Niccolò Machiavelli

A communal philosophy among political theorists has been the distinctive association between morality and power. According to the Italian humanist and politician, Niccolò Machiavelli, sustaining power is not correlated with maintaining virtuosity. In William Shakespeare’s renowned play, Hamlet, King Claudius is a textbook illustration of this concept. A critic of the play once said, “He is a good king, but a bad man.” It is achievable to provide beneficial supremacy and yet possess inadequate…

The Prince was a book that was written by Niccolo Machiavelli . Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat to several European courts. Machiavelli wrote The Prince in dedication to the prince of Italy at the time: Lorenzo De Medici. The Prince is a book about royals written by a commoner who was better informed on the matters of the royals. Machiavelli asserted that The Prince was the aggregation of the knowledge he had acquired over time through many difficulties, sometimes in dangerous ways as he…

Fabian Hearn Ms. Gulliver Honors US History Lesson 11-13 11/22/2016 Past vs. Present: Does History Repeat Itself? Niccolò Machiavelli born May 3rd, 1469, grew up in Florence Italy. At a young age, he became the star pupil of a highly renowned Latin Teacher by the name of Paolo da Ronciglione. He would later attend the University of Florence Take part in a large amount of diplomatic activities on behalf of Florence. He wrote several famous letters, dispatches and everyday writings including his…

theorise on government and how to rule. From the Republicanism of Plato to the Absolutism of Hobbes, countless theories abound about how to effectively govern. But none of these have come close to influence of a former Florentine official. Niccolo Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy. He was the son of a legal official, and received an education which included the Greek and Roman classics (1). When he was 29 he acquired a job as secretary of the Second Chancery of Florence, the…

Imagine a leader who will do anything imaginable to keep power over their subjects no matter how evil it might be? A few leaders probably came to mind, while it may seem like these leaders are ruthless to Niccolo Machiavelli these leaders are the perfect candidates for ruler ship. Machiavelli lies all the qualities he believes and effective leader should possess in his book The Prince. However, The Prince is not Machiavelli’s only piece of literature that describes the effective prince, this…

written by a prominent political theorist of the Italian Renaissance, Niccolò Machiavelli. Meaning: The meaning and general idea of the book shows the behaviour and qualities of a ruler and their goal of maintaining a safe state (status). Niccolò believed that a great prince or king would be full of virtue, fortune, war, art, cruelty, and going for honor and glory, to do everything for their state safety. Although Machiavelli was a teacher of evil, he brought great considerations of…

Liberal and Conservative Views of Immanuel Kant and Niccolo Machiavelli: The success of the governance of a state relies on leaders methods of gaining and retaining power while constructing society. Immanuel Kant’s ([1784] 2013) book Answer the Question: “What is Enlightenment?” sets the foundation of gaining and retaining power while constructing society around the process of enlightening subjects and eventually transferring political power. Niccolo Machiavelli’s ([1513] 2006) The Prince…

Kim Jong Un: Modern Machiavelli or Relentless Dictator Many people consider a leader to be somebody who is “the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country” (Google Definition). What many people fail to realize is that nowhere in that definition does it state that the ruler has to be compassionate or civil. Kim Jong Un is the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a country in East Asia. He is overly controlling and forces his subjects to love him - or…

angas In 1513, the Italian diplomat, writer, and philosopher Niccoló Machiavelli released his political treatise titled De Principatibus, or The Prince. His book not only formed the basis for political science and is considered one of the first works of modern philosophy, but also stressed many ideas that remain controversial in modern day politics. One of the more prominent ideas in Machiavelli’s masterpiece is that the ends of one’s actions justify how they got there. This idea that someone’s…

Niccolò Machiavelli, a Florentine politician during the Renaissance, contributed tremendously to the famous debate, “do the ends justify the means?” Machiavelli used his magnum opus, The Prince; to defend actions, by the political elite, most of society thought was immoral in nature. The phrase “Machiavellian” is widely used today to describe an individual who will use deceit and manipulation to achieve his or her desired ends. This historical example resonates with me when analyzing one’s…