Essay On Machiavelli's The Prince

In machiavelli’s The Prince, Machiavelli discusses many of the traits and requirements a leader needs to rule properly. Machiavelli discusses many ideas and requirements a rule must do one of which is if you can’t be both loved and feared it is better to be feared than loved. In: machiavelli’s view being feared brings more loyalty from his people than being loved, he bases this on his view of people as a whole, which in my opinion is a strong argument that was definitely true in his time and still has influence today. Is it better to be loved or feared? This is the question posed to us by Machiavelli in The Prince. It brings to mind many strong feelings because you want to say loved, but as a leader of a state fear can be a powerful tool to both control your people and defend them. In The prince chapter 17 machiavelli states “The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved” . Here is when machiavelli makes a great show of his thoughts on leading a state, the ideas of The Prince are hugely controversial. Yet we often feel that his ideas are
built on solid ground. Machiavelli bases his ideas of love and fear on his view of human nature, which is neither kind nor idealistic. in his words he states “Love endures by a bond which men, being scoundrels, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present.” These rather pessimistic views on human nature are consistent to other chapters of The Prince as well. For example in chapter 15 Machiavelli discusses “But since it is my object to write what shall be useful to whosoever understands it, it seems to me better to follow the real truth of things than an imaginary view of them. For many Republics and Princedoms have been imagined that were never seen or known to exist in reality. And the manner in which we live, and that in which we ought to live, are things so wide asunder, that he who quits the one to betake himself to the other is more likely to destroy than to save himself; since any one who would act up to a perfect standard of goodness in everything, must be ruined among so many who are not good.It is essential therefore for a prince to have learnt how to be other than good and to use, or not to use, his goodness as necessity requires.” These quotes are extremely revealing to Machiavelli’s view on human nature. Although is may be hard for us to admit sometimes he’s not wrong. People are motivated by what is best for them, and in order for that not to destroy a prince then he needs something more than love to secure the loyalty of his people. In my opinion Machiavelli has very strong but very true views on human nature.
These ideas led to him saying that a leader should be feared rather than loved to keep the loyalty of his people. If a leader is feared the number of people willing to betray him goes down because they are fearful. A loved leader may be betrayed by a heartless subject who cares only for his own personal gain. Fear is a deeply unifying characteristic of human nature and one we all share this makes it a good candidate for keeping the loyalty of a prince’s people. In foreign policy, as long as fear doesn't lead to a state being attacked out of blind desperation, fear can be a powerful defense if other nations fear you that can be taken advantage of in the complex world of international
relations. In conclusion Machiavelli’s Ideas described in The Prince are deeply true and useful in the world of ruling a nation. They describe the importance of fear to secure your position as leader and keep the people loyal to your rule. Machiavelli states that fear in place of love is superior when leading a nation, an Idea based of his beliefs of human nature, and I am inclined to agree with his highly controversial ideas because they are more likely to produce results.