Machiavelli Essays

Essay On Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli was one of the sixteenth century political philosophers around the world. He
was born at 1468 in Florence, and he received humanities education. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a
book that name is "The Price" which has had a unique impact on people at that time and until know.
Subsequently, understanding the idea of Machiavelli will help us to understand the ways that the
authoritarians and absolute monarchs try to keeping them from the power by using fear and
violence. He was one of the unique political philosopher du to of having different opinion about the
view of human nature and the ways that prince can take power and maintained it. Niccolo
Machiavelli used human nature and showed that he respects human nature to control...show more
content...
Machiavelli explains the human nature in form that is important for a prince to know. This essay
will highlight the most important ways for becoming a prince, which are the ability of the person,
using trickery and manipulation or even treason, and the support of people and the nobles to reach
the rank of a prince. Machiavelli explains the human nature of a prince among people to be feared
and loved in the same time in order to have the ability to control
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Machiavelli And Justice
Throughout human history the notions of justice and power had been intimately connected.
The seminal dialogue of Plato "The Republic" is one of the best works known to human history
which attempts to define the notion of justice. "The Prince" of Machiavelli is one of the best
political treatises which highlight the importance of the notion of power. Plato starts his seminal
dialogue "The Republic" interposing a question "What is justice?". Different people attempt to
answer that question. Now, it is interesting to explore which definition of justice suggested by
Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Glaucon ,Adeimantus or Plato would be accepted or be
most appropriate in the sense of Machiavelli. By saying most appropriate, one might understand
which definition Machiavelli would want people to think of justice. In order to investigate this
question, I would use the premises of human nature given by Machiavelli. A distinctive feature
separating the philosophies of Machiavelli from his predecessors, particularly, its difference from
the thinkers of antiquity, the same as Plato , was a real look at the surrounding reality and its
realistic analysis without exaggeration and without a variety of political utopias life. In his treatises,
Machiavelli considers the policy in its pure form, out of alignment with...show more content...
What I really want to bear in mind , the different approaches in defining the notion of virtues as we
are going to meet with that notion frequently. So, Plato would define virtue as the highest form of
good while Machiavelli considers virtues to be the things that are praised by common people. That
is why in establishing the notion of the justice Machiavelli would want it to pass first the stage of
praise of the common people and then the necessity of not

Machiavelli's Ideas
Machiavelli's instruction that a prince should not keep his words to succeed. Saddam did a good
job to make him a good leader in his presidency. Saddam lied all the time, flipped flopped, and do
what he thought is going to keeping him in the presidency. He gained Iraqis 'trust because he had
promised them many things. In the fact, Saddam never achieved any of them. For example, he
promised the Iraqis that he would fix the country's infrastructure, and never did. In another example,
Hussein Kamel, who Saddam's cousins, defected from Saddam's Party and went to Jordan along with
his brother. In Jordan, Kamel tried to turn to the United States. In that time Saddam said that he gave
false information about Iraq's weapons programs which led the U.S. Invasion of Iraq. According to
the article the New York Times "senior Army aides to Iraq president defect to Jordan" said that "The
defectors include Lieut. Gen. Hussein Kamel, the husband of President Hussein's eldest daughter,
Raghad.

Essay on Machiavelli
The Italian Renaissance is known for its birth of many notable philosophers, including the famous
Niccolo Machiavelli. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest political thinkers to have ever
existed, and his ideas and beliefs have been an inspiration and motivation for many famous leaders.
Although he has known to have been a positive influence on mankind, Machiavelli has also
distinguished a bad reputation that has been unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding in
his views on politics. Since rulers like Hitler and Mussolini have followed his teachings for obtaining
power, society has unfortunately looked down upon this great philosopher, despite the many things
he introduced to mankind. Machiavelli was born on May 3,...show more content...
For the next ten years of his life, he dedicated himself to writing political philosophy, history, poems,
and even plays to express his beliefs about politics and power. These expressions were all attempts
to gain favor of the Medici rulers so that he could someday get his political position back, and
meanwhile he was gaining popularity among people because of his new and different
perspectives for not only government and politics, but in life in general as well. His most famous
work, The Prince, was written in honor of the Medici family to express his ideals and suggestions
for a powerful government. The Medici noticed him finally in 1525 when the rulers called him
back to service. He spent his last two years of working for them before they overthrew the system
again, just before Machiavelli died on June 20, 1527. As a politician, military theorist, historian,
playwright, diplomat, and philosopher, Machiavelli proved to be an incredible contribution to
society. Although extremely well known around the world for his philosophy in politics, he has
been seriously misinterpreted. Since he has incorrectly been viewed as an evil figure to mankind,
the term "Machiavellian" has been developed over the years to describe a person who has no morals.
The term "Machiavellian" usually refers to someone who is untrustworthy, unprincipled, cunning,
sly, and deceitful. Machiavelli had a harsh way of viewing things, but he had no

Essay about Niccolo Machiavelli
According to legend, just before his death, Niccolo Machiavelli told his friends that had remained
faithful to him up until the very end about a dream he had had. In his dream, he had seen a group
of peasants, wretched and decrepit in appearance. He asked them who they were. They replied,
'We are the saintly and the blessed; we are on our way to heaven.' Then he saw a crowd of
formally attired men, aristocratic and grim in appearance, speaking solemnly of important
political matters. Again, he asked them who they were and where they were going. 'We are the
damned of Hell' was their answer. Machiavelli later remarked that he would be far happier in Hell.
This story was from Viroli's Niccolo's Smile ("The Mask and The Face"). The crowd of...show more
content...
There were many new ideas and theories popping up during that era. The cultural revolution was
causing civil unrest throughout Italy. Machiavelli's family was part of Florentine nobility and well
educated, but they were considered middle class financially. Machiavelli loved to read classic
literature, a characteristic of both his parents, and his thinking was influenced by the Medici, Plato,
Aristotle, Socrates, Seneca, and his education at the University of Florence.
Born on May 3, 1469 in Florence, Italy, his father was Bernardo di NiccolГІ Machiavelli and his
mother was Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli, both from noble families. In 1502, at the age of
thirty–three he married Marietta Corsini and proceeded to have four sons and two daughters. He
died on May 22, 1527 in Florence, Italy with a bad reputation from his theories being
misunderstood. His grandson, Giovanni Ricci, was important because he preserved many of
Machiavelli's letters and writings for future generations to read and interpret. Machiavelli had,
overall, a very successful career and accomplished many things as an important political figure in
Italy. He was well renowned and considered the first great politician of his time. He was also the
first politician to apply Aristotle's scientific method of separating morals from facts. But, he was also
accused of plagiarizing theories from others. At the relatively young age of twenty–nine, he secured
the high public office of

Machiavelli's Writings
Beginning work as a secretary, Machiavelli travelled in and around the city of Florence, learning
much about politicians and politics. Once dismissed from this occupation, Machiavelli was
captured, tortured, and eventually released, before the Medici family rose back into political
power. He soon began his career as a writer, writing as though conversing with the politicians he has
previously worked with and befriended. Machiavelli's writings could be related, in contemporary
times, to the current issues facing political leaders around the globe with ISIS. These leaders must
make decisions based upon the benefits of their countries and the protection of the majority of their
population. Like Machiavelli, they must decide how to address the

Machiavelli Essay
Machiavelli
"I would rather be in hell and converse with great minds than live in paradise with that dull rabble."
In his life's writings, Niccolo Machiavelli, sought out the strength of the human character, and wrote
according to his own rules; trying to better the political philosophy of his time. Machiavelli, a
fiercely independent Renaissance man, advocated the prosperity of Italian politics, and wanted Italy
to rise above the rest of the world.
Machiavelli's writings dealt with many issues that had not been attacked in his time, and utilized his
distinct brand of political philosophy to try and change the politics and government that shaped his
era. The Prince, regarded as his most controversial and successful work, spelled...show more
content...
Piero de' Medici died the same year that Machiavelli was born and his son Lorenzo took over where
his father left off (Ridolfi, Roberto p.6).
The next years of Machiavelli's life included many dramatic experiences that altered the way that
he viewed government. The Medici family was overthrown, and the power of the government
changed hands when the French, lead by Louis XII invaded Italy (The Prince p. viii). Through
decisions made by the Church and Pope Julius II, the Medici family came back to restore order
and take up where they left off. It was through these actions that Machiavelli was viewed as unfit
for any type of political position and was forced into exile. The Prince, written in 1513, was started
during this time of expulsion in order to once again become in the good graces of the Medici family.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen and he wouldn't return to Florence until 1526, only to die a year
later in 1527.
Throughout Machiavelli's career, he was exposed to a variety of politics; politics of the church, of
the Medici family, and politics to stay alive. He had to leave Florence and retire to his country
home in San Casciano in order to save his life for his conspiring with the Boscoli–Capponi anti
Medicean plot, and recognizing that military (Ruffo–Fiore, Silvia p.v). Machiavelli's intentions were
always in favor of uniting Italy, but his ideas and actions weren't always seen in that light.

machiavelli Essay
The Church accused Niccolo Machiavelli of being Satan for writing his book The Prince.
Machiavelli completed The Prince in 1513. He wrote it as a gift to Lorenzo Medici, called the
Magnificent, ruler of Florence. The political views Machiavelli expressed in his book went against
the theology of the Church, specifically the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes.
Machiavelli wrote to gain control of a principality one must be brutal. (I)f you are a prince in
possession of a newly acquired state and deem it necessary. . . to annihilate those who can or must
attack you. .
. . , you must do so to protect your principality. He gave the example of Duke Valentino's slaying of
his nobles to maintain order, saying if Valentino had not killed his...show more content...
The prince can pledge one thing under certain circumstances; but if those circumstances change, he
is free to change his pledge if the change should benefit his situation. For instance, Pope Alexander
VI, who reigned before Machiavelli wrote The Prince, made promises more persuasively or swore to
them more solemnly and kept so few of them . . . .
Pope Alexander VI also got what he wanted by deceiving others. The Beatitudes say those who
desire righteousness will be filled; those who are pure of heart will see God. Righteousness and
purity do not occur through deception. The ninth of the Ten Commandments says You shall not give
false testimony against your neighbor, meaning do not lie.
Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, says Do no break your oath . . . . The Church had
good reason to disagree with Machiavelli about craftiness. Nobility for princes can be seen as one of
two ways: generous or parsimonious.
If a prince is generous, his generosity usually comes at the expense of his subjects. The prince
would have to tax his people heavily in order to give. This will begin to make him odious to his
subjects and . . . will lose him the respect of everyone.
For a prince to give money, he need not tax his people, rather give what he pillaged and stole while
on various campaigns. If a prince is stingy with the peoples money, he will not tax as much; thus, his
subjects will honor him

Machiavelli's Analysis
Machiavelli's writing goes against everything that your mother has taught you your whole life.
Being immoral is acceptable in Machiavelli's teachings, if it allows you to keep your power. An
action that would be in your best interest to keep your control over the people, may not be in the
wellbeing of the people. Almost every single adult that either listens to the radio, or watches T.V.
in the mornings hears the weather. The weather man is supposed to tell you exactly, or to the best
of their knowledge, what is going to happen throughout the day. In my opinion, they may be able to
predict, but there is no way they can know exactly what is going to happen. However the viewers
believe what they say, so the broadcasters keep their job, and power

Machiavelli
Machiavelli draws a parallel between politics and a theatrical performance. He directs the actor
towards success and a standing ovation. Similar to a director, Machiavelli uses his political theory
to guide the ruler towards a successful state and re–election. Furthermore, just like a play A state
undergoes a life cycle based on a correlation between repeated history and static human nature, and
the cycle's movement from order to chaos, and chaos to order is generated by ability and tranquility,
this is supported by the line "For ability brings about tranquility, and tranquillity laziness, and
laziness chaos and chaos ruin" (pg.557). A downfall and resolution interact with one another in a
play, similarly a state rises when it has reached...show more content...
However, he encourages the use of virtues as a method of control in both chaos and order.
Furthermore, contrary to the Greeks, he views the virtues as a means to an end rather than an end in
itself. Moreover, he encourages the use of virtue as a facade, rather than their internalization. Seeing
that history plays a crucial role in Machiavelli's political theory, it can be postulated that his tainted
views on virtues result from the 1494 French takeover of Italy. Fortune the arbitrator of such despair,
shattered a stable and peaceful community, interrupting the security, stability and legitimacy to rule,
allowing many to take advantage of the state's instability, while leaving the virtuous in anguish. This
leaves Machiavelli affirming that a prince must have the required skills of "appearing" temperate,
courageous, liberal, magnificent, pious, humble and honest, rather than internalizing these virtues.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Machiavelli carries a more realistic approach to political theory
when compared to Plato. This further contributes to how Machiavelli views politics as a theatrical
piece in which a ruler must remain in character for the audience, or in this case the masses. In
addition to appearing virtuous, a ruler must also create a social distance with the masses, in order to
separate the inferior form the superior, generate authority and, give the

Machiavelli's Essay Examples
To be loved is to be appreciated and accepted as a person. To be feared is to watch the people you
interact with cringe and strangle the peace of those that you come in contact with. Machiavelli's
quote, "It is much safer to be feared than loved" reflects on the fact that the people or colleagues
of a ruler are able to take advantage of the ruler. The question of conspiracy does not even come
up when those people or colleagues fear the repercussions. Machiavelli's advice would not be
valid for today's political leader because to be feared as a leader is to be a tyrant. Though the idea
of tyranny is the most effective, it is not beneficial for a group as a whole. Many examples of this
concept has been shown all throughout history such as with

Machiavelli
Machiavelli
NicolГІ Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469 to attorney Bernardo di NicolГІ
Machiavelli and wife Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. Despite being the third child, Machiavelli was
the first son born to the couple. Machiavelli was born in a tumultuous era in which popes waged
acquisitive wars against Italian city–states, and people and cities often fell from power as France,
Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and Switzerland battled for regional influence and control.
Political–military alliances continually changed, featuring condottieri (mercenary leaders), who
changed sides without warning, and the rise and fall of many short–lived governments. Peace was
restored to Florence in 1494 when the Medici family, who had ruled for...show more content...
He drank in the company of peasants, fought in local villages and railed at his fate. At night, he
dressed in the old robes of office, sat at his desk, and wrote. He drew on his experiences in
government and composed a manifesto for pragmatic leadership (PBS)." Machiavelli used his own
personal accounts and experiences in order to write The Prince. In the book, Machiavelli describes
how to take and maintain control of foreign lands with any means necessary, regardless of morals.
"Because how one ought to live is so far removed from how one lives that he who lets go of what
is done for that which one ought to do sooner learns ruin than his own preservation: because a
man who might want to make a show of goodness in all things necessarily comes to ruin among so
many who are not good. Because of this it is necessary for a prince, wanting to maintain himself,
to learn how to be able to be not good and to use this and not use it according to necessity
(Machiavelli)." The Prince is different from other books about creating and controlling
principalities because it doesn't tell you what an ideal prince or principality is, but Machiavelli
explains through examples, which princes are the most successful in obtaining and maintaining
power. Machiavelli draws his examples from personal observations made while he was on
diplomatic missions for Florence and from his readings in ancient history. His writing has the mark
of the Renaissance upon it because he sprinkles his text with Latin phrases and many examples are
drawn from Classical

Machiavelli's Ideas
More than anything else we've read this year, Machiavelli is extremely difficult for me to respond
to. I find myself agreeing with a lot of his ideas (at least I think I agree with his ideas, his writing
jumbles my head around), and most of my comments come from a place of unwarranted rage.
One complaint I have is that I think he goes back on his word a lot. The thing is, Machiavelli
shoves so much information down your throat every sentence that everything I've read kind of
melds together in a strange sort of limbo. For example, I'm fairly sure he talks about the
importance of being kind and virtuous in the first reading we did, but in the second a lot of it is
about being merciless. Maybe those were supposed to apply to different situations....show more
content...
That means that I mostly put everything in context of American history, which probably isn't
what Machiavelli would want seeing as his whole book is supposed to be on principalities.
Making a connection to some other historical event really helps me out. For example, normally I
would read the line, "...The enemy will as a matter of course burn and pillage the countryside
when he arrives..." and I would've just been really bummed out by it (Machiavelli 37). But, in
Cold War we just watched a documentary on the Vietnam War. And so, for the rest of the passage
I kept drawing parallels between whatever the hell Machiavelli was talking about and the Vietnam
War. When Machiavelli said, "So the subjects will identify themselves even more with their
prince, since now that their houses have already been burned and their lands pillaged in his
defence they will consider that there is a strong bond of obligation on his part," I got really
excited because that's exactly happened in Vietnam after the U.S. firebombed them a million times
(Machiavelli 37). It's comforting to know that Machiavelli isn't just spewing a bunch of terrible
advice and making the reader fall for it. I really like the book and the ideas so far, I just wish that
someone could put it in some kindergarten–level terminology so I could read

Niccolo Machiavelli Essay
Niccolo Machiavelli is a great influence on many poloticians, philosophers, and leaders alike. His
name has also come into our grammer as Machiavellian or Machiavellism meaning a brutal or
realist view of something perhaps not the most moral of methods but it is effective. In Niccolo
Machiavelli's day and age he was one of the few that could read and write literacy was left primarily
to preists and poloticians. He was oviously a very skilled politician and had a knowledge for the art
of war. Today he is remembered as a political philosopher someone who studied polotics enough to
come up with the perfect way to be a prince and inspired other poloticians for many years. Niccolo
Machiavelli was born in a small town just outside of...show more content...
Not until a few years later did Niccolo gain favor with the Medicis and was ordered to compose the
"History of Florence". "The Prince" has inspired many great people since it was made it is the
guide book to success and greatness there for many power seeking people have been attracted to
it. "The Prince" is not a guide to being a moral leader who is caring and forgiving and ultimetly
weak, it is a guide that will get you power and teach you how to maintain it once you acheive it.
Niccolo Machiavelli used brutal yet efficient way to govern and seize power there were two ways
according to Niccolo the first one did not appeal to Niccolo because a common man could not
acheive it, if a prince is born into a family of rulers and recieve power through heredity he can
hold power just by being an idol and being greatly loved by his subjects this of course when you
are greatly loved you can be greatly hated just as fast. The way that appealed to niccolo was
through pure strength a quote from "The Prince" Niccolo's plans after taking over a city state
"When states newly aquired as i said have been accustomed to living freely under their own laws,
there are three ways to hold them securely:

Machiavelli Essay
"The term Machiavellian refers to someone who is unscrupulous, cunning, cynical, and
unprincipled"(Goods 1998). Many scholars agree that this particular adjective would have
dismayed Niccolo Machiavelli, the man from whom the term is derived. In reality he has been
attributed as being one of the brightest lights of the Italian Renaissance through his works as not only
a writer, but also as an influential philosopher of history and political thought. His most famous work
The Prince has been misunderstood due to the motives discussed and the blatantly honest language
used. Many of his critics have condemned him for his pessimistic outlook of man as a whole and
in doing so try to negate the bulk of his work. Yet even after over 470...show more content...
In fact, Machiavelli used various early diplomatic missions as the basis for a short guideline he sent
to the Florentine diplomat of Spain named Raffaelo Girolami. In this letter Machiavelli discussed
not only what he had done but also how he could have improved (Gilbert 1961, 209). This letter was
meant not only as advice for a particular situation but also as a learning aid to apply to all situations.
We see from this and other letters like it that Machiavelli not only learned the theory behind politics
but also continually refined his skill with each new challenge.
Machiavelli demonstrated a great knowledge and insight regarding politics through his writings but
more importantly he displayed a man who went through great effort to pay attention to details.
Nowhere else is this fact more evident than in the advice and instructions that he imparted to less
experienced government officials. His own advice states to "...write to those with whom you do
business so clearly that when they have a letter of yours they may think they are there–in such detail
it describes the thing to them"(Gilbert 1961, 123). Not only does this apply to his beliefs in
documentation, but also encourages them to pay close attention to details in order to supplement
those writings. This type of statement was far from uncommon, in a large quantity of his letters to
less experienced diplomats he advised them to "'go to the extreme of writing too much rather that too
little" (Gilbert

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