Preview

How Does Machiavelli Show Individualism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
766 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Machiavelli Show Individualism
Machiavelli became a writer who wrote to inform, to express greatness regarding monarchy, and to add to the world that the changing art of ruling is worth the knowing about. He also expressed that young men deserved to be taught the importance of new ways of ruling, to insure success. During this time, the values of the Renaissance were prominent, teaching the value of individualism and the power each individual possessed. Inadvertently Machiavelli used this to his advantage when instructing young men to become great kings and uses this in his literature to persuade the reader to believe what he is writing. The passion of that period regarding this was at the most passionate it may have ever been, this high regarding the power of the individual, influenced literature in a way that too had never been done before. Machiavelli used fortune to show the significance of free will. The fortune that Machiavelli speaks of is not money, not based on the financial status of the young men he is counseling to become great …show more content…
This means that the luck bestowed upon a young man with the dream of being king can change whatever their fate may be in turn for what they thirst for. This is also how Machiavelli uses the certainty of fortune to condone the importance of free will in the lives of these men he coaches. Machiavelli also seems to understand that there is a contradiction between free will and fortune as well, that if some part of life is mere luck, then the idea of changing your future cannot be obtained. He seems to limit the power of free will with this contradiction, saying that only half of life can be controlled by free will and the other half of life is controlled by fortune alone. This is also why Machiavelli uses fortune to explain free will, that some things are set in stone, unmovable, while others are able to be slightly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli was an author and an aspiring political figure who had a strong influence on several aspects of Europe’s government. Due to his critical writings in The Prince, many historians see Machiavelli as a cruel and diabolical political figure whose true intentions were to gain power for himself. However, after looking further into Machiavelli’s political past, one can see that Machiavelli is in fact an intelligent man who possesses a hidden motive to write his novel. In his work, he covered several topics that were used by future city-state leaders to help them become successful. Machiavelli proves to be an astute political mind who used his political experience to assess the actions of famous princes and to write The Prince as a noteworthy…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli asserts that, "...for if one governs himself with caution and patience, and the times and affairs turn in such a way that his government is good, he comes out happy; but if the time and affairs change, he is ruined because he does not change his mode of proceeding" an act that he indisputedly condemns Pope Julius II for (100). We can easily deduce from this that Machiavelli is not referring to fortune as a being who commands every action of the human race, but rather, it is the spectrum of things that we are not able to…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Overall, Machiavelli shows that in order to be an effective prince, one must disregard the morality of one’s actions in certain times for the welfare of the state. This strong belief shows that Machiavelli’s best interests are in the state and not in the general population. Because he…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Machiavelli's philosophy was that "The end justifies the means." This meant that the end result is the most important, and how you got there was of no importance. The Prince was a book of advice to rules on how to found a state and how to stay in power. Machiavelli explained in his book the many different ways to gain power. One way was to acquire land. The four methods that he discusses to acquire more land is: Your own arms and virtue, fortune, others' arms, and inequity. To Machiavelli, the word virtue meant manliness and strength. Machiavelli also advocates the use of evil to achieve any goals. He gives an example of Agathocles of Syracuse as a proof that this works and will enable the prince to rule the land peacefully through fear. "Born of a potter, this one always had an iniquitous life throughout his years: nonetheless, he accomplished his iniquities with such virtue of spirit and of body that, having joined the militia, he rose through its ranks to become praetor of Syracuse. Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and to keep with violence and without obligation to others what had been conceded him by agreement... ...one morning he convened the people and the senate of Syracuse, as if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at a preordained nod…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli believed that there were two ways of becoming a prince which was ability or good fortune. Also, Machiavelli believed that if it was good fortune, it was only the arbiter of half our actions and we still had control of the other half. “A prince who relies entirely upon fortune will fail when his fortune changes” (92).This here was true for Cesare Borgia who acquired power through his father’s fortune and lost it once his father died. Despite the fact that Cesare tried to exercise every effort as a leader in pursuit of power should in the sense of Machiavelli’s methods, Cesare was granted fortunes by others and therefore had no control over it.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Growing up Machiavelli's family was financially comfortable though not incredibly wealthy and his home of Florence was a stable society under the govern of the Medici family. He was able to be educated and succeeded in many ways including being elected to many leading roles in the community. This all came crashing down…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Important points – Machiavelli purposes that a prince must be ostentatious about his generosity to gain a reputation of being generous. He makes a distinction stating if one is trying to be prince, he must be generous, if one is already a prince he must be miserly. Machiavelli uses Pope Julius the Second as an example of a leader who reached his title by reputations of liberality, yet did not maintain this reputation once he came to power; thus he was hated. The King of France never had to impose large tax requirements to his people during times of war due to his thriftiness. Machiavelli implies the reason for which the King of Spain acquired his many enterprises by being reputed liberal. He goes on to use Cesar, Cyrus, and Alexander as examples of leaders who during their time of rule maintain their reputations of generosity not by giving away their own money, but by sacking cities and giving away a portion of the acquired good to his shoulders and community.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli outlines the characteristics needed to be a strong and admirable leader. He explains that personal characteristics such as courage and compassion, both being aspects of virtue, will earn him praise. However, he feels that this expectation is unrealistic and a prince’s first job is to protect the state, and having “bad” characteristics is sometimes necessary to reach that goal. That being said, in order to protect the state a prince may have to act unscrupulously at times which he believes will bring good fortune in the long run. Machiavelli believes that no matter how a prince acts, whether moral or not, virtue and fortune are the two most influential forces in politics and he shows how, throughout history, they have affected different people in powerful positions. Using the lessons learned by previous people of great political power, Machiavelli points out virtues and fortunes present in the particular cases, while then explaining his beliefs and solutions to the examples from the past. Virtue and fortune go hand in hand throughout this guide. One…

    • 1319 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Prince Machiavelli, a man who greatly wanted to become involved in politics, wrote The Prince to earn a political position in Florence under Lorenzo de’ Medici, the governor. Although his efforts did not win him a position in the Florentine Government, his work has become a controversial topic today. In his book, Machiavelli uses historical events to explain his opinion on principalities. When The Prince was first written, Machiavelli’s view on principalities did not draw much attention but as his work spread, people began to interpret his work as evil, and immoral.…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    During Machiavelli’s time, society was much different than it had been for previous philosophers. Instead of storing up good works, so as to enjoy paradise, as the medieval man did, the Renaissance man was interested in all things, enjoyed life, strove for worldly acclaim and wealth, and had a deep interest in classical civilizations. He was born at a time of conflict within Florence, Italy, between the republican leaders and the family of the Medici’s, of which the Machiavelli’s, especially, had a history of opposition towards. After years of conflict between powers, Machiavelli was exiled from his country.…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Your friend insists that Machiavelli believed that gaining power was the ultimate goal, regardless of human morality. Analyze the following passage from The Prince and use this passage to help your friend understand Machiavelli in a different light: “…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian who saw the world more differently than any other man at the time. His writings like The Prince, challenged and brought new ideas about rulers and how they should act. Many people feared his ideas and still disagree on them today. Machiavelli strongly believed in deception of being good, not raising taxes and or not having true virtue, and how it is much safer to be feared than loved as a leader. These ideas were considered absurd to the people.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Machiavelli Chapter 7

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Although some consider his ideals to be harsh and unjust, I believe that in almost all roles of political power, a sovereign will either have to be Machiavellian in areas of leading or lose that power. Machiavelli is a man who recognizes the complexity of the human mind. With the intelligence that he carries, he can manipulate the people of the state. It is difficult to say if Machiavelli, gave this knowledge to the public to control the procurement of powerful roles in government, although, my belief is that he is explaining that to make a city/state work, it’s citizens must have the capacity for loyalty and also must have a mutual respect for the prince. If the citizens are loyal to their sovereign it will come to benefit them as well as the state.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “I think the American Dream says that anything can happen if you work hard enough at it and are persistent, and have some ability. The sky is the limit to what you can build, and what can happen to you and your family.”-Sandford Wall. The American is defined as the traditional ideals such as equality, democracy, and prosperity that serve as a common foundation for the people of the United States. In literary workings such as Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Great Gatsby, “The Necklace”, and “The Road Not Taken”, the authors prove that the American Dream is attainable due to the fact that many America’s are successful in acquiring independence, economic prosperity, and finding love.…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being able to select the correct ministers determent he reputation the prince will be having, so a prince should choose to be seen as wise. In conclusion, Machiavelli tries to give a guide for the rulers to follow in order to accomplish the best principality ever. He ends the book by stating that there are neither bad lucks, or merely fortunes the main causes of failing principalities, but the incompetence within the prince which guides him to a dead end. However, it tells Italy that Lorenzo Di Medici is the hope of the country for he is a great man capable of learning from past experiences and…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays