The Prince MAJOR THEME Machiavelli had a true and abiding love for Florence. He wanted to make Florence great and also find himself a job‚ as he lost his when the Medici family came into power. He dedicated his book on political science‚ The Prince‚ to Lorenzo Medici in the hopes that Lorenzo would be impressed and offer him a job. However‚ Lorenzo ignored the book and Machiavelli. The Prince is a didactic examination of political power‚ how to achieve it‚ maintain it‚ and expand
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endeavor and very few rulers have been able to accomplish this. "This leads us to a question that is in dispute: Is it better to be loved than feared‚ or vice versa?" (Machiavelli‚ 51) An effective ruler would be one that relies upon fear without hatred‚ rather than love‚ as described by Niccolo Machiavelli in his book The Prince. In a perfect world all people would be good-hearted‚
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A Contrast of Political Controversy: The Prince versus Capital It is often very difficult to judge which policies and principalities are correct when comparing and contrasting controversial literary works. In The Prince‚ Niccolo Machiavelli presents many ideas that may be looked at as unethical by the general population of a nation. In fact‚ Machiavelli’s ideas were looked down upon by his own nation‚ Italy‚ resulting in his eventual exile. For Karl Marx‚ Capital presents many contradictions
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Machiavelli says that men possess virtu that is challenged by fortuna. On the other hand‚ Wollstonecraft argues that there is no such thing as ‘sexual virtues’. I agree with Wollstonecraft in that there are no ‘sexual virtues’‚ because in my experience men and women are equal. In the excerpts of The Prince‚ Machiavelli outlines the ways a prince should conduct himself in order to rule successfully and maintain power over a state. He first discusses what brings about praise over blame. Specifically
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light offenses; they cannot avenge severe ones; hence‚ the harm one does to a man must be such as to obviate any fear of revenge. This passage from Chapter III is an example of logical reasoning conspicuously devoid of ethical considerations. A prince must realize that he has two options: benevolence and destruction. Because the latter option will cause resentment among the people‚ he should choose it only if he is absolutely sure there will be no ill consequences—that the destruction he incurs
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Of the many disparities between Plato and Machiavelli‚ the distinction of virtue versus virtu sticks out like a sore thumb. Virtue was the political bases for Plato: All men should behave virtuously at all times. Whereas Machiavelli believed virtu was the basis for political prowess. What was best for the state as a whole was the main concern‚ and the ends always justified the means. Plato’s object was the creation of a utopian society--a civilization that abhorred war and centered itself upon
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Machiavelli and Aristotle’s writings on man‚ The Prince and Nichomachean Ethics respectively‚ and the management thereof contain divergent ideas of how man should act and reason. They have a similar view of the end: greatness‚ but the means which the two philosophers describe are distinctly different. Machiavelli writes about man as mainly concerned with power and self-assertion‚ while Aristotle desires a society of individuals‚ of honorable men. An excess of the power seeking Machiavellians and
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The Prince each present an “ideal” state along with a description of what an “ideal” founder of such a state would be like. The ideals of these two great men differ immensely and the foundation for these differences can be found in their distinctive views regarding human nature. Once this is assessed the picture that each man paints of their ideal ruler or founder becomes much clearer. Plato promotes the concept of philosopher-kings who rule over his imagined Utopian society‚ while Machiavelli endorses
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In "The Qualities of the Prince‚" Niccolo Machiavelli describes how he believes a prince should rule. He had "studied the way people lived and aimed to inform leaders" of his research (par.10). He viewed "misery as one of the vices that enables a prince to rule‚" using techniques like deceiving and manipulating in order to accomplish a certain task (par.12). Machiavelli focuses on qualities such as Military skills‚ generosity and miserly and whether a prince should be loved or feared in order to
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STUDY QUESTIONS NICOLO MACHIAVELLI 1. What opinions does Machiavelli have on the people and the nobility as arbiters of power? Machiavelli recognizes the importance of the people that aims to not be dominated by the nobility and see them as a source of power for the prince. So the people are seen as a malleable figure‚ which ensures the maintenance of power whenever they are satisfied. Instead‚ nobles wish to rule and oppress‚ that’s why people select a prince to protect them from the nobility
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