: “If you don’t trust the people, you make them untrustworthy”. This statement exemplifies the theory of labeling. When people get labeled by the society as being defiant in respect to their major wrongdoing, they tend to become more probable to be conventional to such a role and do secondary acts of deviance. This happens since options to engage in a life that is more virtuous are taken away from them. For instance, people who have one criminal violation record in the society are needed to include it in their resume which in return makes it hard for them to get a job. As a result, the person labeled adopts behaviors coinciding with the label, therefore making that label true even if it was incorrectly applied initially (28-31).
Lao-Tzu further argues that when a leader continuously suspects a revolt is brewing in a government, he might get rid of the subjects precisely to petition peacefully the government. Such actions label indirectly the subjects as unruly and disloyal. When there is lack of legitimate means options to express the subjects’ concern, they are likely to rebel or riot subsequently in spite of them being content before. For that reason, when a leader fails to trust his subjects and ladles them implicitly as untrustworthy, the leader actually leads them to become untrustworthy. Lao-Tzu believes that when people stop striving to achieve their impractical desires, then they can naturally attain positive life aspects like wisdom and happiness. Lao-Tzu states: “a nation nourishes its own people and doesn’t meddle in the affairs of others” (33-34).
A relevant example is the United States of America. It intervenes excessively in the matters that involve other countries instead of being more concerned of its own problems. For instance, in the Hurricane Katrina, the country lacked enough personnel, as well as essential equipment for emergency and vehicles that operate in high waters since they were in Iraq together with 3,000 National Guard members. The United States would have never been involved in the issues that affect foreign nations but instead make certain that it own people’s well being is safe.
  Conclusion
From the essay above, it is apparent that Machiavelli offers the best advice as compared to Lao-Tzu. Machiavelli observes that leaders must learn the art of war as strategy and activity. The neglect of the art of war result to the loss of a state. On the other hand, the rules that govern the conduct of a leader towards friends, as well as subjects are of utmost importance. Also, the qualities that leaders exhibit brings them praise or blame. Leaders who exercise qualities that fail to bring them reputation end up hurting themselves. Lao Tzu on the other hand argues that war should be the last resort. He also observes that there exist an ideal way that a ruler can use to govern a country by having minimum involvement in its people’s lives. Rulers ought to be humble and tolerant by taking care of the needs of their people and focusing in matters that are affecting the country. When people stop striving to achieve their impractical desires, then they can naturally attain positive life aspects like wisdom and happiness. The arguments of the two authors tend to be right in some aspects, but they also differ in other issues.
 

Mill Compared To Plato, Locke, Marx And Machiavelli

In this paper, I will argue that John Stuart Mill’s theories are the most reasonable compared to Plato, Marx, Locke, and Machiavelli. Moreover, Mill’s theories allow mankind to exercise individual rights to a greater extent than the theories of the other mentioned philosophers. More than those of Plato, Marx, Locke, or Machiavelli, John Stuart Mill’s theories are compelling because they are the most logically sensible and provide for the welfare of the people.

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As mentioned, my standard for judging these theories is the extent to which they make logical sense and promote the welfare of the people. A good political system promotes the welfare of the people, so it follows that a political theory would also support this same goal. As far as making logical sense is concerned, a political theory that is logically constructed with sound reasoning is more likely than not to be well thought, feasible, and true. I will start with explaining why I do not find the other theorists compelling, and end with explaining why I find Mill the most compelling in the bounds of the criteria just explained.
The philosophies of Marx and of Plato are inherently idealistic, which in itself does not necessarily discredit the theories. Idealistic visions of the most perfect type of government are helpful in testing the efficacy of a political theory in the theoretical realm. Moreover, political philosophies are not created with direct implementation in mind. It is wrong to expect a political theory to be intended for direct application in politics. A discourse on political theory is intentionally distinct from a law or a constitution. It is wrong to confuse a law or constitution, which is intended for immediate implementation in politics, with a political theory, which is intended usually to influence opinion and real political policies. Although I have offered this argument that suggests the theories of Plato and Marx are not to be judged by their implementation, it is worthwhile to note that their implementation would depend on an evolved type of human nature, one that would recognize one’s place in society and the benefit to society of fulfilling one’s duty. This evolved human nature simply does not exist even today, much less to mention during the time of Plato.
Plato maintains that democracy is one of the lowest forms of government, and that it can decay into despotism “is fairly clear” (Plato 288). Plato thinks the best government is aristocracy (Plato 267). Part of my criteria for judging these theories is how well it provides for the welfare of the people. Granted, Plato has a somewhat valid argument that a great amount of freedom in a democracy may lead to undisciplined behavior. But an aristocracy is much less likely to have the welfare of the people in mind than a democracy. While democracy is not perfect, it by nature follows the will of the greatest number of people. Assuming that the majority of people act in their own best interest, then at least the majority is ensured its own welfare. With an aristocracy, there is no such insurance of general welfare. The only thing that is certain is that the aristocrats will rule, presumably according to their own interests. Additionally, Plato is willing to censor artistic materials. This assumes infallibility in the republic’s ability to discern whether works are beneficial to the state. I will discuss later in this paper about this concept, in reference to Mill. Most of the autocratic elements of Plato’s philosophy depend on a fundamental assumption that the government’s judgments are infallible, which is logically incorrect.
Marx maintains that everything in society is based on economics and production. This also forms the theoretical basis for many of his other theories. But this is a generalization that has many exceptions. The religious and charitable elements of society are not driven by capitalist economy; they are based on unrelated concepts of giving and kindness. Granted, religious houses and charitable institutions are fueled by monetary donations, but the fact that people are willing to relinquish their capitalist earnings for which they have toiled demonstrates even further the existence of a charitable or non-selfish motive.
Additionally, as briefly mentioned earlier, both Plato and Marx have twisted views of human nature that don’t correlate with reality to the extent that Mill does. Plato’s theories depend on the idea that people will somehow fall into their duty in society, and if they dare overstep their bounds, they are committing an “injustice.” Marx’s theories depend on the assumption that people will not be disheartened by the prospect of never owning property. Mill formulated his theories with a view of human nature that seems more accurate. Mill believed that humans were individuals and respected the inherent individual nature of man. In his discussion on the fallacy of custom, he noted that man is “not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing” (Mill 114). This is most in contrast to Plato and Marx, whose theories rest on the assumption that people will fall into their positions in life without following any “inward forces” that may motivate them to want more. Mill said that impulses are equally a part of human nature as are restraints (115). This is a true statement of human nature; one cannot ignore the existence of human impulses and emphasize restraints.
Locke’s ideas are not very realistic. There are issues with Locke’s theory of property, namely the labor theory of property, and there are issues with Locke’s natural rights theory. With the labor theory of property, which states that man makes something his property only when he has used his labor to take it out of nature (Locke 11), there is an issue that arises from the fact that the majority of the labor today uses machinery, factories, and various means of production. Someone must own these means of production. Locke’s labor theory of property does not account for ownership of the means of production. Locke championed the theory of natural rights, rights endowed by God that are inalienable. The whole concept of natural rights is, as Jeremy Bentham said, “rhetorical nonsense” (“Anarchical Fallacies”). Natural rights never truly existed in the first place. Natural rights are imaginary, so it is impossible for an imaginary object to be taken away. The notion of natural rights may be useful to society, but the apparent usefulness of an idea is never enough reason to overlook the truth value of the idea. A political theory based on these unrealistic concepts are difficult to take seriously in political situations that affect many people.
Machiavelli’s Prince was meant for distribution to those in positions of power. Accordingly, it deals exclusively with the interests of a single powerful person. Whereas the theories of Marx, Plato, Aristotle, Locke, and Mill dealt with the welfare of all society, Machiavelli’s ideas have but one person’s welfare in mind. Granted, Machiavelli did advocate the prince to care for the welfare of the people, but Machiavelli makes it clear that this is a self-interested tactic aimed at perpetuating the Prince’s leadership. Caring for the welfare of the people in The Prince is about avoiding hatred of the Prince and maintaining good relations with the people (Machiavelli 64). Indeed, The Prince seems to be an accurate and probably very useful handbook for the autocrat. Benito Mussolini praised The Prince as “the statesman’s supreme guide” (Arditti). Although The Prince supports the welfare of the people, it only supports the welfare of the citizens as an auxiliary tactic for keeping the prince in power. The welfare of the people is not a primary objective of the prince. Therefore, as a mere tactic, the emphasis on the welfare of the people may be easily disposed of and replaced with another tactic. An ideal system of government would revolve around the welfare of the people as a matter of necessity.
The first part of my criteria for judging these theories is how much logical sense it makes. In this section, I will look at how John Stuart Mill’s theories make sense logically.
Mill’s comments about the flaws of democracy and republics are logical. A paradox of republics is that although they are often commonly referred to as exercises in “self-government” or “government by the people for the people,” the government does not always reflect the wishes of all the people. There are a few reasons for this that Mill wisely points out. Firstly, what seems to be the will of the majority is truly the will of only the most active part of society (Mill 66). These people are simply those who “succeed in making themselves accepted as a majority” (66). What is perceived as the “majority,” particularly concerning certain ideas about which people feel strongly, is often a false majority. Secondly, in a republic, those who exercise the power are not those over whom the power is exercised (65). Looking at the workings of a republic, this point becomes obvious as we see the political class making decisions that affect the rest of the public, without necessarily requiring the permission of those their decisions affect. Moreover, a democratic republic may give rise to a new kind of tyranny, which is what it was adopted to avoid. Democracies are apt to give way to a “tyranny of the majority,” a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville and repeated by Mill. This special kind of tyranny is practiced not by an authority acting independently, but by society itself. Although less threatening in terms of penalties than a dictatorial tyranny, the tyranny of the majority is more dangerous because it is the more difficult to escape. In this case, the party imposing tyranny does not live in a castle far away, but rather is your neighbors. Toppling this kind of tyranny would be more complex than assassinating a single dictator.
Mill’s harm principle as the basis for society taking action over the individual makes logical sense. We can start with a brief explanation of the harm principle. Society has jurisdiction over individual conduct only in so far as it affects the welfare of others. Accordingly, society can legitimately punish offenders after the fact, or place necessary restrictions on individual freedom as a preventative measure. But this does not apply to circumstances “when a person’s conduct affects the interests of no persons besides himself, or needs not affect them unless they like” (130). This is the essence of the harm principle. The harm principle generally relates to the justice system, a government’s institution for punishing people. The purpose of a criminal justice system is to prevent or at least minimize damage done to society. Damage done to an individual by the same individual, self-harm, is not within the scope of duty for a justice system; harm inflicted upon oneself is, under most practical circumstances, not harm inflicted upon society. Punishing the activities one does to oneself would require a separate institution from the justice system, and adding such a duty to the responsibility of a justice system would be a perversion of the justice system. In order for a government’s justice system to accomplish its goal of regulating harm upon society, it almost by definition has to follow the harm principle.
Issues regarding the harm principle necessarily arise when one thinks about how it may be applied. Mill’s answers to these issues are logical and consistent with his original theory. One issue is that there are some “bad social institutions” that necessarily involve harm being done to some party, such as in a contest, an “overcrowded profession,” or a “competitive examination” (Mill 148). Mill says the suffering these social institutions bring is unavoidable. When, however, the competition is won by cheating or force, is the only circumstance that allows for society to interfere (148). This view on necessary harm makes logical sense; there are no ways to mitigate the suffering of the loser without diminishing the prospect of reward in competition which brought the loser into the game in the first place, only ways to keep the competition fair. Mill has an answer to another issue that concerns the harm principle as it relates to restraint on trade of certain commodities. This also relates to that which is only potentially harmful to society, namely “how far liberty may legitimately be invaded for the prevention of crime, or of accident” (149). Although it is likely for the government to abuse their preventative role, it is a necessary one. It is within the government’s power to regulate, but not ban, the sale of poison. It is also within the government’s power to prevent accidents, such as by enforcing fire precautions. Mill notes that the government’s preventative measures against accidents do not infringe upon liberty. Liberty is the right to do what one pleases, and falling upon an accident most unlikely to be something one would wish to do (149). In regard to goods or services which can cause harm or evil, such as prostitution, gambling, or alcohol, Mill believes that the end users should not be punished, but instead the sellers, or those who profit from the activity perceived as evil. The profiteer has a vested interest in people committing this evil. Unlike the user, who is only harming himself, the profiteer might as well be instigating the harm upon others, making the actions of the profiteer under the jurisdiction of society. Mill is also in favor of sin taxes, because they limit the availability of an evil product to the very few without enacting full-fledged prohibition (153). In describing various applications of his harm principle, he brings the theoretical harm principle to life and clarifies common questions. They also logically follow from his original theory, so they make logical sense.
It is never appropriate to assume infallibility. This is a theory of Mill that is well founded and rational. Here is the line of logic that rationalizes the notion that we must always assume fallibility. Few will deny that they are immune to mistakes, that their judgment is absolutely impeccable (Mill 78). If one is liable to make an error in judgment, then it is reasonable to say that all of their judgments are equally liable to this possibility for error; that is, every opinion held to be true has a probability, however small, to be false. Consequently, it is never correct to maintain an opinion or an idea to be absolutely true with no possibility for it to be false. To say that one’s opinion can be absolutely true is to say that one’s judgment is absolutely infallible. So this leads us to the conclusion that we can never be absolutely sure that an apparently false idea is indeed false. Besides, as a further proof of the subjectivity of opinions, people in different geographic regions of the world hold starkly different views on the same matters. It is the same accident which makes one “a Churchman in London [that] would have made him a Buddhist or a Confucian in Peking” (78). Thus we have the sound basis for assuming infallibility.
Following from the notion of assuming fallibility, it is equally wrong to assume a particular way of life as wrong. In so far as it does not affect others, the right to individuality of action is just as important as the right to individuality of thought. People should be permitted to try various modes of life and various experiments of living (Mill 112). Diversity, in contrast to homogenous adherence to custom, is good for society. Diversity is especially beneficial because mankind is imperfect and incapable of fully realizing all sides of the truth (112). In the absence of a superhuman ability to recognize truth, it is necessary for there to be a broad pool of choices in ways to conduct one’s life, gathered through experimentation. For there to be such a pool of choices, needless to say, there must be liberty of action.
The second part of my criteria for judging these theories is the extent to which it promotes the welfare of the people. In this section, I will show that Mill’s theories are more likely to lead to a high level of human welfare.
Mill’s harm principle is the antidote to tyranny. If government is permitted to interfere with individual rights only in cases where harm to others is involved, then under such a doctrine, it would be hard for a would-be tyrant to justify infringing upon the rights of the citizens. Assuming that the harm principle is enforced in its truest form, all incidents of government interference would be justified. So Mill’s harm principle naturally gives way to individual rights. Individual rights is inextricably tied to well-being of the citizens, because individual rights allows people the freedom to carry out the activities associated with happiness. Consequently, the harm principle leads to the welfare of the people, making it a very beneficial political theory.
Moreover, the harm principle directly benefits the welfare of people by preventing people from being harmed by a person’s actions. This is a benefit of Mill’s harm principle, although it is not exclusive to Mill since punishment of offenders was a practice long before Mill wrote down this theory. To be precise, the harm principle was intended to place limits on the punishment system already in place. Nevertheless, the harm principle sets a rather specific and appropriate standard for the use of punishment-for the purpose of preventing damage and thus promoting the welfare of general society.
Mill’s theory that infallibility should never be assumed is conducive to liberty. It allows for liberty of thought, liberty of discussion, and all other liberties which follow from these two. When a government never assumes infallibility in opinions, then it will permit free discussion of all topics, even of its policies. A society that understands the fallibility of its opinions would tolerate opinions to the contrary of the established opinions. In this ideal state, the government and society at large would necessarily grant equal rights to all opinions in terms of their permission to be voiced. “If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind” (Mill 77). So a consequence of assuming infallibility is to never stifle an opinion, however false it may appear. Since one may never truly be confident about the truth value of an opinion, the truth or falsity of that opinion is equally likely. Every opinion has a likelihood of being either true or false, so no opinion is exempt. If one stifles a true opinion, then the damage is obvious: one loses an opportunity for truth (Mill 77). If one stifles a false opinion, then one loses something just as important: the opportunity to illuminate the truth by its contrast with error (Mill 77). Thus an adherence to the constant assumption of infallibility would insure liberties to free thought and discussion. A great part of the welfare of a people is securing their liberties to free expression, so this theory is beneficial to the welfare of the people.
All of Mill’s arguments are further strengthened by his apparent rigorous evaluation of his arguments. Fitting with his philosophy which discusses this point itself, Mill carefully examines all sides of his statements and arguments. He even makes strong arguments for the opposing side that are nearly as convincing as his own side of the argument. The discipline with which he examines his arguments makes them seem highly likely to be true. Almost all, if not all, of the major points that Mill makes in On Liberty are preceded or followed by a counter argument. Neither Plato, Locke, Machiavelli, or Marx use this extent of rigorous detail in their arguments. Mill also explains various aspects of his arguments at great length, although he isn’t the only theorist among this group to do so.
In conclusion, Mill’s theories are the most compelling compared to those of Plato, Locke, Marx, and Machiavelli. Mill’s theories make logical sense and provide for the welfare and individual liberty of the people. The theories of Plato, Marx, Locke, and Machiavelli either do not make logical sense or do not provide adequately for the welfare of the people. Thus the theories of Mill prevail as the most compelling according to this criteria for judging the theories.
 

The Machiavelli Influence During The Renaissance Politics Essay

When the European scholars began studying the world around them, they got interested in exploring more new lands. This marked a new age for them which they referred to as the Renaissance- a French word meaning rebirth. The Renaissance was considered as the beginning of the modern history by majority of European historians. Renaissance was contributed to by scientists, scholars, philosophers, architects, artists, and rulers. The Renaissance in Italy was the most notable in Europe in the 15th century. Machiavelli was one of the leaders of that time. He made one saying that has been influential to the present human age; He said that if you want to make an individual obey a particular aspect in life, you will be forced to supply a particular level of power that will make him prefer the aspect other than any other that is in existence. In this case, safety and security will be maintained in any state.

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Machiavelli was a Florentine political theorist and also a statesman. Though considered a controversial figure in political history, he has been identified as exclusive in his influence during the renaissance especially due to his manual in 1532, the prince. His work addressed political and historical topics which faced great criticism from many writers. His work in the prince aimed the Medici who was ruling Italy. In the prince, he gives the ruler, who was a monarch, advice on how to retain his position in power. He argued that political life may at times be excused for performing acts of violence and deception that is not right in private life, because alone moral or religious rules are not adequate to govern. Due to this argument, Machiavelli was to great extent misunderstood by many critic writers for his view on relationship between ethics and politics, and was regarded as an opportunistic politician in manipulating other people. His advice in the prince was said to have minimal practical influence (Ruderman, 46).
However, there are several write that valued his work and claim to be greatly inspired by Machiavelli in their political life. They argue that while Machiavelli’s advice to the leaders contradicts with Christian morals, it was just pragmatic advice to those who want to succeed in politics. These writers find his advice effective in governance and not an alternative value system. Thus they do not find Machiavelli’s idea conflicting with moral values.
Although his work was forbidden from publication and even reading, printings and translations were still found in the following centuries. His enormous influence was evident when many writers responded positively to his work.
 It may be that the only way to stop an evil man from killing millions is to kill him. Utilitarian moralities can cope with these problems, but only by avoiding absolute moral proscriptions (Brill Academic, 68).
In his article (newsvine.com, sat.jan6, 2007), Larry Koz states that Machiavelli is considered a highly influential character in European History especially during Renaissance. In the article, the Larry Koz states that Machiavelli work affects him especially in his political beliefs. The he says that Machiavelli influenced him when he ceased to work in the government. This is when Machiavelli started writing about politics where he included his beliefs and doctrines in his work. With this, he published the prince, in 1513. In his work, he talked of authoritative rule as the best form of leadership. This followed with an argument that “ends justifying the means”. Machiavelli’s beliefs as cited in his “the prince” on government though seen unethical by critics of his work, influenced the political beliefs of this writer. Machiavelli wrote; “There are three ways of holding on to them [acquired states]: the first is to destroy them; the second, to go and live there in person; the third, to allow them to live under their own laws, exacting tribute from them and creating a government there within the state composed of a few people who will keep it friendly towards you, though this is seen as morally wrong by critics of his work, this writer finds these steps as important in political life. In addition the writer thinks the steps if followed wound form a successful government (Brill Academic, 68). The writer goes to the extent of recommending Machiavelli’s points to any nation for they could create a possibility for allies among rival nations and strive towards a more peaceful world. The writer confirms that Machiavelli’s work influenced many during renaissance, and that his influence has survived the test of time and he affirms that he is one of those people affected by the work to date. He confesses his beliefs in Machiavelli work about political theories, and political practices. He agrees that Machiavelli’s argument on authoritative rule is an effective way of governance, and on “ends justifying means”. He further advices those against Machiavelli’s works to look at them in order to learn from them. He also approves Machiavelli work by regarding him to as an intelligent and an influential man during renaissance.
In his article, Niccolo states that Machiavelli’s writing has never gone out of fashion, possibly because he faced certain hard truths about modern thought.
Niccolo Machiavelli is one of the political leaders of the early renaissance period. He was born in 1469. He did a number of treaties that made him famous during that time and even today. In many historical books as regards the past time, he is well quoted and treated as one of the pragmatic leaders who have happened to be in this world. He was a politician as well as a philosopher. It is due to this work of philosophy that he was able to write various books and documentations that he used to pass his message to the people he ruled. It was during the period of renaissance that many philosophers were active. Machiavelli left a legacy that made many to wonder whether it could really happen. Machiavelli had a view of the kind of rulers who existed in Italy. He realized that they were egoistic and wicked. He made one decision that had a great effect after he had died. It is due to proper use of power that will enable an individual to manage a given group of people (Ruderman, 46).
Machiavelli had every reason to learn and teach people the rules of political power. The political activity tat exists is specifically due to the kind of power that is being practiced by the leader of that place. People need to be handled by use of power. It is only a good use of power that an individual leader is able to maintain safety and peace of any human setting.
Machiavelli considers the use of force as the only and applicable theory to be able to administer a good leadership system. For a well ordered political system, one has to embrace the use of coercion among the people. Effective laws and arms are crucial in the formation and the maintenance of any political system. It is through a political power that any political activity is defined. Machiavelli has a distinctive difference between law and force. It is only through a perfect arm and excellent law that an individual can manage a given political authority. The arms are for the administration of force while laws are for guidance in this administration. Legality is only obtained from the use of force. This is actually the reason why Machiavelli decided to use coercion in most of the leadership that he had during his time. He said that it is very rare to find good laws without the presence of good and functional arms. He therefore decided to concentrate in establishing strong and effective arms force that will see to it that good laws are made and implemented. It is only through coercion that a human being is made to do a particular activity or obey a given directive. Machiavelli therefore considered the use of force to establish everything that he desired for in his life and governance.
Machiavelli addresses the issue of fear among human beings. He said that it is fear that makes people to behave and act in unusual ways. If you subject an individual to fear and intimidation, he will be made to adhere to the force that results to the stimuli of fear in him. In this case, Machiavelli considers that people can be made to come to terms of certain principles by simply subjecting them to a state of fear.
Within the existing period of time and the political thought, most of the work of Machiavelli could not be grasped by many people. This made many people to hate most of what he did. Moreover, he happened to have used a lot of force that people could not withstand. Within the abrupt time of the collapse of the Italian city states, he came into existence. It was abrupt and forced people to act according to how he wanted. He had a formative movement that no one could withstand at any time. Within a short period of time, he again announced a break in what he had announced to be done (Ruderman, 46).
In his work of discourses of Livy, there are a number of controversies in what Machiavelli wrote. The work itself has some introductions that are in two paragraphs. The first exemplifies the dangers of finding new systems and methodologies, and the intention that an individual declares before. Here he decides to take a path that has never been taken by anybody in the entire state. The second paragraph is basically a dismissal of the antiquarianism that existed during the time of renaissance. The reason for dismissal is faked and not true at all. This activity becomes one of Machiavelli’s undoing in his government. He regards this renaissance period as poor and with the only main purpose of protecting the sovereignty of the country with the prospect of making history. In every piece of writing, it is normally important for the writer to follow particular steps that will guide him in a good production. In the book, there is nevertheless a method that can be used to interrogate these kinds of reasoning in nature. This is to be able to see and note the changes that different areas have.
Most of the works that Machiavelli did are found in other people’s pieces of works. There are several social theories that have been seen to explain the concepts that Machiavelli was trying to apply to life. The book therefore is not a true account and reflection of the political groupings that existed among the people together with the various forms. People could therefore not pay much attention to what was said in it.
It is quite ironical to find an individual like Machiavelli, who is a crucial republican, get to advice an autocrat on how to manage power and security among the people of the land. He was a strong republican but yet wrote a number of books that contained advices of an autocrat on how to get and maintain power. There were foreign threats that Machiavelli was foreseeing. That is why he decided to embrace a shrewd leadership. He saw it as the only way to protect the power and wealth that was in the state to avoid the foreign threats as France and Spain. This was also for the reasons of personal interests. Moreover, there was no positive influence that could make people to come to like the works of Machiavelli, especially the book titled the prince. It was neither interesting nor starling to the eyes of the people. This was mainly because of the fact that during that time, there was a widespread handbook of behavior that met the needs of the monarchical states (Brill Academic, 68).
Many ideas in the prince are of shock to many people. This is because of the sentence he gave as regards to his perspectives of life and leadership. He suggested that a prince should not be failing in virtues. He should be loyal to the state and the people as long as he is following the interests of the state. This is also a perspective that any leader should take any political alliance or power. For instance, he says that a priest should not evade the punishment of murder if he deserves according to the law. He is the first individual to act according to the rules and regulations of the existing laws and norms of the society.
According to Machiavelli, there are two aspects that every leader and leadership strategy has to adhere to. These are the power and the influence of luck. He said that these are the main aspects of life that act to determine the destiny of every individual in the society. Power arises from the force applied upon the lives of the people and the style of cunning that superimposes. According to Machiavelli, there is no role that God plays in each part of politics. This is one of the reasons why there is a failure in the works of Machiavelli which raised controversies after his death.
In the articles, the prince and the discourses, there is no part that recognizes ethics as the major pillars of morality in the society. Moreover, he does not eschew it openly. He speaks of love as an organ that should be exercised for the betterment of the society. This is crucial to the fact that he does not recognize ethics yet they are the major sources and tranquilizers of love. This is a big controversy of Machiavelli. This further shows that there is no room for Christian ethics to take place yet he stresses the need for love among the people. There is also the issue of murder. In this case, he says that murder should be condoned when it is necessary. People could not understand nor act according to this order.
The prince is totally political in nature. The nature in which the book is set is a clear indication of the program of the Italian princes. The classification of the principalities, the methods of winning and their maintenance is a clear indication that it is a program of the Italian princes. He does a number of deeds simply to prove the more-than-ethics scenario in the human conduct.
There are a number of aspects that Machiavelli considers to be the causes of the failures portrayed in the prince. The resultant reactions from the people, and especially the high class made him to consider the book a failure. He expected the book to be praised and highly reputed by the people of the high class. This would result to a huge gain when it came to selling the book. Moreover, it would have made what he said get to the big places and people of the country. However, the people confiscated the book. The people called the Medicis had no important thing in the book. They could not realize what had actually been written in the book. They therefore could not give any credit to Machiavelli. There was no political favor that got to Machiavelli either. He therefore considers this book one of the failures in his intentions of carrying out the message that he had for the people of his nation. Moreover, the book took a lot of time before it was printed. This actually happened when he had died. This however had a lot of impact on the Italian people as they took another long period before they got their independence (Gee, 132)
The book had a number of reactions from other people even those not of Italy. Many people say that many political leaders as president bush used Machiavelli’s ideas in their governance. For instance, during his attack of Iraq. Moreover, many ruthless rulers as Hitler had to use the book to justify many of the misdeeds that they did to the people of their lands. This also made many people and leaders to take advantage of Machiavelli’s thesis. They carried out many unethical deeds in their countries.
Machiavelli’s works has become subjects of concern among many people of many countries in the world. This was actually not the intention of Machiavelli himself. It has actually brought up many and varied ethical questions that were inexistent before his writings. Many political and business ventures are utilizing the ides of the book to carry out their weird intentions in the societies. These people are rationalizing many of the actions that they are doing with the prospect that the end will justify the beginning. This is actually wrong having in mind what actually justifies the beginning.
In conclusion, there are varied reactions that followed Machiavelli’s work during the renaissance period. They ranged from those which sounded positive to those that were actually negative in nature. However, most of the works that Machiavelli did have been of practical use in many governance and leadership skills in the world.
 

A Comparison Of Machiavelli And Hobbes Politics Essay

Machiavelli and Hobbes were the most important political philosophers of early modernity. Politically, modernitys earliest phase starts with Niccoló Machiavellis works which openly rejected the medieval and Aristotelian style of analyzing politics by comparison ideas about how things should be, in favor of realistic analysis of how things really are. He also proposed that an aim of politics is to control one’s own chance or fortune, and that relying upon providence actually leads to evil. Machiavelli argued, for example, that violent divisions within political communities are unavoidable, but can also be a source of strength which law-makers and leaders should account for and even encourage in some ways.  
Machiavelli’s recommendations were sometimes influential upon kings and princes, but eventually came to be seen as favoring free republics over monarchies. Machiavelli in turn influenced Francis Bacon, Marchamont Needham, Harrington, John Milton, David Hume, and many others.  
Important modern political doctrines which stem from the new Machiavellian realism include Mandeville’s influential proposal that “Private Vices by the dexterous Management of a skilful Politician may be turned into Public Benefits” (the last sentence of his Fable of the Bees), and also the doctrine of a constitutional “separation of powers” in government, first clearly proposed by Montesquieu. Both these principles are enshrined within the constitutions of most modern democracies. It has been observed that while Machiavelli’s realism saw a value to war and political violence, his lasting influence has been “tamed” so that useful conflict was deliberately converted as much as possible to formalized political struggles and the economic “conflict” encouraged between free, private enterprises.  

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As I said in the first paragraph of this essay I will start with Thomas Hobbes, attempts were made to use the methods of the new modern physical sciences, as proposed by Bacon and Descartes, applied to humanity and politics. Notable attempts to improve upon the methodological approach of Hobbes include those of Locke, Spinoza, Giambattista Vico and Rousseau. David Hume made what he considered to be the first proper attempt at trying to apply Bacon’s scientific method to political subjects, rejecting some aspects of the approach of Hobbes.  
Modernist republicanism openly influenced the foundation of republics during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1609), English Civil War (1642-1651), American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799
A second phase of modernist political thinking begins with Rousseau, who questioned the natural rationality and sociality of humanity and proposed that human nature was much more malleable than had been previously thought. By this logic, what makes a good political system or a good man is completely dependent upon the chance path whole person has taken over history. This thought influenced the political (and aesthetic) thinking of Immanuel Kant, Edmund Burke and others and led to a critical review of modernist politics. On the conservative side, Burke argued that this understanding encouraged caution and avoidance of radical change. However more ambitious movements also developed from this insight into human culture, initially Romanticism and Historicism, and eventually both the Communism of Karl Marx, and the modern forms of nationalism inspired by the French Revolution, including, in one extreme, the German Nazi movement.
Francis Bacon inspired by Machiavelli
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was one of the leading figures in natural philosophy and in the field of scientific methodology in the period of transition from the Renaissance to the early modern era. As a lawyer, member of Parliament, and Queen’s Counsel, Bacon wrote on questions of law, state and religion, as well as on contemporary politics; but he also published texts in which he speculated on possible conceptions of society, and he pondered questions of ethics (Essays) even in his works on natural philosophy (The Advancement of Learning).  
After his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge and Gray’s Inn, London, Bacon did not take up a post at a university, but instead tried to start a political career. Although his efforts were not crowned with success during the era of Queen Elizabeth, under James I he rose to the highest political office, Lord Chancellor. Bacon’s international fame and influence spread during his last years, when he was able to focus his energies exclusively on his philosophical work, and even more so after his death, when English scientists of the Boyle circle (Invisible College) took up his idea of a cooperative research institution in their plans and preparations for establishing the Royal Society.  
Bacon’s method for permeating his philosophical ideas into the collective unconscious of the age can best be summarised in his motto: bene visit qui bene latuit – One lives best by the hidden life. Bacon resurrected the Rosicrucian Mystery School and the Freemasons, and injected new life into these secret fraternity societies so they became vehicles for the new Baconian philosophy of reason and scientific enquiry. Bacon, like Goethe, scorned knowledge that did not lead to action and also scorned the denial of evil in ourselves. Bacon was grateful to Machiavelli for his frank appraisal of the shadow side of human nature in politics: “We are beholden to Machiavelli, and writers of that kind, who openly and unmasked declare what men do in fact, and not what they ought to do; for it is impossible to join the wisdom of the serpent and the innocence of the dove, without the precious knowledge of the nature of evil.” Bacon’s works touch on all aspects of humanity – politics, religion, theology, scientific method, but his most brilliant observations are psychological. Foreshadowing the discoveries by Carl Jung about the nature of the unconscious and the shadow side of man, Bacon recognized that the baseness of man should be recognized and dealt with openly, not repressed and personified as the devil.  
In modern political vernacular, Bacon was a conservative. He saw an ideal Government as one which was benevolent without the worst excesses of despotism by rulers, or by the majority the same as Machiavelli. “It is almost without instance that any government was unprosperous under learned governors.”   
In science, Bacon sought nothing less than the reconstruction of a system that could be applied to the relief of man’s suffering. He constructed a new Classification of Science (The Advancement of Learning, 1603-05), described a new method for the Interpretation of Nature (Things Thought and Seen, 1607, Thread of the Labyrinth, 1606, Novum Organum, 1608-20). He investigated the phenomena of nature in Natural History (1622), and showed how the writers of the past had advanced their truths to the time of Bacon in Forest of Forests, published in 1624. Bacon recorded “anticipations” of scientific results he felt would come from application of his methods in On Origins (1621). As a result of applying these principles, he described the basis of a new society that would emerge in The New Atlantis (1624). This Magna Instauratio, the great reconstruction, was inspired by the vision Bacon had in his youth, and was a herculean task without precedent in the history of thought. As Bacon stated in the preface to Magna Instauratio. “and I am laboring to lay the foundation not of any sect or doctrine, but of utility and power”. To Bacon, “Knowledge is power, not mere argument or ornament.” In Advancement of Learning, Bacon suggested that all areas of life had rational rules and an empirical basis: medicine, psychology, even dreams, predictions and other occult phenomena. Yet he comes full circle at the end of this survey, concluding that science needs to be guided by philosophy. Bacon applies this to politics.  
Comparison Hobbes and Machiavelli on Human Nature
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), whose current reputation rests largely on his political philosophy, was a thinker with wide-ranging interests. In philosophy, he defended a range of materialist, nominalist, and empiricist views against Cartesian and Aristotelian alternatives. In physics, his work was influential on Leibniz, and leads him into disputes with Boyle and the experimentalists of the early Royal Society. In history, he translated Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War into English, and later wrote his own history of the Long Parliament. In mathematics he was less successful, and is best remembered for his repeated unsuccessful attempts to square the circle. But despite that, Hobbes was a serious and prominent participant in the intellectual life of his time.  
Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli shared a commonality in the time period in which they each lived. Separated by approximately 100 years, both thinkers were focusing on political theory. Hobbes’ theory tended to focus on the social contract between a people and its government. Machiavelli’s theory focused on the attributes that formed a successful ruler. Examining both theories, a comparison is evident in that Machiavelli and Hobbes both seem to discuss the human nature of society.
In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes views human nature as individual self-preservation and as a place of constant war. There is a constant struggle between men. What causes this conflict amongst men? Hobbes believes that competition and glory causes war between men. He says, ” If two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies to destroy one another.” He concludes that self-preservation is the only way to safeguard from being destroyed. The only way to preserve one is to become more powerful than the other. Government must also be instituted to ensure peace and security through whatever means necessary. Hobbes believes that life without government would be “poor, nasty, brutish and short.”   
In the Prince, Machiavelli views human nature as pertaining to those who are ruled and those who rule. He promoted a secular society and believed that morality stood in the way. He distrusts people and believes that in a time of adversity, when the state is in need of its citizens there are few to be found.” He questions the loyalty of the citizens. Because of this, he advises the Prince that, because men are wretched creatures who would not keep their word to you, you need keep your word to them.” Machiavelli believed that the secular form of government to be the most successful. His views were to benefit the prince by maintaining power rather to serve the well being of the citizens.
Hobbes and Machiavelli both have interesting ideas on Human Nature. Both of their ideas also contain an evident theme. The theme is the usage of fear as a means acquiring power and maintaining it. The theme of fear is not illustrated in great detail in Hobbes work as it is in Machiavelli’s. Nevertheless an interesting comparison can be drawn between the two.   
Hobbes believes that people naturally fear death. The easiest and safest way to avoid death was to create a centralized state. An autocracy would ensure the universal desire for life. According to Hobbes, people would give up their power collectively to one ruler. In turn, the people would shut up and do what they were told. The only right they would have would be the right not to be killed. They would live under a tyrannical ruler who had all powers to decide good and evil for the people. He believes that fear is essential to maintain power and authority of the people. This is evident in his text with, “And covenants, without the sword are but words, and strength to secure a man at all.”  
Machiavelli poises the question to the Prince “is it better to be loved than feared or vice versa” He addresses this question in regards to what benefits a ruler more. He concludes that a prince cannot be both feared and loved. Machiavelli believes that it is better to be feared by the citizens. This is seen as an “economy of violence” in which fear is used by violence to invoke a lasting impression on the people. This “economy” must happen at the beginning on an event where the timing is equally important. The violent act must be made into a spectacle done in the open where people can see and judge. People judge by appearances, so what they see will affect their mentality. The more violent the act the more fearful the individual will be of the same act upon them. Fear in a sense is used by both authors to train the people. It must be instilled upon them in order to maintain a successful regime. It is like the training of an animal. The master must instill on the animal that he is in charge. If he does not then the animal will overpower the master. The master must make the animal afraid of him by punishing it when it does wrong. Eventually the animal will realize who is in control.   
Spinoza and Machiavelli ideas.
Spinoza is one of the most important philosophers-and certainly the most radical-of the early modern period. His thought combines a commitment to Cartesian metaphysical and epistemological principles with elements from ancient Stoicism and medieval Jewish rationalism into a nonetheless highly original system. His extremely naturalistic views on God, the world, the human being and knowledge serve to ground a moral philosophy centered on the control of the passions leading to virtue and happiness. They also lay the foundations for a strongly democratic political thought and a deep critique of the pretensions of Scripture and sectarian religion. Of all the philosophers of the seventeenth-century, perhaps none have more relevance today than Spinoza.  
Spinoza’s political thought draws from a number of sources, both classical and modern. As one commentator puts it, “Spinoza formed new conclusions from facts and concepts borrowed from others”. It is worth briefly considering some of the sources of the “facts and concepts” that he inherits.  
At some point in the mid-1650’s. Spinoza began studying Latin with Franciscus Van den Enden. Van den Enden was an ex-Jesuit and radical egalitarian with revolutionary tendencies. He was put to death in 1674 after having been found guilty of conspiring to depose Louis XIV in order to establish a free republic in Normandy. Van dan Enden was an anti-clerical democrat who appears to have profoundly influenced Spinoza. One commentator has gone so far as to call Van den Enden “the genius behind Spinoza,” claiming that Van den Enden’s writings “contains a political theory which is in fact the same as the one worked out by Spinoza”. Whether or not this assessment is fair, it is clear that Spinoza’s thinking was nourished through his association with Van den Enden and the larger radical Cartesian circle in Amsterdam.  
Hobbes’ influence on Spinoza is unmistakable. We know that Spinoza read De Cive carefully and that it was among his possessions when he died in 1677. He might also have read Leviathan, which appeared in Latin in 1668, as Spinoza was completing the TTP, although we do not know this for sure. I will discuss Spinoza’s work in relationship to Machiavelli in some detail below. Here I want to mention the impact of Machiavellian on Spinoza. Machiavellian thought was introduced into Dutch political discourse by Lambert van Velthuysen, an anti-clerical, liberal physician. Velthuysen’s Dissertatio is an unabashed defense of Machiavelli thought, in which the duty to preserve one is given pride of place. Spinoza read and admired Velthuysen as a “man of exceptional sincerity of mind,” and was thus disconcerted when Velthuysen denounced the TTP as the work of a cunning atheist.  
Aside from Velthuysen, the other primary Dutch conduits for Machiavellian thought prior to Spinoza were the De la Court brothers. Most of the De la Courts’ writings were published by Pieter De la Court after the death of his brother Johan in 1660. However, because it remains unclear how much Pieter added and how much he profited off his studious younger brother, I will refer to these authors of these writings simply as the De la Courts, so as to avoid attribution problems. The De la Courts were ardent republicans who maintained good relations with Johan De Witt. Indeed, De Witt is thought to have written two chapters in the second edition of their book Interest van Holland. The De la Courts adopted the basic features of Machiavellian anthropology, but eschewed juridical concepts like “right” and “contract”, opting to analyze the civil condition in terms of the competing interests of participants. According to them, the aim of the state is to ensure that the interests of rulers are tied to the interests of the ruled, which is possible only if one adopts a series of institutional measures, such as the use of blind balloting, the removal of hereditary posts, and the rotation of offices. Republics, they argued, will be marked by greater checks against self-interested legislation than monarchies. Spinoza evidently studied these works carefully; his institutional recommendations in the Tractatus Politicus.  
It was likely the writings of the De la Courts that impressed upon Spinoza the perspicacity of Niccolo Machiavelli. The notion of balancing the interests of competing parties was ultimately derived from Machiavelli. Spinoza’s Political Treatise is shot through with Machiavellian insights and recommendations. Right at the outset of the work, Spinoza parrots Machiavelli’s critique of utopian theorizing, elevating statesmen over philosophers, since only the latter begin with a realistic conception of human psychology. Machiavellian realism pervades Spinoza’s political writings, playing a particularly large role in the constitutional theorizing of the TP. Spinoza, like Machiavelli, understood that prescriptions for improving the governance of a state can be offered only after one has a proper diagnosis of the problems and a proper grasp of human nature.  
Machiavelli and Locke
John Locke (b. 1632, d. 1704) was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher, whose association with Anthony Ashley Cooper (later the First Earl of Shaftesbury) led him to become successively a government official charged with collecting information about trade and colonies, economic writer, opposition political activist, and finally a revolutionary whose cause ultimately triumphed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Much of Locke’s work is characterized by opposition to authoritarianism. This opposition is both on the level of the individual person and on the level of institutions such as government and church. For the individual, Locke wants each of us to use reason to search after truth rather than simply accept the opinion of authorities or be subject to superstition. He wants us to proportion assent to propositions to the evidence for them. On the level of institutions it becomes important to distinguish the legitimate from the illegitimate functions of institutions and to make the corresponding distinction for the uses of force by these institutions. The positive side of Locke’s anti-authoritarianism is that he believes that using reason to try to grasp the truth, and determining the legitimate functions of institutions will optimize human flourishing for the individual and society both in respect to its material and spiritual welfare. This in turn, amounts to following natural law and the fulfillment of the divine purpose for humanity.  
John Locke and Niccolo Machiavelli are political philosophers writing in two different lands and two different times. Locke’s 17th century England was on the verge of civil war and Machiavelli’s 15th century Italy was on the verge of invasion. The focus of this part of my essay is to examine the treatment of “the people” by both authors, to discover what Machiavelli and Locke write about the people’s role in their different structures of government. In particular, this paper seeks to understand that role in regards to the political power each author yields to, or withholds from, the people. In addition, these treatments of power and the people will be compared to the writings of another timeless political philosopher, Plato. By Discourses on Livy, The Prince, and The Republic against one another, this paper will show how writers from three very different centuries all agreed upon an identical notion of the relationship between the power of the people and their role in government. This theory is not readily apparent upon initial reading of these authors. Indeed, most political philosophers would argue that each author has a very distinct notion of what role the people play in government. Therefore, an ideal place to start is in the differences of each author’s portrayal of the people and the political power they wield. Machiavelli, the most pessimistic of the three writers in regards to humans and human nature, writes that all men can be accused of “that defect” which Livy calls vanity and inconsistency. He continues by writing: “…people are nothing other than a brute animal that, although of a ferocious and feral nature, has always been nourished in prison and in servitude”.  
Animals, that are by their nature ferocious, become scared and confused when released from captivity. Without the shelter and food they had come to expect when “domesticated,” they are more susceptible to future attempts at captivity. Man also becomes scared and confused in freedom after living under the government of others. Machiavelli writes that these men lack understanding of “public defense or public offense,” and quickly return “beneath the yoke that is most often heavier than the one it had removed from its neck a little before”. Men are docile like domesticated dogs or cattle, according to this description, and have a role in government of little political power. With Plato, there is a continuation of the same theme started by Machiavelli.  
The oligarchic rule the city through the license of the multitude, and the orderly rule in business through the disadvantage of the multitude. Thus, Machiavelli sees the people as subjugated and Plato sees the people as fatuous, both doomed to political ineptitude. With Locke, however, the character of the people is redeemed. The people, for Locke, represent a political power akin to force. Indeed, the people are the ultimate source of power for Locke’s government, whether that government is a legislative body or a prince. In the closing chapter of his second treatise, Locke details the ways that government can dissipate when rulers misuse their power.
According to Machiavelli, “…the people neither desire to be commanded nor oppressed by the great”. In this sense, the people constitute a “humor” of the city, the opposing “humor” being the desire of the “great” to command and oppress the people. A man should be wary of becoming prince with the support of the great instead of the support of the people. Without their support, the prince is doomed to govern either a territory filled with an unmanageable “great” or a large body of unruly people. Indeed, Machiavelli echoes this in a later chapter by stating “… a prince should have two fears: one within, on account of his subjects; the other outside, on account of external powers”.  
In both this text and Locke’s Two Treatises, the authors yield an incredible amount of power to the people: the power to both influence the creation of and bring about the destruction of governments. For Machiavelli, the people are a large body of people, viewed as more formidable, and, therefore, more influential, than the great aristocrats in principality building. For Locke, the people exert a similar influence over the building of a commonwealth, since it is from the people that the power of the prince or legislature originates. Moreover, the people can decide to bring about the end of a particular regime of government if they feel that it no longer adheres to its responsibilities. Thus, the people, in both Machiavelli and Locke, appear to share a similar amount of power both in the formation of government and in its oversight: namely, that of adjudication. In the Discourses, Machiavelli writes of a cyclical succession of governments, one after another, each one rising to prominence only to fall to licentiousness. It is through this cycle that Machiavelli demonstrates the power of the people to adjudicate, and he argues that it is this adjudication that perpetuates the cycle. Kings rise to prominence based upon character, until the monarchy becomes hereditary and degenerates into “sumptuousness and lasciviousness”.  
Machiavelli and Locke both considered the nature of government and man’s individual interests as they relate to governmental structures. Machiavelli’s idea of fortune and Locke’s ‘state of nature’ concept both shaped the theorists arguments about the purpose of political life. It has been posited that for Machiavelli, politics is an unpredictable arena in which ambition, deception and violence render the idea of the common good meaningless, while Locke would argue that political or civil society exists only to preserve the rights of the individual. It can be argued that for both Machiavelli and Lock, political activity, then, becomes merely a means of satisfying selfish ends.   
Napoleón Bonaparte a follower of Machiavelli
One of the greatest military commanders and a risk taking gambler; a workaholic genius and an impatient short term planner; a vicious cynic who forgave his closest betrayers; a misogynist who could enthrall men; Napoleon Bonaparte was all of these and more, the twice-emperor of France whose military endeavors and sheer personality dominated Europe in person for a decade, and in thought for a century.  
In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a piece of work called, The Prince. It was written to all principalities, and that which is parallel to what Machiavelli suggests is often referred to as being Machiavellian. The purpose of this essay is to ask the question Is Napoleon Bonaparte Machiavellian in Nature? By the evidence found from Napoleon’s life and accomplishments it can said that he was not Machiavellian in nature, which can be demonstrated by numerous accounts as well as some suggested characteristics given by Machiavelli, to support this theory. This essay will take a look at Napoleon’s leadership skills, his beliefs and ideals, as well as his personality that made him a great political figure. These aspects of Napoleon’s persona give a description of how his character was different from that in Machiavelli’s The Prince. In the area of leadership, Napoleon had many qualities that set him apart from the rest. Napoleon was a great leader but at times his people hated him. Machiavelli believed that, one cannot call it virtue to kill one’s citizens, betray one’s friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable one to acquire an empire, but not glory.  
Machiavelli said, it remains now to see what the modes and government of a prince should be with subjects and with friends. Apparently Napoleon was not a good friend considering when he was exiled the second time his friends that had been with him since the beginning were said to have killed him. Based on this it can be said that Napoleon does not display characteristics of being Machiavellian.
Napoleon believed that he would be a much more successful leader if the people liked him. This is thought so because when he was trying to get political support by the people he did not user fear, he found something they all wanted to hear and he said them. Even though Machiavelli said, … it is much safer to be feared, then loved, if one has to lack one of the two. Napoleon also tried to make the people like him by setting up the Napoleonic Code, which was a set of laws that gave religious freedom and equality. Another illustration of Napoleon’s beliefs and, or ideals was, instead of appearing to have Machiavellian characteristics, Napoleon actually had them. Thus it is not necessary for a prince to have all the above mentioned qualities in fact, but it is indeed necessary to appear to have them. Napoleon was actually a feared leader and thought of people as disposable but Machiavelli only said to appear to have these traits. The final area of Napoleon’s behavior is his personality. Machiavelli stated, … it is very natural and ordinary to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised and not blamed; but when they cannot, and want to do it anyway, here lie the error and the blame.
 

Violence In The Prince By Machiavelli

It’s undeniable that one’s first thought of Machiavelli is his thoughts coined in The Prince on the calculated use of violence and his belief that it is better to be loved than feared. Machiavelli was a realist and unabashed in his opinion of the world and of man and the inherent cruelty of both.
With this in mind, one can see that although frank in his statements, that the position he took on the use of violence by rulers in maintaining their rule and state is qualified. Violence, as stated by Machiavelli in The Prince, as so far as it is used in politics should serve the purpose of maintaining stability of a country, the position of a ruler, and should benefit the state. The use of violence beyond this scope by a ruler is self-destructive to both the ruler and country. Thus violence has a necessitated practical and moral use is politics.
In discussing Machiavelli’s use of violence we first must discuss his view of human nature which will give some insight on where he derives his attitude on the use of violence: “And if all men were good, this teaching would not be good; but they are wicked and do not observe faith with you” p.3
If all men were good, rulers would not need to use violence. But men are not good, they are evil, so the use of violence by rulers is necessary. The innate evil in all men makes violence a necessity for rulers.
In The Prince, Machiavelli focuses on how a ruler can acquire and maintain territory. It is within the context of these two actions that Machiavelli speaks of the necessity for political violence. Machiavelli wrote that “truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire” p. 7 Thus, he believed that every ruler had an innate and natural desire for acquisition. It is this desire that necessitates violence. But a ruler’s selfish acquisition to satiate his desire is not what Machiavelli had in mind. A ruler who has a public end in mind when satisfying his desire for ambition is the end that he would have political violence aim for. With the public good in mind when exercising ambition, a ruler will increase the esteem in which his rule is held. Therefore, when personal ambition is connected to the achievement of public ends both the ruler and the ruled benefit. As he points out, it is for this reason acquisitions occur: to increase the esteem of a ruler, for the benefit of the state and out of a natural tendency and ambition belonging to all men. All of these reasons with the exception of the last increase the overall standing of the state. The last one, Machiavelli says, is often destructive and beast-like but when done with the public in mind it can be instrumental in bringing about good. Violent acts, although not moral, in light of the ends they achieve, Machiavelli stated, could be either criminal or excusable. Political violence, with the good of the public in mind, is excusable and thus good.
Machiavelli approved of violence to maintain order within the territory which a ruler ruled. The case of Cesare Borgia is the best to show how political violence can achieve the end of both consolidating and maintaining a ruler’s power. Borgia had impressed Machiavelli by the clever and conniving way he was able to centralize his authority by his selected use of violence, both limited and calculated. Borgia appointed Remirro d’Orco chief minister in the Romagna to help bring peace and unity to the land. Although Remirro was successful in doing so, his methods garnered the hate of the public. Borgia was afraid that the public’s hate for Remirro would result in instability as well as the public’s hatred of him. In light of this, he had Remirro executed in the most gruesome way; cut in two pieces and left in the public square. Borgia’s actions, in Machiavelli’s opinion, exemplify how when a ruler uses violence it must have an element of spectacle to it so that the power of the ruler is impressed upon the people. Borgia’s execution of Remirro not only helped hold together the unity of his state but also increased his prestige and the respectful fear of the Romagna’s citizens. If Borgia hadn’t executed Remirro, inevitably he too would have become hated and there could have been the possibility of a destabilizing rebellion as “one of the most powerful remedies that a prince has against conspiracies is not to be hated by the people generally.” p. 21 Remirro’s execution not only satisfied the public, it reduced the risk of instability and produced an appropriate amount of fear of Borgia.

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For Machiavelli, the use of violence is a necessity. The case of Girolamo Savonarola speaks to that point. In Machiavelli’s opinion, Savonarola wasn’t able to maintain his power because he was “unarmed.” If Savonarola had employed the use of violence he would have been able to instill an appropriate amount of fear within the people. “He was ruined in his new orders as soon as the multitude began not to believe in them, and he had no mode for holding firm those who had believed nor for making unbelievers believe.” Savonarola’s inability to maintain his supporters and force others to his side resulted in his loss of power. If he had used violence to impose and maintain order he could have survived. Savonarola believed in the “good will of men” which in Machiavelli’s opinion was his undoing as men are evil and untrustworthy.
Machiavelli’s The Prince central concern was the proper acquisition and maintenance of the state. He believed that man is innately evil and because of that violence was needed to bring order and stability. In the context of acquisition, he believed that all men had a natural desire for it and went on to distinguish between a ruler’s selfish desires for acquisition versus that with the interest of the public in mind. The former, he said, could be destructive while the latter would lead to prestige. Machiavelli believed violence could also be used to maintain a state by instilling the proper amount of fear of the ruler in the public and ensuring order and observance of laws. Any ruler who failed to use violence to attain these aims would fail due the innate evil of man which necessitates violence. It is in the context of the public good in mind calculated precision that a ruler should use violence. It is with these ends in mind that Machiavelli believes that political violence should aim.
 

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

1. Key Terms:
a. auxiliary troops: additional troops that are used when needed
b. hereditary principality: A principality technically under the ruler ship of a prince, but nonetheless strongly dominated by the Church.
c. fortune: The chance happening of fortunate or adverse events; luck
d. hereditary principality: A principality ruled by a prince whose family has controlled the principality for several generations. Hereditary principalities, according to Machiavelli, are generally easy to rule and maintain.
e. liberality: The quality or state of being liberal or generous.
f. mercenary troops: a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army. a person primarily concerned with material reward at the expense of ethics
g. new principality: a new territory ruled by a prince
h. virtu: the quality of being artistic, beautiful, rare, or otherwise such as to interest a collector of such objects
2. Machiavelli wrote The Prince because he wanted Lorenzo de’ Medici to restore Italy. Machiavelli knew a vast amount about princes, territories, Italy, and ruling a territory, so he thought by writing this book he could get Lorenzo to restore Italy.
3. Machiavelli supported the unification of Italy because he believed that Italy would be much stronger if it was under one rule. Italy was ruled by many different people and Machiavelli realized that Italy was being taken over easily by foreign countries. Machiavelli decided to dedicate his political treatise to the Medici for two reasons. First, he was recently arrested and he wanted to gain higher status, and secondly, he wanted the Medici family to read his treatise, learn from it, and then take over all of Italy and rule Italy with strong military support. Machiavelli believed that the church ran most of Italy, so Italy was defenseless. He wanted the Medici family to listen to him and follow what he was saying. He suggested that the family rule together and unify Italy once and for all.

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4. One recurring theme in The Prince is that he must do everything he can to become a better and more powerful ruler. In The Prince, Machiavelli always talks about how the prince needs to do everything in his power to become powerful, even if it means doing acts that may be Machiavellian. He may have to kill higher rulers to get his way, but he must do this if he wants to remain prince for a long period of time. Another theme in The Prince is the prince should try and not be hated by his people, but be feared by his enemies. The prince can not be hated by his people, mostly because his people can take him down if he is not too powerful. He is considered a better and wiser ruler (and more popular) if his people trust him and like him. He should be feared by his enemies because he does not want to have compliances with other territories. 5. In chapters 6 and 7, Machiavelli suggests that to rise to power a man should use his own force (fight in wars and win battles), persuade others to do what he wants them to do, and kill other rivals that may be in the way of his rising power. Machiavelli recommends these vices because the great rulers, including Moses, Cyrus, Romulus and many more rulers have used these vices and they have worked for them.
7. The four types of armies are mercenary troops, auxiliary troops, the princes’ own troops or all of the armies together. “The mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous…” (Machiavelli 52). As Machiavelli states, the mercenary and auxiliary troops are not useful to the prince because they will never be able to remain controllable. Machiavelli also explains that auxiliary troops are not very reliable because if they loose or win, the prince, either way, will not benefit. When a prince has his own troops fighting a war or battle of some sort, the prince would rather have his troops loose than have auxiliary troops loose. If you put all of the armies together, you have a mixed army, which may be the right solution to win a war occasionally. The role of armies is very crucial and important for the prince. If the prince holds a strong army, he will remain in rein for a longer period of time. The prince is relying on the armies to defend his position and his reputation.
8. Machiavelli warns the prince against liberality because he will then ask people for money, but the poor and the people will start to hate the prince, and will think of him as a miser. Machiavelli thinks that it is a bad idea to have that reputation that you charged your people with more money and then the prince would not be liked by any of his citizens.
9. According to Machiavelli it is better for a prince to be feared more than loved. Machiavelli believes this because if a prince is loved, he may have good friends, but in the end they will not look out for him, and will abandon him at war, and go against him. So, Machiavelli believes that a prince should be feared, so that he has his own platform, and is not being supported by others. As he says in chapter 17, “…a wise prince must build his foundation on what is his own and not on what belongs to others; he must only contrive to escape hatred, as was said” (Machiavelli 73).
10. The prince must have both popular and military supports because if the prince is not popular with the citizens of his territory, they will not respect him and they will revolt against him or will go their own ways and be independent, and not follow the rules of the prince. The prince also needs military support because then he will be able to trust his people and be able to send them off to battle, and know that he will be safe and will remain his standing as prince, with military support.
11. The quote in Chapter 15 that reads, “My intention being to write something useful for whoever understands it, it seemed to me more appropriate to pursue the effectual truth of the matter rather than its imagined one” is very important quote because it changes the way the reader looks at the book. It gives a new definition for why Machiavelli wrote this novel. He wants people to read his book, understand it, and learn from it. He also does not want people to think that the truth is like you would imagine, he wants to make it so that it is real, and different than a regular person’s perspective. He wants people to use his book to help them, and does not want people to read his book, and think that reading it was a waste of time. In this chapter, he talks about how a prince should have certain qualities, but he could not have all of them, because it is not possible for a person to be that perfect. He wants people to realize that even princes can not strive to be everything that you’d expect them to be.
12. Machiavelli sees the art of government as the most difficult task for a prince because he is risking his reputation based on the people he chooses to be his ministers and his advisors. He may look foolish if he chooses the minister who is dull and unprepared for his job. When choosing advisors, he needs to choose the ones that listen to him, and do not talk out of order. So, choosing his ministers and advisors is a strenuous job to do, considering his reputation is on the line.
13. Machiavellian, according to thefreedictionary.com, means cleverly deceitful and unscrupulous. So, leaders who are Machiavellian are clever in their ways of getting into higher power, and will do anything, including lie, to have a higher status. So, leaders who do what ever is needed to obtain their goals could be called Machiavellian because the leaders have to be deceitful and unscrupulous because a man may be in the way of obtaining their goals.
14. In Brunelleschi’s Dome, Giangaleazzo Viscounti followed what Machiavelli supported. Machiavelli believed that a prince should be feared and should do everything he must do to become a more powerful ruler. Giangaleazzo killed his uncle (who was also his father-in-law), threatened the Florentines, bribed the emperor and was strongly feared by surrounding territories. Machiavelli would approve the ways of this prince.
15. An analogy that can be made to fortune and the Arno is fortune can change and so can the rivers. Depending on the season, the rivers may be relatively stable to travel on, however, at times the rivers become almost impossible to use as a source for traveling. Fortune is something you can not change with force, just like a river. As Machiavelli states, “…she shows her power where there is no force…” (Machiavelli 105). Fortune and rivers both change and no one can personally control the way they act.
16. The role of fortune in human affairs is major. Fortune is considered, according to Machiavelli, half of a human’s actions. Machiavelli states, “…a prince who relies entirely on Fortune comes to ruin as she changes” (Machiavelli 106). He believes that a prince should rely on fortune, but also rely on the other half of human actions which is freewill. To alter the course of fortune, men can rely more on freewill than on fortune, than fortune will lessen and vice versa.
17. One national leader in North Korea, that can be considered Machiavellian, is Kim II Sung. Kim II Sung ruled over North Korea for forty-six years. He had two main goals which were: take over South Korea and rebuild North Korea. To accomplish his goal of taking over the South, he had to declare war. After declaring war, Kim II Sung still did not accomplish his task of taking over the South. To accomplish his goal of rebuilding the North, Kim II Sung created a rule in which he had absolute power. He controlled everything that went on in North Korea. In the end, Kim II Sung tries to state that he did not start the war that caused many casualties. Kim II Sung left his people with nothing, and took the wealth he earned and used it for himself, while his people suffered. He was rich and ruled North Korea, while his people were poor and miserable. I would consider this leader to be Machiavellian because he treated his people by being cruel and selfish. He started a war which caused many deaths and sadness all over Korea. Using his sly acts, he ruled North Korea with wealth by his side.
18. The Prince still is studied today in history and political science classes because it is basically to stop people from doing the wrong things that leaders have done before, and instead do something different and succeed. Also, this book describes great rulers who may be known for their actions and will help people understand history and the past.
19. The Prince was an interesting novel to read. I think that Machiavelli’s ideas definitely will help princes become more powerful and wiser leaders. He is right when he states that “Nevertheless, a prince must make himself feared in such a way that if he does not gain love, he does avoid hatred, for to be feared and not to be hated can go very well together, and this will always achieve if he does not touch the goods and the women of his citizens and subjects” (Machiavelli 72). Machiavelli is definitely right when he says that a prince should be feared because then the prince will be wiser and will be known for his great power and no one would fight a prince who was so-called, feared. Another interesting statement that Machiavelli believes is that the prince should not be hated by his people. He gives an example of a prince who was loved by his people to prove his point. “Messer Annibale Bentivogli, prince of Bologna…was killed by the Canneschi, who conspired against him…Immediately after that murder, the people rose up and killed all the Caneschi. This came about because of the good will that the house of Bentivogli had at that time with the people…” (Machiavelli 81). As you can see, Machiavelli proves his point by saying that the Bentivogli’s people stood up for him, and killed the man who killed him, because the people loved their prince. The people have power to turn against their prince, and the prince would be taken down if the majority of the people disliked him. I agree with Machiavelli’s ideas because they are the right choices. As I do not know a lot about princes, Machiavelli proved the ways that a prince should go, and I believe that he convinced me that his ways were the best.
 

Machiavelli: A Renaissance Thinker

The fourteenth century was an inexperienced start of a revolution called the renaissance. The renaissance is recognized for its birth of many noteworthy philosophers, including the well-known Machiavelli. He without a hesitation is the best political thinker existed. His beliefs and ideas have been a motivation and inspiration for many accomplished leaders across the world even modern leaders. Even though he was a positive influence on humankind, he also has a bad reputation because he misunderstood the views on politics. Machiavelli was considered as the father of political science and a political philosopher. Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy, raised up in a nearly poor family; his parents could not send him to school because of their wealth. Instead, his mother, a religious poet, and his father, an attorney, home schooled him. It is only known that his family did their best to obtain a reputable and famous image, and Machiavelli grew up to be a nice, educated, and greatly known man. He attended the University of Florence and studied logic, astronomy, music, mathematics, and philosophical debate. Machiavelli’s political career took off in 1498 when he was offered a government position in Florence. The question that is been asked, “Is Machiavelli a renaissance thinker?” This question is not easy to answer. A renaissance thinker had many different types of traits in the sixteenth and fifteenth centuries. Machiavelli was an extraordinarily unique person in all aspects. He had traits of humanism, realism, materialism, and scepticism because he was always curious, wanted to achieve and wanted to know about the world. The traits he was unsuccessful at as a renaissance thinker were individualism, secularism, and well roundedness because he never thought about himself and the importance of life. This does not make him a complete renaissance thinker.

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In the renaissance, humanism and realism were key characteristic, which made Machiavelli such a great philosopher. Before the renaissance, the world was a perfect place and no body ever questioned anything and always believed in the church. Machiavelli thought he could achieve anything he wanted to if you put your mind to it. He wrote a book called The Prince, which explains how the political system should be run and how leaders should control their realm. This is where he had used his humanism skills. The Prince’s input to the history of political reflection was essential because it helped political realism. His ways of realism was that to portrait the world the way it exists. Machiavelli originally wrote The Prince in hopes of securing the favour of the ruling of the Medici family, and he deliberately made its claims provocative. His book, The Prince, best-known book expresses and describes the arts with which a ruling prince can conserve control of his kingdom. Humanists also viewed the book negatively. The Prince is a manual to acquiring and keeping custody of political power. The Prince created the word “Machiavellian” an embodiment for dishonesty, tyranny, and political manipulation. Some historians argue Machiavelli had a secret or clever message that explains away the ugly suggestion of the plain text, saying that Machiavelli really favoured advantage after all and was just trying to scam princes into policies that would lead to their conquer, not their victory which makes him evil. Ad he had said, “The sole test of a good government was weather it was effective, weather the ruler increased power” (Source 2). He explains that ruler should always be effective and change something in society. Many historians believe that his evil side to the book made him not a true positive renaissance thinker.
Individualism and secularism are characterized in the Renaissance are not themes of Machiavelli’s thinking. Machiavelli was not individualistic because as a great publisher and as a leader never took credit for his work. His use of historical examples throughout The Prince displays understanding of Roman and Greek history and is consistent with the pristine love for ancient times of the Renaissance, which shows the characteristics of the classicism. He appears to be extraordinarily well educated, although his families wealth probably prevented him from studying at a greater university. As a result, the effect of humanist teachings, common at most of the organization of higher learning at the time, on Machiavelli was limited. Machiavelli’s information of specific particulars of politics is principally the termination of a life-long career as an official and servant. “Human beings are selfish and interested only in advancing their own interests” (Source 2). In this quote, we learn that Machiavelli was not even close to being an individualistic and a secularistic man because he says that people should not be thinking about himself or herself. In his book The Prince, Machiavelli often criticized human nature accusing humans to be “ungrateful, voluble, dissemblers” (The Prince). He said, “To lead you have to adapt to the situation” (Prince Movie). He is saying to accommodate what the people want is the way you should be.
Machiavelli as a great man was always sceptical and very materialistic. When Machiavelli had written his book The Prince, he was always curious and questioned why and how leaders had done things at the time. When Machiavelli had written his book, he had researched and studied successful leaders at the time. He was always taking notes and always was asking questions and was always trying to find the answer. When Machiavelli had grown up, he had been a very materialistic person. As he is said, “Power is money, money gets you power” (Medici Movie). In the quote, he explains how if leaders have a lot of money they have a better chance to be leaders then the lower class because money gets you many things in life. Unlike a pre-renaissance thinker, Machiavelli did not base these ideas on simple beliefs. He observed the great rulers of his time and before such as Francesco Sforza, Lorenzo de Medici, and Cesare Borgia and how they ruled. His deceptive method however proves that he was not the perfect renaissance thinker.
This concludes that Machiavelli could have been a renaissance thinker, however; he lacked essential categories to be truly a renaissance thinker. He had lacked in a very important category, is to be well rounded, which would have made him closer to a renaissance thinker. He being in the renaissance time should have been good at acting, wrestling, math, poetry, and writing. Out of these five things, he was only great at math and writing which were key things but not enough to be a complete renaissance thinker. As now we know about Machiavelli, and how he is not a renaissance thinker, imagine if he could have his time period when he was born called The Machiavelli Time- period. He would have been perfect for this category and would have succeeded very well. The con about this period is that everyone would always talk about politics and instead of other important aspects in the world. This world would only be about politics, which would have modern world people’s lives boring and reckless. Machiavelli was, in every sense of the word, to be almost a complete “renaissance thinker”.
Work cited:
1. Niccola Machiavelli – Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.” Main Page – Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. .
2. Kindrachuk, Mrs. “Machiavelli.” Machiavelli Discussion. Campbell Collegiate, Regina. 4 Apr. 2010. Speech.
 

Machiavelli And Friedrich | A comparison

It is interesting to note that Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) share a great deal of similarity, so that in fact, both have at one time been referred by the clergy of their times as the herald of the antichrist. Nevertheless, the similarity that exists between the two is mainly underpinned by their philosophical standpoints, given that Machiavelli’s and Nietzsche’s philosophical postulations were characterized by their antithetical standpoints towards Christian values, ethics and doctrines.

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Particularly, a case in point is Machiavelli’s maxim that the end justifies the means. In his II Principe, Machiavelli sees man as a political animal, but not because of man’s gregarious tendencies as seen by Aristotle. To Machiavelli, man is a political animal in that in the quest for power, he has to act swiftly and be very cunning. Therefore, this brings in the concepts of competition which ensures that only those who are really determined and enthusiastic on whatever they are doing are able to keep up with the stiff competition. The divergence between Machiavelli and Christianity is further widened when he maintains that to seize and consolidate political power, it is necessary for the prince to move faster than his real and perceived enemies and crush them. The rationale behind this standpoint is that the person who moves fast and first emerges the victor, whereas the slow paced are victims (Machiavelli, 175).
The similarity between the above standpoint and Nietzsche’s ideas is that both advocate against Christian ethics such as modesty and justice. Similarly, both disagree with the very fundamentals of Christian ethic as they both see man as an animal, whereas Christianity sees man as the most important being, with this importance being underpinned by rationality and morality. Therefore, the concept of seeing human being an important being they are regarded as civilized and are not intended to act like animals such as being not thoughtful. The main difference between human beings and animals is that human beings have conscious and are able to think and reason out in whatever they do unlike animals. Nevertheless, Nietzsche’s animal instincts of man is covertly mentioned, as he only refers to it, by critiquing Christianity for shutting its doors on pleasure, self, the natural and appetitive elements of man.
In so assuming their controversial standpoints, both Machiavelli and Nietzsche postulate that the need to act towards self preservation, self actualization and self aggrandizement is paramount. This relegates man into likeness with the animal kingdom, given that the animal kingdom is merely driven by the need for self preservation, through instincts. As it were, the place for rationality in lieu of pure pleasure and self seeking is not given a big berth by both Nietzsche and Machiavelli. This is well proven by the fact that Machiavelli casts aspersion on the importance of values such as trust and mutual respect or agreement. Machiavelli argues that after fatally closing in on political enemies, the Prince must later on turn to his friends and eliminate them, since friends as confidants will have accrued a lot of political and administrative secrets adequate to turn against the Prince.
However, it is important to take note of the fact that Nietzsche and Machiavelli had somewhat different reasons for assuming their controversial standpoints. While Nietzsche maintained his standpoint on the account that he saw Christianity a curse and God as being dead [non-existent] as the basis of his standpoint, Machiavelli’s concern was not concerned with atheism, theism or the concern over the existence of a deity. Machiavelli did not write his radical standpoint for the sake of dethroning Christianity, unlike Nietzsche.
In respect to the above development, as a matter of fact, by conjoining ethics to Christianity, and criticizing Christianity for its moralist stands and its shunning of pleasure, debauchery and self seeking, Nietzsche basically made a dereliction on the importance of ethics and morality as important constructs that hold the society together. It is at the same time, this juncture that Machiavelli and Nietzsche part ways, as far as their philosophical standpoints are concerned.
Despite his radical political standpoints Machiavelli sees the need for tampering political administration and rule with some elements of ethics. This standpoint is seen explicitly when Machiavelli urges the Prince to always make sure that he did not amass wealth and affluence by rapine. Similarly, Machiavelli argued that in order that the Prince realizes a peaceful and stable administration, it is important that he stayed away from men’s women and wives. To Machiavelli, the failure to steer clear of men’s wives and the failure to shun the temptation of wealth acquisition through larceny are the very factors that would drive men into vengeful tendencies and thereby sparking off a political resistance, and subsequently, instability. To any one analyst or careful reader, this is indeed a moralist standpoint. So moralist it is that many a world leader has not been able to keep. This is not the case with Nietzsche.
In almost the same vein, Machiavelli does not see religion as being retrogressive or disposable to the domains under the Prince. As a matter of fact, Machiavelli reiterates to the need by the Prince, to desist from interfering with the Church and religious matters. To Machiavelli, the failure to do so would warrant the loathing by the masses. As a corollary to this standpoint, Machiavelli advised the Prince on the need to acquaint himself with the clergy, so as to be able to rule effectively. However, it must be remembered that Machiavelli advised the Prince on the need to ensure that the Church remained under the control of the state, since the Church existed under the auspices of his domains, and the Prince ought to know the developments taking place within his jurisdiction.
On the other hand, Nietzsche in his condescending criticism against the Christian religion or faith, becomes blinded to the point of disposing off, any need for morality, ethics and self restraint. To him, the fact that God is dead has given man the liberty to indulge himself. This is the fatal mistake of Nietzsche’s works (Nietzsche and Mencken, 139).
Conclusion
There is no civilization that can exist in the absolute absence of ethics. In the same vein, it is not tenable, the idea of governance and administration of a people who have a totally laissez faire condition to do as they please. The veracity of this concept is well established by the law which seeks to control and ward off the excesses of man. Nietzsche fails to realize that removing the concept of absolute authority to which all are accountable is to issue a blank check on man’s actions. On the other hand, handing man absolute rights will make life intractable, given that in seeking to exercise these absolute rights, the rights of others and the authority of the state to exercise its powers will have been compromised. In summation, it is important to realize that the main difference that lay in Machiavelli’s and Nietzsche’s works was that of purpose. While Machiavelli only sought to advise the Prince on the technicalities of politics, Nietzsche mainly sought to produce an atheistic treatise.
 

The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavellis gift to Lorenzo de Medici, The Prince, is a discourse discussing politics and how a prince should rule his state. Machiavelli describes his beliefs on the most efficient way for a prince to rule and remain in power and validates his arguments by referencing historical examples and using metaphors. One of the most prominent themes of The Prince is fortune. When speaking of fortune, Machiavelli is referring to luck, fate, or chance. He applies this concept to princes and principalities. Fortune can be either useful or advantageous, or it can be harmful or dangerous. Machiavelli believes that fortune controls half of one’s life and the other half is controlled by one’s own talent.

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Machiavelli argues that someone can gain power through his own ability or by good fortune. Good fortune could possibly come in the form of being born into power, buying power, or being assigned a governmental position. Machiavelli believes that it is very easy to come into power with fortune but very difficult to come into power with one’s own ability. On the other hand, staying in power after acquiring it by fortune is very difficult whereas staying in power after acquiring it by virtue is rather simple. Machiavelli supposes this because people who have come into power with fortune “rest simply on the will and fortune of whoever has given a state to them, which are two very inconstant and unstable things. They do not know how to hold and they cannot hold that rank: they do not know how” (26). In other words, Machiavelli believes that individuals who acquire their power through fortune are unable to successfully hold their power because they do not have the necessary experience or foundation to effectively lead a state.
Machiavelli compares fortune to a powerful and flooding river that inflicts destruction of plants, houses, and valuable resources. Although there is nothing that can be done to stop a raging river already in progress, preventable measures can be taken to ensure that such a river inflicts little to no harm by building dams and barriers. Similarly, fortune “demonstrates her power where virtue has not been put in order to resist her and therefore turns her impetus where she knows that dams and dykes have not been made to contain her” (98). In the same way that one can prevent a catastrophic river by building dams, a prince should strive to anticipate bad fortune so as to be capable of resisting it when it arrives.
Since fortune controls half of one’s life and the other half is controlled by one’s own skill and ability, Machiavelli believes that, as mentioned before, a successful prince is capable of using his own ability to counteract bad fortune. He analyzes what a prince should do during times of peace so as to be prepared for times of war. His views on this concept are rather simple; “a prince should have no other object, nor any other thought, nor take anything else as his art but that of war and its orders and discipline” (58). Machiavelli expounds his argument by saying that a prince can prepare for war by exercising his mind and his actions. In order to train the mind, a prince should study past battles, wars, and leaders. Furthermore, in order to exercise his deeds, a prince should go on hunting trips so as to further understand his state’s land and keep his armies strong.
According to Machiavelli, a prince cannot rely too much on fortune and must be able to accomplish tasks through his own prowess. He admits that relying on talent and strength is much more difficult than relying on fortune. Nevertheless, depending on fortune too much can be disastrous because fortune is unpredictable. If a prince who is accustomed to good fortune were to encounter sudden bad fortune, he would be unprepared, thus making the prince susceptible to devastation.
Although a prince may resist fortune and instead rely on his own talents, this may still not be sufficient to attain Machiavelli’s perception of an ideal ruling system. Despite his scholarly and defensible politics, Machiavelli did become rather notorious for this concept because it excludes a heightened sense of morality. Machiavelli argues that a prince or ruler should “not depart from good, when possible, but know how to enter into evil, when forced by necessity” (70). In other words, Machiavelli believes that a prince must know how to adapt to certain circumstances even to the point of being immoral if it is in the best interest of his principality.
Machiavelli states that “there are two kinds of combat: one with laws, the other with force” (69). He goes on to say that humans are inclined to follow the one with laws whereas animals are inclined to follow the one with force. According to Machiavelli, laws are not adequate enough for a prince effectively lead and therefore, the prince must learn to use force. Because animals are more inclined towards force, Machiavelli asserts that a truly effective ruler will become like animals. He draws attention to the fox and the lion. A fox is unable to protect itself from wolves and the lion is unable to protect itself from traps whereas a fox can detect traps and a lion can fight off wolves. Thus leading to Machiavelli’s conclusion; if a prince became like a lion and a fox then he would truly be a great ruler.
The harsh realities that Machiavelli presents are contrary to what most people regard as virtuous or honorable. However, he believes that a truly virtuous prince is one who is willing to compromise his morals and do everything that is deemed necessary for the welfare of his state.
Although beneficial for the principality, this may prove to be a problem for the prince because the inhabitants of his principality may not be satisfied if they learn of any immoralities or dishonesties the prince may have committed. This discontent may compel the public to dislike the prince. Therefore, Machiavelli cautions princes and rulers to always appear to be virtuous to the public. He even gives an example to prove that he is indeed correct in his assertion. He states that “Alexander VI never did anything, nor ever thought of anything, but how to deceive men, and he always found a subject to whom he could do it” (70).
Furthermore, Machiavelli explains how the public should perceive a prince regarding certain traits. One particular quality that Machiavelli mentions is generosity. Machiavelli explains that generosity is obviously perceived as virtuous but a prince must remain careful so as not to gain a reputation of generosity. He argues that if a prince gains a reputation of generosity then he will be compelled to use his resources in order to keep that reputation. If, however, he were to try to liberate himself from a generous reputation, he would be perceived as parsimonious, thus causing hatred from the public and likely weakening him or even leading to his downfall.
Another major topic that Machiavelli discusses regards whether it is better for a leader to be feared or loved. Machiavelli explains “that since men love at their own convenience and fear at the convenience of the prince, a wise prince should found himself on what is his, not on what is someone else’s” (68). Machiavelli supports his contention by analyzing human nature. According to Machiavelli, people will always fear punishment regardless of the circumstances. On the other hand, if a prince is loved rather than hated, people will be more willing to disregard a connection of love for their personal benefit. However, as mentioned before, Machiavelli believes that a prince cannot be hated by the public. Therefore, a prince must ensure that he is feared but not hated.
In summary, Machiavelli believes that one’s ability controls half of his life and the other half is controlled by fortune. In order to be an effective leader, a prince must not become too reliant on good fortune and must overcome any obstacles that arise by using his own talents. Additionally, the prince must use his abilities to anticipate bad fortune so as to be prepared to combat it when it arrives. Furthermore, a prince must truly love and be virtuous to his country. He must love his country enough so as to be willing to employ certain vices such as cruelty, frugality, and deception. He must be feared and respected by the public but he must ensure that he is not hated. Machiavelli believes that if a prince or a ruler were to follow all of his recommendations and admonitions then that prince would surely be able to attain magnificence and be able to preserve his principality.
 

Is Machiavelli a Teacher of Evil?

This essay will consider whether or not Machiavelli was a teacher of evil, with specific reference to his text ‘The Prince’. It shall first be shown what it was that Machiavelli taught and how this can only be justified by consequentialism. It shall then be discussed whether consequentialism is a viable ethical theory, in order that it can justify Machiavelli’s teaching. Arguing that this is not the case, it will be concluded that Machiavelli is a teacher of evil.
To begin, it shall be shown what Machiavelli taught or suggested be adopted in order for a ruler to maintain power. To understand this, it is necessary to understand the political landscape of the period.
The Prince was published posthumously in 1532, and was intended as a guidebook to rulers of principalities. Machiavelli was born in Italy and, during that period, there were many wars between the various states which constituted Italy. These states were either republics (governed by an elected body) or principalities (governed by a monarch or single ruler). The Prince was written and dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici who was in charge of Florence which, though a republic, was autocratic, like a principality. Machiavelli’s work aimed to give Lorenzo de Medici advice to rule as an autocratic prince. (Nederman, 2014)

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The ultimate objective to which Machiavelli aims in The Prince is for a prince to remain in power over his subjects. Critics who claim that Machiavelli is evil do not hold this view, necessarily, because of this ultimate aim, but by the way in which Machiavelli advises achieving it. This is because, to this ultimate end, Machiavelli holds that no moral or ethical expense need be spared. This is the theme which runs constant through the work. For example, in securing rule over the subjects of a newly acquired principality, which was previously ruled by another prince, Machiavelli writes:
“… to hold them securely enough is to have destroyed the family of the prince who was ruling them.” (Machiavelli, 1532: 7).
That is, in order to govern a new principality, it is necessary that the family of the previous prince be “destroyed”. Further, the expense of morality is not limited to physical acts, such as the murder advised, but deception and manipulation. An example of this is seen in that Machiavelli claims:
“Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful.” (Machiavelli, 1532: 81).
Here, Machiavelli is claiming that virtues are necessary to a ruler only insomuch as the ruler appears to have them. However, to act only by the virtues will be, ultimately, detrimental to the maintenance of the ruler, as they may often have to act against the virtues to quell a rebellion, for example. A prince must be able to appear just, so that he is trusted, but actually not be so, in order that he may maintain his dominance.
In all pieces of advice, Machiavelli claims that it is better to act in the way he advises, for to do otherwise would lead to worse consequences: the end of the rule. The defence which is to be made for Machiavelli, then, must come from a consequentialist viewpoint.
Consequentialist theory argues that the morality of an action is dependent upon its consequences. If the act or actions create consequences that, ultimately, are better (however that may be measured) than otherwise, the action is good. However, if a different act could, in that situation, have produced better consequences, then the action taken would be immoral.
The classic position of consequentialism is utilitarianism. First argued for by Bentham, he claimed that two principles govern mankind – pleasure and pain – and it is to achieve the former and avoid the latter that determines how we act (Bentham, 1789: 14). This is done either on an individual basis, or a collective basis, depending on the situation. In the first of these cases, the good action is the one which gives the individual the most pleasure or the least pain. In the second of these cases, the good action is the one which gives the collective group the most pleasure or the least pain. The collective group consists of individuals, and therefore the good action will produce most pleasure if it does so for the most amount of people (Bentham, 1789: 15). Therefore, utilitarianism claims that an act is good iff its consequences produce the greatest amount of happiness (or pleasure) for the greatest amount of people, or avoid the greatest amount of unhappiness (or pain) for the greatest amount of people.
This, now outlined, can be used to defend Machiavelli’s advice. If the ultimate goal is achieved, the consequence of the prince remaining in power must cause more happiness for more of his subjects than would otherwise be the case if he lost power. Secondly, the pain and suffering caused by the prince on the subjects whom he must murder/deceive/steal from must be less than the suffering which would be caused should he lose power. If these two criteria can be satisfied, then consequentialism may justify Machiavelli.
Further, it is practically possible that such a set of circumstances could arise; it is conceivable that it could be the case that the suffering would be less should the prince remain in power. Italy, as stated, at that time, was in turmoil and many wars were being fought. A prince remaining in power would also secure internal peace for a principality and the subjects. A prince who lost power would leave the land open to attacks and there would be a greater suffering for the majority of the populous. On the subject, Machiavelli writes:
“As there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws.” (Machiavelli, 1532: 55)
This highlights the turmoil of the world at that time, and the importance of power, both military and lawful, for peace. Machiavelli, in searching for the ultimate end for the prince retaining his power, would also secure internal peace and defence of the principality. This would therefore mean that there would be less destruction and suffering for the people.
Defended by consequentialism, the claim that Machiavelli is evil becomes an argument against this moral theory. The criticisms against consequentialism are manifold. A first major concern against consequentialism is that it justifies actions which seem to be intuitively wrong, such as murder or torture, on not just an individual basis, but on a mass scale. Take the following example: in a war situation, the only way to save a million and a half soldiers is to kill a million civilians. Consequentialism justifies killing the million civilians as the suffering will be less than if a million and a half soldiers were to die. If consequentialism must be used in order to justify Machiavelli’s teachings, it must therefore be admitted that this act of mass murder, in the hypothetical situation, would also be justified.
A second major concern is that it uses people as means, rather than ends, and this seems to be something which is intuitively incorrect, as evidenced in the trolley problem. The trolley problem is thus: a train, out of control, is heading towards five workers on the track. The driver has the opportunity to change to another track, on which there is a single worker. Thomson argues it would be “morally permissible” to change track and kill the one (Thomson, 1985: 1395). However, the consequentialist would here state that “morality requires you” to change track (Thomson, 1985: 1395), as there is less suffering in one dying than in five dying. The difference in these two stances is to be noted.
Thomson then provides another situation: the transplant problem. A surgeon is able to transplant any body part to another without failure. In the hospital the surgeon works at, five people are in need of a single organ, without which they will die. Another person, visiting for a check-up, is found to be a complete match for all the transplants needed. Thomson asks whether it would be permissible for the surgeon to kill the one and distribute their organs for those who would die (Thomson, 1985: 1395-1396). Though she claims that it would not be morally permissible to do so, those who claimed that changing tracks in the trolley problem would be a moral requirement – the consequentialists – would also have to claim that murdering the one to save five would also be a moral requirement, as the most positive outcome would be given to the most people.
Herein lies the major concern for a consequentialist, and therefore Machiavelli’s defence: that consequentialism justifies using people as means to an end, and not an end within themselves. A criticism of this is famously argued for by Kant, who claims that humans are rational beings, and we do not state that they are “things”, but instead call them “persons” (Kant, 1785: 46). Only things can permissibly be used only as a means, and not persons, who are in themselves an end (Kant, 1785: 46). To use a person merely as a means rather than an end is to treat them as something other than a rational agent which, Kant claims, is immoral.
This now must be applied to Machiavelli. In advising the murder and deception of others, he is advocating treating people as merely a means, by using them in order to obtain the ultimate end of retaining power. Though this ultimate end may bring about greater peace, and therefore pleasure for a greater amount of people, it could be argued that the peace obtained does not outweigh the immoral actions required in creating this peace.
Further, it must also be discussed whether Machiavelli’s teaching is in pursuit of a prince retaining power in order to bring about peace, or whether it is in pursuit of retaining power simply that the prince may retain power. The former option may be justifiable, if consequentialism is accepted. However, this may not the case for the latter, even if peace is obtained.
Machiavelli’s motives will never be truly known. Such a problem as this demonstrates further criticisms of consequentialism, and therefore Machiavelli himself. If he was advising to achieve power for the sake of achieving power, he would not be able to justify the means to this end without the end providing a consequentialist justification – if, ultimately, the prince retains power but there is not a larger of amount of pleasure than would otherwise be the case.
To pursue power in order to promote peace is perhaps justifiable. However, as is a major concern with the normative approach of consequentialism, the unpredictability of consequences can lead to unforeseen ends. The hypothetical prince may take Machiavelli’s advice, follow it to the letter, and produce one of three outcomes:

Power is obtained and peace is obtained.
Power is obtained but peace is not obtained.
Neither power nor peace is obtained.

Only in the first of these outcomes can there be any consequentialist justification. However, this then means that there are two possible outcomes in which there cannot be a consequentialist justification, and it is impossible to know, truly, which outcome will be obtained. This is the criticism of both Machiavelli and consequentialism: that the risk involved in acting is too great, with such a chance of failure and therefore unjustifiable actions, when it is impossible to truly know the outcomes of actions. The nature of the risk is what makes this unjustifiable, in that the risk is against human life, wellbeing, and safety. Machiavelli condones using people as merely a means to an end without the guarantee of a positive end by a consequentialist justification.
In conclusion, it has been briefly demonstrated what Machiavelli put forward as his teachings. It was further shown how the only justification for Machiavelli’s teachings is a consequentialist approach. However, criticisms put against Machiavelli and consequentialism, such as the justification of mass atrocities, using people as means to ends, and the unpredictability of the pragmatic implementation, show it to fail as an acceptable justification of his teachings. Therefore, it is concluded that Machiavelli is a teacher of evil.
Reference List
Bentham, J. (1798). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Accessed online at: http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/bentham/morals.pdf. Last accessed on 26/09/2015.
Kant, I. (1785). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. Edited and Translated by Wood, A. (2002). New York: Vail-Ballou Press.
Machiavelli, N. (1532). The Prince. Translated by Marriott, W. K. (1908). London: David Campbell Publishers.
Nederman, C. (2012). Nicollo Machiavelli. Accessed online at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/machiavelli/. Last accessed on 02/10/2015.
Thomson, J. J. (1985). The Trolley Problem. The Yale Law Journal. Vol. 94, No. 6, pp. 1395-1415.