Machiavelli as a Humanist

A humanist is defined as one who is concerned with the interests and welfare of humans. Niccolo’ Machiavelli can be thought of as a humanist. Although opinions on this differ greatly depending on whom you speak with. Machiavelli’s life consists of so many examples and lessons that he has learned throughout his life. Through my paper, I intend to examine his perception of morality based on his political writings and life experiences. Niccolo’ Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469 and died in 1527. Although we do not know much about his early life, we know that he was educated according to the humanist ideals of the Renaissance. He was trained at an early age by a latin teacher named Paolo da Ronciglione. He spent his youth in the city of Florence which suffered from continuous political instability. Machialvelli, a humanist, had a practical approach to politcs. He came up with the idea that “the end justifies the means”. He argued that whether a government is “good”, can only be determined by looking at whether it is effective. 5 Machiavelli worked under the Republican government led by Piero Soderini. In 1512 when the Spanish troops defeated the republican army the Medici family took over rule of Florence. As a result Machiavelli was put into internal exile. In 1513 he was wrongly accused of conspiring against the Medici family. He was then imprisoned and tortured for several weeks. Afterwards he lived in a small town outside of Florence. It was then that he began his literary career by writing one of his most remembered and debated books called “The Prince”. It is also one of the most famous works in the history of political philosophy. His experiences as a young man were reflected in his work. “The Prince” has often been read as a book that promotes a sly and mean way of attaining political power. 5 However, he discerns that morals are very important even though political action sometimes go beyond moral considerations.5 He also wrote

Cited: 1. Viroli, Maurizio. Niccolo’s Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. 13 2 3. The political Calculus: Essays on Machiavelli’s Philosopy, edited by Anthony Parel, University of Toronto Press, 1972, pp.157-78 4 7. Machiavelli, N., 1988, The Prince, Q. Skinner and R. Price (eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.