Cesare Beccaria

Describe Machiavelli’s life and the political climate in Italy while this book was being written. Machiavelli was a bureaucrat under the Republican government before he lost his job to the supporters of Medici during 1512. At the end of 1513 or even the early 1514, the time period when Nicolo Machiavelli, wrote The Prince. During that time period, Machiavelli was seeking to regain his status in the Florentine government. Meanwhile, the Medici family had been driven from power in Florentine.…

government based on the life of Cesare Borgia. According to Machiavelli a good ruler should be ruthless and at times unethical in order to maintain power. In addition he stated that preparations for war should be the foremost occupation of a successful leader. Most importantly a successful prince should exhibit virtue. The first most emphasized characteristic in Machiavelli’s theory of an ideal prince is power. Machiavelli provides an entire chapter based on Cesare Borgia, who rose to…

The Prince is a quite the interesting book. Upon reading it, I believe I’ve gained a much better understanding on how rulers, whether those who inheritated or those who became so via conquest. What I found incredibly important is his distinction between the two types of rulers. One would be lead to believe that the only difference is the method in which they obtained power. However, what I believe the book did very well was explain the challenges and advantages each obtained. The Prince starts…

Parenting is not a popularity contest, and for good reason. Many times what is best for a child, or for the family unit, is not enjoyable or even comfortable – but for the ultimate good, it must be done. Ruling a nation is not so far removed, in fact they are much the same when it comes to fostering goodness and contentment. It is impossible to please everyone, and any attempt at achieving such widespread approval oftentimes loses the respect of all. Yet, if not a popularity contest the…

Machiavelli is a man of many labels, but perhaps the most accurate is that he was a main of calculation. For all the talk of evil, cruelty and virtues, he could really be seen as the father of the cost-benefit analysis. In that same light, Machiavelli’s virtù and traditional virtues should not be seen as at odds, but rather as tools that work in tandem. To view them as wholly incompatible by nature is a narrow view at best, and woefully idealistic at worst. Indeed, they appear incompatible only…

The question of whether it is better that you feared or loved is very interesting and many people have their own opinions on this matter. One of the people who analyzed this question was Niccolo Machiavelli – one of the most famous Italian thinkers and political leaders of the Renaissance period. When the Medici family gained power in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance, Machiavelli, who was back then a civil servant in the Florentine Republic - was accused of conspiracy and imprisoned. To…

The Impact of Machiavelli’s The Prince on Modern Day Politics Over the course of the last five centuries, Niccolo Machiavelli has been considered by many scholars as one of the most controversial historical figures of the Renaissance period. As a keen observer of the Italian oligarchy, he saw that the “Italian city-states were ruled by men whose authority rested solely on their cunning and effective use of force, which was witnessed as a new phenomenon” (Perry, 186). Additionally, Machiavelli…

Machiavelli, in The Prince, claims that “it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one has to lack one of the two.” Trump chose fear, but he disregarded being loved as a component. The fear was accompanied with hate, leading to an unsuccessful attempt of Machiavelli’s thought within his current presidency. Machiavelli believed that “since men love at their convenience and fear at the convenience of the prince, a wise prince should found himself on what is his.” The people will not rise up…

The Renaissance It is incredibly hard to wrap my head around how a time period, so long ago, can have such a substantial impact on humanity today. The impact of historical events has forever stamped their significance in everyday life in the present. With all of the technology and devices we use in this ever-changing society today, some things, however, manage to remain the same. Renaissance, meaning “rebirth” or “revival”, describes exactly what happened in Italy during the 14th century and…

The Renaissance era and the Middle Ages are two periods in time that are extremely vital to European history. Contrary to popular belief, these periods are remarkably unalike in comparison. The Middle Ages, sometimes known as the medieval period, was a time in European history that began in the fifth century and lasted until the fifteenth century. The Renaissance era was a period that expanded from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. This era originated in Italy at the end of the Middle…